Trump set to lurch further right after midterm setback

US President Donald Trump has set the stage for his administration to lurch further to the right, claiming the US had taken a 'giant step back' in history by widely rejecting his party.

His hardline aide Stephen Miller will begin as White House chief of staff on Monday.

Trump will meet Dana White, chief executive and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), after offering him the job of press secretary.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, Trump wrote: 'America took a giant step back in History with the results of the last Election,' citing the sharp sell-off in global markets and a rout of US tech stocks.

He added: 'But have no fear, we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!'

Despite Republicans losing control of both chambers of US Congress in Tuesday's decisive midterm elections, and voters across the country expressing frustration with key pillars of Trump's controversial agenda, from the Iran war to sweeping tariffs, the administration appears set to press ahead.

Miller's promotion has stoked expectations that Trump is poised to double down on an aggressive immigration crackdown, stoke cultural war battles, and refuse concessions to the new Democratic majority in Congress.

The move 'signals the administration is going to have a fighting-from-a-bunker approach the last two years', Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and energy executive, told Reuters.

Trump abruptly announced on Saturday that he had offered White the role of White House press secretary, describing him as 'a violent Fighter and Warrior'. The role has been largely vacant since Karoline Leavitt departed the administration this summer. Leavitt's initial replacement, Katie Zacharia, lasted five days in the job.

Trump said: 'Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other.' He added: 'Dana, please take the job!'

After Trump threatened Democrats planning to conduct oversight of his administration and family, announcing he had ordered the US Department of Justice to 'look into' them, Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that 'there could be' investigations.

Blanche claimed Republicans had faced 'dangerous' threats, without specifying what crimes he believed had been committed. He said: 'You have to draw the line.'

Democrats have made clear that Miller and Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close Trump ally, are likely to be targets of congressional investigations once the party retakes control of Congress in January.

Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California who is set to chair the powerful oversight committee in the House of Representatives next year, said on Sunday that investigations were set to explore Musk's involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency's mass firing of federal workers last year, and Miller's role in Trump's immigration crackdown.

He told CNN: 'I think there's a lot of interest - not just from our committee, but from committees across the Congress - to speak to Mr Musk.'

Representative Jamie Raskin, poised to become the chair of the House judiciary committee, has also requested information on the business dealings of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr.

With 33 of 35 Senate races called, the Democrats had won 54 seats to the Republicans' 44. Votes are still being counted for the remaining seats.