AMNA NAWAZ: Less than a week after Democrats' historic wins in the midterms, President Donald Trump is sending mixed messages about how he plans to govern for the remainder of his term.

On that and Congress returning to Washington, I'm joined now by our Politics Monday duo.

That is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

Great to see you both.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Good to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start with President Trump.

You saw in that wide-ranging "60 Minutes" interview he repeated this claim that he would and could work with Democrats, specifically on immigration.

That interview was taped around the same time that he promoted Stephen Miller to chief of staff.

He's one of the most combative members of his team and the architect of the president's hard-line immigration policies.

Tam, if history is a guide, which President Trump are we going to see over the next couple years?

TAMARA KEITH: I think that the President Trump who talks about making deals, the president who talks about being conciliatory, or maybe my immigration policy went too far, we will get that president.

His words will say those things, but I don't know that his actions will.

What we saw in the first term after the midterms is, he did talk about the idea of doing some bipartisan things.

And then we had a very long government shutdown and ongoing battles and hardball.

And Stephen Miller -- elevating Stephen Miller is the clearest sign you could ever get that President Trump is choosing combat over bipartisan cooperation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Speaking of a different kind of combat too, you saw him back in the Press Briefing Room today with the UFC CEO, Dana White, as he joked about offering Dana White the job of press secretary.

What does that say to you?

TAMARA KEITH: Oh, this has been a completely ridiculous news cycle that has filled three days, and I think is an indication of what we're going to see more and more of from the president, which is doing things to bring the spotlight back to him, doing things to get attention.

Because, as the Republican Party tries to wrestle with what it does next and who it's going to be in the future, and President Trump isn't really part of that future, he still wants to be the showman.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, we also saw the president less than a week after those elections casting doubt on them, posting today that there's questions about whether the election was honest or not.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: What did you make of that?

AMY WALTER: So I think I have used this phrase before, but he is a hammer and everything is a nail.

That is his entire way of operating as president.

And I think he also does best when he has a foil.

And one of the challenges he's had, especially at around election time, is, when the election is focused on him and his behavior or his policies, like we saw in 2018, 2020, when he was president, and heck, even in 2022 when he wasn't president, but he weighed in, in that election, and then, of course, this most recent midterm election, when it's on him, it's a lot harder for Republicans and for Trump himself.

When he has a foil where he can make it about, oh, hey, it's me versus this person, then he tends to be able to unite the Republican Party, because it's uniting around anger about the other side, rather than trying to get them to rally around some of the more controversial things that he does.

So he's really in need of, where is this foil going to be?

And I think, for Democrats, the challenge for them going into this year is, they keep talking about the fact that they're going to be laser-focused, affordability, accountability, that's all we're going to talk about.

But it is pretty clear that the president is going to try to bring them into these fights.

He would like to see more of that, and to keep them responding to him, rather than have the president responding to the Democratic Congress.

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, and on whether this election was stolen, it's like he's going through the stages of grief in reverse.

He started with acceptance and he seems to be working backwards.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, you saw Lisa report earlier.

Congress is back in Washington, including those newly elected members.

We saw Republican Thomas Massie, who lost his Kentucky primary earlier this year, move today to force a vote on impeaching the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

He's accusing him of violating the Constitution and the will of Congress in the Iran war and other operations.

And, Tam, it strikes me this is really the first post-election test for Republicans after those brutal midterms.

What should we expect?

TAMARA KEITH: And it comes at this time, the lame-duck period, when there are Republicans in Congress who do not have to answer to the president because they also do not have to answer to the voters ever again.

They -- you only lose once.

I don't know exactly how this is going to turn out, but Pete Hegseth does not have a well of goodwill on the Hill.

The other thing I will just add, though, is that I have spent a lot of time talking to swing voters, and these voters, they want results.

And no one was talking about impeaching Pete Hegseth.

They're talking about they want the prices to come down.

They want their lives to get easier.

They want Democrats to keep the promises that they made when they ran just days ago.

And several of them specifically said, I just don't want two years of investigations and impeachments.

And now, right out of the gate, you have this.

AMY WALTER: Right.

Yes, I completely agree with that.

And, again, when you talk to Democrats, they also agree with these voters' point, which is, we do not want to get sucked into a retribution campaign.

We need to deliver and deliver very quickly.

These voters are expecting us to do something.

Now, again, this was Thomas Massie, a Republican... AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

AMY WALTER: ... who put this forward in a lame-duck.

These new members have no say on this.

But as they go forward, they will have to answer for decisions the leadership makes, and also the their base demanding that perhaps they go after certain people.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Amy, House Republicans now have to make a decision about who's going to lead them as well.

AMY WALTER: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: We know they vote tomorrow in the House on their leader.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is not running again.

So Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan are running.

What are we going to learn from that election?

AMY WALTER: Yes, whether Republicans want to punish the establishment and go with an outsider.

The establishment, of course, would be Scalise, who's been in the leadership, the outsider Jim Jordan, who does a very good job in the minority of goading Democrats.

Which side they choose, I think, is going to tell us a little bit about how hungry these voters are to turn the page.

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, and I think that you will see whether this new Republican Conference, this new smaller Republican Conference, whether it is going to be interested in combat or whether it's going to be willing to compromise.

And certainly, Jim Jordan, if he were to become speaker, signals -- it's another signal of, OK, it's on.

Combat is on.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, we know that the -- they won't select their leaders until later this month.

But the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, could be challenged.

We know Senator Chris Van Hollen has said he is considering that.

And a number of newly elected senators have said they may not back Schumer.

AMY WALTER: Right.

And this is the same -- this is the same debate, which is the establishment -- and, by the way, in this case, the establishment that actually helped to bring many of these members in, recruited them, spent money on their campaigns, but the Democratic message throughout this campaign has been, we need to turn the page, we need a new generation of leaders.

That is going to be what Chuck Schumer's going to have to answer for in the minds of many of these new senators.

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, and Schumer is 75 years old, and he -- so he does not represent a new generation, whereas many of these new members are quite a bit younger.

And -- yes, and he also signifies a lot of the challenges that the Democrats have had with messaging over the years.

And, in fact, in the primaries, he picked some of the people who lost.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tamara Keith and Amy Walter, always great to start the week with you both.

Thank you so much.

AMY WALTER: You're welcome.

TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.

AMY WALTER: Thank you.