Punishment for Trump, Victory for Democracy
U.S. citizens turn against the chaos of the White House with a Democrat upsurge in the midterm elections.
The most important lesson for the U.S. and the rest of the world to come from the resounding defeat of the Republicans and Donald Trump in Tuesday’s midterm elections is that democracy is alive in the country that has just celebrated 250 years since its foundation. It is not a small lesson, and it was by no means a certainty given Trump’s aversion to the separation of powers and his systematic challenge of legitimate electoral processes. From North to South and East to West in this vast country, voters have shown their dissatisfaction with an economy hit by inflation and war. And by voting in this way, they have also rejected the authoritarian agenda that was put in motion two years ago when Trump won the presidency for the second time. This is an agenda that has threatened to tear the fabric of democracy apart. Trump has still got two more years left in the White House. But he now has the mighty power of Congress against him.
It will take a while to repair the damage, and it is very possible that Trumpism as an ideology and destructive style of politics will outlive its creator. However, from now on Trump will have his hands tied by a hostile Congress. This will be a serious impediment for someone who neither recognizes nor accepts any limit to where his impulses may take him. Republicans have lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate, something that would have been difficult to believe only a few months ago. The Democrats have even won from the president’s party, bastions that have been impregnable for decades; for example, Texas, the greatest symbol of the blue wave –- the color of the Democratic party. This will leave a mark on the country and is a reminder of the punishment at the ballot box that Republicans received following the Watergate scandal.
The founders of U.S. democracy were right when they created a system that prevented a president from turning into a king who could do and undo things at will, as did the kings of the Ancien Regime, the “ancient regime” of France. Today, by producing a result that will limit the authority of the leader of the superpower, and despite more than reasonable fears to the contrary, this system has demonstrated that it is working again.
Because of the size of the Democrat victory and how clearly U.S. citizens have spoken, the result makes it difficult for Trump, however he may be tempted, to challenge the legality of the vote. Nor can he revive the attempt to overturn the result in 2021 when his loyal followers assaulted the Capitol after he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. There is no room at all for debate about the outcome when from Texas to Ohio, Maine to South Carolina, the people have left not the smallest trace of doubt about their desire to punish the president’s Republican Party. He has already publicly accepted the defeat and has distanced himself from the reasons for it. The new balance of power in Washington does not allow for ambiguities of any kind.
Victory for the opposition party in midterm elections is not in itself remarkable. Historically these elections have served to adjust imbalances following presidential elections and redistribute power between the two sides. The system is designed for this to happen. But these were not elections like any others. Since January 2025, when he returned to power after Biden’s four-year interregnum, Trump immersed the U.S. in extraordinary times. This is not only down to his rhetorical excesses and eccentric and capricious style of leadership, although these have been compounded with the passing of the years and as he has aged.
The serious and frightening thing was the constant determination to erode the separation of powers and freedoms. Also, the cruel tenaciousness when it came to pursuing minorities with racist and xenophobic policies. Over the years we have seen images unworthy of a great democracy. For example, those of ICE agents harassing anyone with a Latin-American appearance. The corruption of the presidential clan has been displayed openly, and even, at times, boastfully. What is more, Trump has taken the citizens of the U.S. into absurd and senseless wars. This, as in the case of Iran, has had immediate effects on people’s pockets and largely explains the size of the election result.
None of this will end overnight. What starts now is the hard task of rebuilding. Trump can stand his ground or learn to negotiate. In any case, he will have to accept that he is going to be controlled in the White House in a way that he has never been before. He may also face impeachment or a process of dismissal as he did during his first mandate. From now on, he will be a lame duck president. His scope for action at home will be very much reduced, but still more or less intact when it comes to foreign policy. This will also not reduce his capacity to offend his allies and damage their interests, prolong pointless wars and praise autocratic leaders -- quite the contrary. For European and all other democracies, the result of the midterms brings relief, but they would be wise not to be overconfident. It is the beginning of the end of Trump, but it is not the end of Trumpism.
