In a series of subdued interviews on the night Democrats routed Republicans and re-took control of both houses of Congress, Donald Trump struck a rare, conciliatory tone.

The President suggested he would probably “make a deal” with new congressional leaders to ensure legislation could proceed and even offered a few areas in which he believed his administration could find common ground with Democratic lawmakers.

Yet within a week there are signs Trump’s early openness to cooperation is unlikely to translate into meaningful bipartisan progress once the new Congress is sworn in next year.

The President’s appointments in key roles, his backing of controversial projects and fresh calls for investigations into his political opponents suggest Trump is gearing up for yet another fight.

Fighters in the White House

The scale of Republicans’ defeat at the midterms always made a shake-up among Trump’s staff likely.

On Friday, Susie Wiles became the first to go, with the President opting to elevate one of his longest-serving aides, Stephen Miller, to chief of staff as her replacement.

Miller’s appointment prompted immediate backlash from Democrats, with Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the next House Speaker, declaring: “His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor”.

For his part, Miller offered little to suggest he would seek to compromise with Democratic leadership in Congress.

“The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic,” he said in a statement following his appointment.

On Saturday, Trump doubled down on his appointment of fighters to key White House posts, taking to social media to announce he had offered the role of press secretary to UFC boss Dana White.

“I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States,” the President wrote.

In a strange addition, Trump also suggested White should bring a number of high-profile fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje and Amanda Nunes, along with him to act as assistants.

The President said the fighters would be needed to combat the “Lunatic Left”.

White, who was at a boxing event in London when Trump made his pitch, did not immediately confirm he would take up the role, but said he would fly to Washington for talks with the President.

“We have a meeting on Monday, so sure, I’ll have more to talk about after that,” he told an unrelated press conference.

Notably, however, White added a screenshot of Trump’s announcement to his story on Instagram, before uploading an apparently AI-generated post of himself behind the White House briefing room podium.

It was captioned: “On to the next chapter”.

Call to investigate ‘extortion’ by political rivals

While some had feared Trump would push the Department of Justice (DoJ) to pursue investigations into the results of the midterm elections, the scale of the Democrat victory appeared to have put those concerns to rest.

The President said he would accept the results on election night, while the DoJ subsequently dropped a lawsuit against California over claims of non-citizen voting.

However, in a lengthy social media post on Saturday, Trump made a direct call for a new investigation into his political rivals.

“The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so, and there have been no impeachable acts committed, or even thought of, by the victims of this illegal process,” he wrote.

“This is extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable for this.”

Trump said Democrats had sent “threatening letters” to Republicans and demanded the DoJ “look into this criminal act, immediately”.

He added Republican donors were also being threatened simply for their party affiliation, something the President termed “weaponisation”.

It was not immediately clear what Trump believed Democrats had allegedly weaponised against donors, nor did the President provide any evidence supporting any of his claims.

Focus on controversial Washington projects

In closing out his message to voters ahead of the midterms, Trump delivered a strange address at the site of one of his controversial make-over projects in Washington DC.

The President spent around 20 minutes talking up a botched renovation of the Reflecting Pool, including a joke he was considering renaming it after himself.

He followed up the address by summoning reporters to inspect progress at another controversial project, the White House ballroom, in his first speech after Republicans endured heavy losses at the ballot box.

Since then, Trump has also unveiled a new website promoting his planned “triumphal arch” and bemoaned a federal judge’s decision to prevent his remodeling of a public golf course.

All four projects, which critics say Trump either lacks the authority carry out or involve dodgy deals and wasted taxpayer money, have been flagged by Democrats keen to investigate what they describe as “rampant corruption” tied to the White House.

On Saturday, the judge overseeing the golf course case said she intends to appoint a former federal prosecutor to investigate whether lawyers and Trump administration officials deliberately misled her over their plans, setting up a further clash with the President.

Trump, however, has remained committed to leaving an architectural legacy throughout the capital, even going so far as to issue a proclamation designating the Oval Office a national monument in order to preserve changes he has made to the historic room.

Asked by reporters about criticism of his remodeling efforts at the White House and beyond, the President said: “I’m doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America, and it’s got to be pristine”.