“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

So posted the president on Truth Social last night.

“My numbers are better than they have ever been,” he asserted in another post that primarily took out his frustrations on Fox News.

I know braggadocio is his schtick, but those statements are unbelievably tone-deaf. Trump was on the ballot yesterday, and Republicans got blown out of the water because he is as unpopular as ever. “Pretend I’m on the ballot,” he told rally attendees literally dozens of times. Trump Derangement Syndrome on the Left and Trump fatigue everywhere else weighed down Republicans up and down the ballot.

To be fair, presidents virtually never do well in midterm elections. But this was a disaster.

We’ve come a long way from 2024. Trump roared back into the White House in the most stunning political comeback in U.S. history. Last night, Democrats won their biggest midterm blowout since Watergate in 1974. Come January, the Senate and House will be under Democrat control. Heck, Republicans even lost several gubernatorial elections, and Democrats are ascendant in state legislatures. It was a historic and stunning repudiation of the last two years.

So what happened?

I think I’d sum it up this way: Donald Trump promised to restore the American economy and give consumers price relief after four very long years of malaise under Joe Biden. He promised to bring back the prosperity of his first term, when his approval rating on the economy was as high as 56%. Instead, he slapped tariffs on everything and bombed Iran, causing gas prices to skyrocket while diesel prices hit record highs. Inflation is up, not down. All the while, he became obsessed with building projects in Washington — the ballroom, the Reflecting Pool, the golf course, the arch. His economic approval rating fell to just 29% as voters said, What is wrong with you?

His craven $5,000 bribe didn’t change anyone’s mind.

Even on immigration, Trump turned his welcome success in closing Biden’s open border to a public-relations disaster thanks to the confrontational approach of ICE and aggressive deportations. American sent a bizarre mixed signal: Close the border, but let the illegals stay.

In a sense, Trump blew it by pursuing and doubling down on unpopular things.

To be clear, I’m talking about voter impressions, not precise facts. But most Americans are absolutely exhausted with Donald J. Trump at this point, and when it came time to vote, that’s all that mattered.

And that’s what makes Trump’s assertion about winning “IN A LANDSLIDE” so obnoxiously obtuse.

“Iran was a piece of it,” Trump conceded in a phone interview with The Wall Street Journal. A piece? Actually, three-quarters of voters said it was a “crucial or major” factor in their vote. Most voters are not fully taking into account the national security interests, or the strategic necessity of preventing the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons, which could be catastrophic for the U.S. But they sure don’t like $4 gas.

“I did the right thing. I would have done it again,” Trump added, though he rarely bothers trying to make the case for the war with Iran. When he did, it was so jumbled that Leftmedia outlets were dishonestly accusing him of wanting Iran to bomb American cities.

Exit polling shows that voters who prioritized the economy above other issues went for Trump by 20 points in 2024. Yesterday, they broke for Democrats by 12.

That swing, in a nutshell, is the story, and Americans can now look forward to two years of investigations and an impeachment or two. Sounds like fun.

“Lawyer up,” warned Democrat California Representative Robert Garcia, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Anyone who doubts Democrats are licking their chops to ramp up their lawfare against Trump has been asleep for the last decade.

As for Trump, what will he do? “Veto everything,” he said. “I guess I’ll become Mr. Veto.” Beyond that, he added, “We won the Slaughter case and the Slaughter case gives the president tremendous powers that it never had before.” As another president once said, “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone.”

Note: This article will be updated throughout the morning.