The national scolding
A sweeping Democratic midterm victory has reshaped Congress, weakened Trump politically and raised questions about how his administration may respond at home and abroad.
🔍 WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
Democratic control of Congress changes the balance of power in Washington, potentially constraining Donald Trump domestically while putting greater attention on presidential authority, foreign policy and the continuing Iran conflict.
KEY TAKEAWAYS...
● Democrats have won control of both the House and Senate, delivering a major electoral defeat to Republicans and the Trump administration.
● Democratic victories extended into Republican territory, including Texas, where Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent governor Greg Abbott.
● Democrats will hold at least 54 Senate seats, substantially increasing their ability to block presidential nominees and scrutinise the administration.
● The result comes amid continuing tensions over the Iran war, executive power and wider concerns about the direction of US foreign policy.
T he complete rinsing delivered to the deeply corrupt and authoritarian MAGA Republicans by American voters in this week’s midterm elections was a beacon of hope and joy in a bleak geopolitical landscape.
The Trump cultist Republicans got their public execution, just not the one they had wanted. The Democrats had been forecast to do well, but the results exceeded their wildest expectations, the Dems currently have 240 seats in the House of Representatives where 218 are required for a majority. At the time of writing, there are 48 seats which have yet to be declared, so the final Democrat total looks likely to exceed 250, giving the Democrats an unassailable majority.
Prior to the elections, Trump had repeatedly called on voters to vote as though he personally was on the ballot. Voters took heed and did just that in elections which were widely regarded as a referendum on Trump, his chaos, corruption, lies and wars. Following the drubbing received by the candidates he endorsed, the petulant dementia patient insisted that the Republicans would have won by a landslide if he had been on the ballot.
The election has been called a blue tsunami, but in Japan, where tsunamis have very different cultural and historical associations, the press is describing the election results as a ‘national scolding’ of Trump.
It was considered less likely that the Democrats would take control of the Senate too, but they have secured a comfortable majority there as well, even taking seats in states like South Carolina and Kansas which had been considered solidly Republican. The biggest upset came in Texas where not only did the Democrats take the Senate seat which was up for contention, they also ousted the Republican Governor Gregg Abbott, in both cases by comfortable majorities. Early indications that the Democrats were on track to overturn the Republican control of the Texas state legislature appear to have been frustrated by Republican gerrymandering.
51 seats are needed for a majority in the Senate which consists of 100 senators, two from each state. In these midterm elections, 35 senate seats were up for contention. The Democrats were expected to win perhaps 51 seats at best, but so far have taken 54 with two seats yet to call. In both of these, in Alaska and Mississippi, the Democrats have wafer thin leads, so it’s possible the party could yet end up with 56 senate seats.
Trump may be down and the recipient of a national scolding but he’s certainly not out or contrite and remains powerful and increasingly unhinged. The best hope, which isn’t much of a hope, is that the remaining Republican legislators will realise that slavishly following Trump is a recipe for electoral annihilation and will be more willing to stand up to him. Trump’s mental and physical condition are clearly in an accelerating decline, he is growing ever more deranged and even less capable of considering or caring about the wider consequences of his actions.
The concern for the rest of the world is that lame-duck presidents in the final two years of their time in office, who have lost control of Congress, typically turn their attention to international matters where they are less constrained by Congress. The fear is that Trump will launch further attacks on Iran, possibly even sending in troops on the ground in an attempt to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz. There has even been a warning that he’s considering a nuclear strike on Iran, which would plunge the globe into chaos and could precipitate a third world war.
Prior to being hospitalised for a stroke, Chris Murphy, a Connecticut senator who has been briefed on the White House’s war planning as he is a senior member of the Senate’s defence committee, said: “In one of these briefings we did have the chance to have a fairly detailed conversation about what the war plan would be if we restarted military operations. You’ve heard a preview that it would be a short duration plan. I will just say this. Their plan is insane. It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law… But the plan they have developed will in my view lead to a prolongment and escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests.”
It’s not just Iran which could be in Trump’s sights as his addled and befuddled brain lashes out in anger and spite. He also has designs on Cuba and could seek to topple the government there in order to replace it with a puppet regime as he did in Venezuela.
The worry is that with nothing to lose and his self-aggrandising plans for his ballroom and Arc de Trump being blocked by a Congress which will refuse to release any money for them, Trump will take down all of America and the rest of the world with it, because if he can’t have what he wants he’ll ensure that no one else can either.
The good news is that the world seems to be waking up to the dangers of right-wing populism, which, everywhere it has become established, has been cruel, vicious, authoritarian and intensely corrupt. That’s the consistent pattern in all right-wing populist regimes, whether in Russia, Israel, Hungary, Brazil, Serbia, or the USA. In Russia, right-wing populism has become entrenched and has descended into an outright fascist dictatorship, which is still supported by useful idiots on the left because Putin opposes Western imperialism. Western imperialism is indisputably evil, but Russia practices an evil imperialism of its own, both these things can be true simultaneously.
However, in countries where there are still free elections and a free press, right-wing populism has recently been rejected everywhere – except Israel. That bodes well for us here in Scotland as it tells us that it’s not inevitable that the far-right will take power here too. In Scotland, the far-right is more of a colonial-style British nationalist implantation. I’m not saying Scottish nationalist far-right populism does not exist. It does, but it’s marginal and politically irrelevant, hopefully it will remain that way. The far-right in Scotland is closely tied to opposition to independence and opposition to the very existence of Scotland as anything other than a region of a unitary British state. Anglo-British far-right populism operates in tandem with and is dependent on its American cousin. This week’s heavy defeat for the Republicans is bad news for Farage and Rupert Lowe too, and good news for Scotland and anyone who values humanity and decency in politics.
🔮 WHAT MATTERS NEXT...
🎯 WHAT TO WATCH NEXT:
● The final Senate count: Democrats have secured at least 54 seats, while unresolved races could affect the eventual size of their majority.
● How aggressively the incoming Democratic Congress uses its oversight, legislative and confirmation powers to constrain the Trump administration.
● Whether tensions with Iran escalate further: Chris Murphy has publicly described renewed US military planning as potentially leading to a prolonged and damaging escalation.
🎯 MOST LIKELY OUTCOME:
● Democratic control of Congress is likely to constrain Trump’s domestic agenda and appointments substantially, while leaving significant presidential authority over foreign affairs.
🎯 WHAT COULD CHANGE THE PICTURE:
● A major international crisis, renewed escalation with Iran or an unexpected domestic political confrontation could rapidly shift attention away from the electoral result.
🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS:
● The midterms have changed the institutional balance in Washington, but the consequences will depend on how Congress and the White House exercise their competing powers during Trump’s remaining two years.
GOING FURTHER
Why Donald Trump’s foreign policy could cost Republicans in the midterm elections | Europeans.Today
Mid-terms are not the final answer | Europeans.Today
Democrats win the US House and Senate as voters deliver a strong rebuke to Trump and Republicans | Associated Press
Democrat Gina Hinojosa elected Texas' first Latina governor, ousts Republican incumbent Greg Abbott | Associated Press
Trump-backed Republican redistricting sought a midterm edge. It didn't work | Associated Press
JD Vance letter may offer last chance to avert fresh conflict between US and Iran | The Guardian
Connecticut senator Chris Murphy hospitalized after stroke | The Guardian
Every Briton should stockpile water and food supplies, government advises | The Guardian
Sources:
▪ This piece was first published in Wee Ginger Dugg Blog and re-published in Europeans TODAY on 6 November 2026 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity.
▪ Cover: Dreamstime/KORWEN.
