Since his re-election in 2024, Trump has had a free hand, as the opposition Democratic Party did not have the numbers to block any of Trump’s legislations. Americans have decided to rein in Donald Trump. it is clear that Trump and his Republican Party will lose control of both legislative chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate Although the final tally is yet to come in. The consequences have been severe for the world at large, from inchoate and inconsistent tariff regimes to costly and bloody wars in Gaza and Iran that have resulted in moral outrage.
Domestically, an uptick in inflation largely due increasing prices in petrol and energy and tariffs combined with near zero real wage growth had led to noticeable frustration among American voters. The economic pessimism that we are seeing around the world hit incumbent Republicans very hard. Trump, who had noticeably built support among White working class and middle class voters, looks increasingly out of touch with them. The Republicans’ commanding lead among White voters seems to have diminished significantly as well, with a New York Times/Siena exit poll suggesting a double digit shift towards Democrats among them. On the one hand, a shift away from the Republican Party is not surprising. But the scale is significant. Moreover, with the Republicans losing six to seven Senate seats to the Democrats, they will face the biggest reversal in the Senate since the Obama years. All this means that the Democrats will have quite a bit of breathing room in blocking Trump legislations that must pass through both chambers of the American Congress.
The same NBC News exit poll found nearly 70% of voters feel the system favours the wealthy. Since 1946, the president’s political party has only gained seats twice in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, in 1998 after Bill Clinton’s unpopular impeachment trial and in 2002, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. If the current trends hold, the Republicans will lose 44 seats in the House of Representatives — making it the largest reversal since 2010 during Barack Obama’s first term. This is all the more stark given that the Republicans had a threadbare majority in the House (220 out of 435 seats), meaning that the Democrats could have a commanding 70 to 80 seat lead over the Republicans in the House of Representatives when the final tally is announced.
75% of voters viewed the economy as “not so good” or “poor, according to an NBC News exit poll.
We cannot overstate the global significance of this result. On the heels of Benjamin Netanyahu stumbling somewhat in Israel, the taming of Donald Trump may have a positive impact on global stability. Perhaps misadventures in Iran and Gaza will invite some more introspection by the West. Perhaps balancing Trump’s capriciousness on trade policy will stabilise global markets.