The most important lesson for the U.S. and the rest of the world to come from the resounding defeat of the Republicans and Donald Trump in Tuesday’s midterm elections is that democracy is alive in the country that has just celebrated 250 years since its foundation. It is not a small lesson, and it was by no means a certainty given Trump’s aversion to the separation of powers and his systematic challenge of legitimate electoral processes. From North to South and East to West in this vast country, voters have shown their dissatisfaction with an economy hit by inflation and war. And by voting in this way, they have also rejected the authoritarian agenda that was put in motion two years ago when Trump won the presidency for the second time. This is an agenda that has threatened to tear the fabric of democracy apart. Trump has still got two more years left in the White House. But he now has the mighty power of Congress against him.
It will take a while to repair the damage, and it is very possible that Trumpism as an ideology and destructive style of politics will outlive its creator. However, from now on Trump will have his hands tied by a hostile Congress. This will be a serious impediment for someone who neither recognizes nor accepts any limit to where his impulses may take him. Republicans have lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate, something that would have been difficult to believe only a few months ago. The Democrats have even won from the president’s party, bastions that have been impregnable for decades; for example, Texas, the greatest symbol of the blue wave –- the color of the Democratic party. This will leave a mark on the country and is a reminder of the punishment at the ballot box that Republicans received following the Watergate scandal.
The founders of U.S. democracy were right when they created a system that prevented a president from turning into a king who could do and undo things at will, as did the kings of the Ancien Regime, the “ancient regime” of France. Today, by producing a result that will limit the authority of the leader of the superpower, and despite more than reasonable fears to the contrary, this system has demonstrated that it is working again.
Because of the size of the Democrat victory and how clearly U.S. citizens have spoken, the result makes it difficult for Trump, however he may be tempted, to challenge the legality of the vote. Nor can he revive the attempt to overturn the result in 2021 when his loyal followers assaulted the Capitol after he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. There is no room at all for debate about the outcome when from Texas to Ohio, Maine to South Carolina, the people have left not the smallest trace of doubt about their desire to punish the president’s Republican Party. He has already publicly accepted the defeat and has distanced himself from the reasons for it. The new balance of power in Washington does not allow for ambiguities of any kind.
Victory for the opposition party in midterm elections is not in itself remarkable. Historically these elections have served to adjust imbalances following presidential elections and redistribute power between the two sides. The system is designed for this to happen. But these were not elections like any others. Since January 2025, when he returned to power after Biden’s four-year interregnum, Trump immersed the U.S. in extraordinary times. This is not only down to his rhetorical excesses and eccentric and capricious style of leadership, although these have been compounded with the passing of the years and as he has aged.
The serious and frightening thing was the constant determination to erode the separation of powers and freedoms. Also, the cruel tenaciousness when it came to pursuing minorities with racist and xenophobic policies. Over the years we have seen images unworthy of a great democracy. For example, those of ICE agents harassing anyone with a Latin-American appearance. The corruption of the presidential clan has been displayed openly, and even, at times, boastfully. What is more, Trump has taken the citizens of the U.S. into absurd and senseless wars. This, as in the case of Iran, has had immediate effects on people’s pockets and largely explains the size of the election result.
None of this will end overnight. What starts now is the hard task of rebuilding. Trump can stand his ground or learn to negotiate. In any case, he will have to accept that he is going to be controlled in the White House in a way that he has never been before. He may also face impeachment or a process of dismissal as he did during his first mandate. From now on, he will be a lame duck president. His scope for action at home will be very much reduced, but still more or less intact when it comes to foreign policy. This will also not reduce his capacity to offend his allies and damage their interests, prolong pointless wars and praise autocratic leaders -- quite the contrary. For European and all other democracies, the result of the midterms brings relief, but they would be wise not to be overconfident. It is the beginning of the end of Trump, but it is not the end of Trumpism.
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