Trump Tells CNBC He Can Work With Democrats, but Not on Border

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he can work with the incoming Democratic majorities in Congress on “many more things than people understand,” striking a conciliatory tone one day after Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate, according to an interview he gave CNBC.

Trump made the remarks in a brief phone call with CNBC correspondent Eamon Javers, according to The Guardian’s live coverage of the midterms. Javers wrote in a post on X that he asked the president whether he could work with “newly empowered Democrats on Capitol Hill.”

I just had a brief phone call with President Trump and I asked him if he can work with newly empowered Democrats on Capitol Hill. He said, in part:

“I can work with them on many things, many more things than people understand…. When I ran against Bernie Sanders, basically when…

— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) November 4, 2026

“I can work with them on many things, many more things than people understand,” Trump said, according to The Jerusalem Post, which cited the CNBC interview. The president added that “there are many ideas they have,” according to the same report.

Where Trump drew the line

The president did not offer Democrats a blank check. Trump told CNBC he could not work with Democrats on an open border or on men playing in women’s sports, according to CNBC’s live coverage and Breaking The News, but said he could work with them on financial ideas that would benefit both sides.

Trump also signaled that his tariffs are not on the table. Addressing the possibility of rolling them back, Trump insisted that all 3,000 plants currently under construction would have to stop building if the tariffs were removed, Breaking The News reported.

On trade, the president pointed to an unlikely ally. Trump brought up Sen. Bernie Sanders and his presidential campaign, and said he and Sanders held virtually identical views on trade, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing CNBC. The Post reported that Trump indicated he would not support removing tariffs but suggested he could cooperate with Democrats on financial issues that would be mutually beneficial.

A message to Washington and Wall Street

Trump did not say which specific proposals he had in mind, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to The Guardian, Javers described the president as cagey about exactly what those ideas are at this early stage, while saying Trump was signaling to markets and to Washington that he is ready to deal.

The Guardian reported that Trump said he would work on financial items with Democrats.

The comments came after Democrats won both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to The Guardian. Breaking The News reported that Trump had previously said he would accept the results of the election, while claiming Republicans would have won “in a landslide” if his name had been on the ballot.

The Jerusalem Post also reported that Trump dismissed concerns over impeachment during the CNBC call, as Democrats prepare to take control of committees with subpoena power next year.

What it means

For conservatives, the president’s red lines on the border and girls’ sports, along with his refusal to give up tariffs, suggest the next two years will test how much common ground a divided Washington can actually find. Trump’s outreach on financial issues gives Democrats an opening, but the policies that defined his agenda on immigration and trade appear off the table, based on his own words to CNBC.

Whether the new Democratic leadership takes him up on the offer, or focuses instead on investigations, will likely shape the final two years of Trump’s term.

Sources

• The Jerusalem Post
• Breaking The News
• The Guardian: midterms live
• CNBC: Eamon Javers report
• Eamon Javers on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.