President Donald Trump has launched a series of attacks against Fox News after the network's coverage of the 2026 midterm elections suggested Republicans were heading towards significant losses.
As Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, Trump became increasingly critical of the conservative news network, taking aim at its polling, presenters and coverage of the election.
The president expressed his frustration in several posts on Truth Social before sending a message directly to Fox News presenter Greg Gutfeld during a live broadcast.
Gutfeld subsequently read the message aloud, bringing Trump's complaints directly into the programme.
The extraordinary exchange came as early exit polling suggested voters were deeply concerned about the economy and the direction of the country.
Why was Donald Trump angry with Fox News?
Trump's frustration appeared to centre on Fox News' election polling, which presented a difficult picture for the Republican Party.
According to figures reported by UNILAD, 87 percent of respondents expressed serious concerns about rising gas prices, while 62 percent attributed the problem to Trump's policies.
The network's polling also reportedly placed the president's approval rating at approximately 38 percent.
Rather than accepting the findings, Trump accused Fox News of asking unfair questions designed to produce negative results about his presidency.
Writing on Truth Social, he described the network's polling as consistently poor and criticised the way its questions were presented.
"The FoxNews Poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask," Trump wrote.
He went on to characterise the polling questions as attacks against him, arguing that the network had been treating him unfairly for years.
His criticism was particularly notable given that he had appeared on Fox News earlier that day to encourage Republican supporters to vote.
What did Trump say about Fox News presenter Jessica Tarlov?
The president's criticism soon became personal when he turned his attention to Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic-leaning co-host of the Fox News discussion programme The Five.
Trump publicly complained about Tarlov's commentary and attacked her intelligence and voice.
In a Truth Social post, he referred to the presenter as "DUMB AS A ROCK" and said he could not stand listening to her.
He also called her a loser and announced that he intended to stop watching the programme until she was no longer on screen.
The remarks marked an escalation from criticism of the network's polling methods to a direct personal attack on one of its presenters.
However, the confrontation did not end there.
What did Donald Trump text Greg Gutfeld during the live broadcast?
During the election coverage, Trump sent a message directly to Fox News co-host Greg Gutfeld.
Gutfeld then read the president's message aloud while the programme was being broadcast.
The text was directed at Jessica Tarlov and challenged her comments about gas prices and the economy.
Trump told Gutfeld to inform Tarlov that gas prices were lower than during the administrations of Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
He also claimed that he had inherited historically high inflation and prices from Biden, whom he referred to as "Sleepy Joe".
The president insisted that prices were falling quickly and claimed inflation had reached 1.7 percent.
His message also addressed Iran, accusing previous administrations of allowing the country to advance towards acquiring a nuclear weapon.
He concluded by insisting that there would be no Iranian nuclear bomb.
These were Trump's claims, and the text itself did not establish the accuracy of his economic or foreign-policy assertions.
The fact that a sitting president had sent an angry message to a television presenter during live election coverage quickly became another talking point of the evening.
How did Jessica Tarlov respond?
Tarlov subsequently responded to the president's criticism on social media.
She suggested that Trump had become frustrated because she had highlighted unfavourable information about gas prices during the election broadcast.
Rather than backing down, she defended her comments and challenged the president's reaction.
She wrote that "reality is a tricky thing" and suggested Trump needed to become better at dealing with it.
The exchange highlighted growing tensions between the president and certain personalities at a network that has traditionally attracted a substantial conservative audience.
Trump also attacked Fox News' ratings
The president's criticism extended beyond the network's polling and individual presenters.
In another Truth Social post, Trump claimed that Fox News had experienced a significant decline in its audience because of its political coverage.
He alleged that the network's ratings had fallen by 27 percent, blaming what he considered excessive attention given to Democrats and criticism of his administration.
Trump insisted that his own popularity was not responsible for any decline in viewership.
"It's them, not me," he wrote, while claiming that his political standing remained strong.
He also accused Fox Corporation of financially supporting prominent Democratic politicians, including Hakeem Jeffries, Jamie Raskin, Ted Lieu and Pete Aguilar.
The allegations were made by Trump, and the article's source did not provide independent evidence establishing the financial claims.
The president argued that the network's treatment of him was responsible for its reported ratings problems.
Fox News host Jesse Watters admitted concerns about Republican losses
While Trump was criticising the network, some of its own presenters were expressing concern about the direction of the election.
Fox News host Jesse Watters acknowledged that he was worried about the possibility of Republicans losing control of Congress.
During the broadcast, Watters said he did not feel optimistic about the results and compared the experience to entering a contest he expected to lose.
He was particularly concerned about the possibility of Democrats gaining control of the Senate.
His comments reflected the uncertainty surrounding several closely contested races as votes were being counted.
Republicans entered the elections defending their congressional majorities, with Democrats hoping to capitalise on dissatisfaction with the administration.
What did the midterm exit polls reveal?
Exit polling conducted during the November 3 elections suggested that economic concerns were influencing many voters.
Gas prices, inflation and the wider cost of living were among the issues receiving attention during election-night coverage.
According to the figures reported by UNILAD, a substantial proportion of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's handling of economic matters.
The president's approval rating was also reported to be below 40 percent in several surveys.
However, exit polls are surveys rather than final election results, and their findings can differ from the eventual vote totals.
They are designed to provide insight into voter attitudes and motivations, rather than independently determine the outcome of an election.
Trump disputed the negative interpretation of the polling and argued that his political support remained stronger than the surveys suggested.
What did Trump say about working with Democrats?
In a separate telephone interview with CBS News, Trump addressed the possibility of Democrats controlling Congress.
He suggested that he would be prepared to use his presidential veto power if lawmakers passed legislation he opposed.
"I have the ultimate power," Trump said, before identifying the veto as the authority he intended to rely upon.
The president's comments suggested that he was preparing for potentially difficult negotiations with congressional Democrats.
Although the president can veto legislation, Congress can override a veto if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote to do so.
That means presidential veto power is substantial but not absolute.
What could the election results mean for Trump's presidency?
The 2026 midterms represent an important test of public support for the administration halfway through Trump's second term.
Control of Congress has major implications for the president's ability to pass legislation, secure funding and advance his domestic policy priorities.
A Democratic majority in either chamber could create additional obstacles for Republican proposals.
Control of congressional committees could also allow Democrats to conduct investigations and increase oversight of the administration.
With Trump already signalling that he is prepared to use his veto, relations between the White House and congressional leaders could become increasingly confrontational.
His election-night criticism of Fox News demonstrated how politically charged the situation had become even before all the results were finalised.
Trump's Fox News confrontation draws attention
The president's public dispute with Fox News became one of the more unusual moments of election night.
Within hours, Trump had criticised the network's polling, personally attacked a presenter, disputed its economic coverage and sent an angry message to another host during a live broadcast.
The exchange also highlighted divisions within conservative media over how to interpret Republican electoral setbacks.
While some presenters openly expressed concern about the results, Trump maintained that the polling was unfair and that his own political standing remained strong.
As the country assesses the election results, the president's confrontation with Fox News offers an early indication of the tensions that could shape the remaining two years of his administration.
