Donald Trump, who this summer was compared to historical figures such as Napoleon and Hitler, appears to have fought one battle too many, bringing about his own political downfall. Tuesday’s US midterm elections were a devastating blow to the Republican Party. Once-safe Republican bastions fell like dominoes. Democrats won Senate seats in Kansas for the first time since 1932, in Texas since 1988 and in South Carolina since 1998.
The House of Representatives and the Senate had switched hands from one party to the other in the same midterm elections only three times since World War II – in 1946, 1994 and 2006 – but now it has happened again, ensuring that the US Congress will be a obstacle to the expansion of Trump’s executive power. The president, who stressed that he was not on the ballot, is the architect of his own “lame duck” status. After months of urging voters to pretend he was on the ballot, he sabotaged his own party.
In 2024, he won the presidency by promising to lower prices and end wars; however, his tariffs added pressure on prices, and the attack on Iran pushed them even higher. Trump’s campaign was bizarre, with long speeches about architectural projects, outbursts of Islamophobia and musings about the “private parts” of an Ohio senator. It culminated at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where he declared victory in the war against algae. Voters said: enough is enough.
According to exit polls, voters said the cost of living and corruption were the two main issues. Trump, who was touted as an economic populist, had flaunted his wealth and his luxurious ballroom, while people struggled to afford food. This was too much even for some of his strong base. From January, Democrats will have the power to block legislation, launch investigations into the Trump administration and obstruct his judicial and senior government appointments. Life could become unpleasant for figures such as Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, or Big Tech leaders like Elon Musk. Democrats may also consider impeaching Trump for a third time.
This leaves the president under siege – a diminished figure bogged down in Washington’s gridlock and reduced to wielding the pen of the veto, which he had threatened to use. Yet Trump paid little attention to Congress during his first two years, apart from passing his Big, Beautiful Act of tax and spending measures. He has acted unilaterally on tariffs and military strikes in Venezuela and Iran. Like his predecessors, he will continue to pursue foreign policy as a legacy project, an alarming prospect for the world.
More threatening to Trump than the Democratic investigations is the march of time. The race to succeed him in 2028 starts now. This president is psychologically ill-suited to cope with the shift of the national spotlight towards candidates such as JD Vance and Marco Rubio. This change could erode Trump’s dominance as a cult figure in the Republican Party and the MAGA movement. Members of Congress, surveying the ruins of Tuesday, may conclude that Trump is a relic of the past – and their survival depends on placing the right bets for the future. A wounded Trump, who feels he has nothing to lose over the next two years, could be more reckless and more dangerous.
Taken from The Guardian US