What’s next after Trump’s massive miscalculation triggers historic defeat

There’s only way to view the Democrats’ midterm election triumph : It is one of the most colossal repudiations of a sitting president in modern history. Voters had the chance to cast their judgment on Trump’s imperial power grabs; his unpopular war in Iran; his failure to roll back the punishing cost of living; his chaos; his administration’s alleged corruption; and his masked agents rounding up migrants. They responded by destroying the MAGA monopoly in Washington, handing both the House and the Senate to Democrats, and reviving the constitutional system of checks and balances in a freak blue wave that crashed across GOP heartlands. The Democratic victory was so huge and swift that it thwarted even Trump’s tendency to view any election he loses as spoiled by fraud. The feared administration operation to challenge the result never materialized. There will be no repeat of the infamy of 2020 because the Democratic win was too big to rig . American democracy, pushed to its limits during Trump’s two terms, now seems likely to survive him. And Trump was meek, sounding chastened and nearly unrecognizable when calling into media outlets after the Republican devastation was revealed. A day after calling himself “Mr. Veto,” the president even pledged to find common ground with the party he’d recently declared an existential threat to America. “Well, we’re going to work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country. Very important,” he told Politico’s Election Night livestream. Trump tried to argue that GOP candidates had doomed themselves — largely by not being him. But there was no escaping the reality. He’d made the election all about himself, despite his appalling approval ratings and the clear through-line between his decision to wage war with Iran this year and the soaring gasoline and diesel prices that hurt millions of families. HIs self-indulgence turned out to be a massive miscalculation, and his boasts that the country should thank him for its “golden age” were an act of self-delusion that clearly conflicted with the evidence of everyone’s daily life. And the president’s attempts to tilt the electoral map by gerrymandering districts to eject Democrats mostly foundered on his own massive unpopularity that knocked out Republicans instead. President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Salina Regional Airport on November 1 in Salina, Kansas. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images There’s no doubt about who is to blame In 2024, Trump pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in American history to claim a nonconsecutive second presidential term. Two years later, the rout of a Republican Party he transformed in his image must rank as one of the greatest flameouts. As election night unfolded on Tuesday, the evidence of a political realignment built slowly, then seemed to explode in an unbelievable torrent as Democrats won the House, piled up stunning Senate wins in unheard-of places like South Carolina and Texas, then added a clutch of governorships. Most of the candidates Trump muscled into key races failed disastrously — including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham, who lost her late brother’s seat. Had Trump’s team not chased Sens. Joni Ernst and Thom Tillis out of politics for MAGA heresy, the GOP might have clung on to Iowa and North Carolina. CNN polling data showed that clear majorities in the country oppose Trump’s war; his economy; his immigration crackdowns; and his leadership. Trump’s political team has long lauded him as a generational political superstar with an almost supernatural feel for the GOP grassroots and the capacity to deliver political victories that a conventional Republican could never pull off. There’s some truth to that. But 10 years after his shock first presidential election victory, those powers deserted Trump on Tuesday, after an exhausting monthlong bid to save Republicans in the reddest political territory across the country. Nowhere encapsulated the scale of the rout and the rejection of Trump more than Texas, where James Talarico won a first Senate seat for Democrats in nearly four decades . And Gov. Greg Abbott — a Republican bulwark — remarkably also fell, beaten in his bid for a fourth term by Democratic lawyer Gina Hinojosa . Many Trump critics have seen his political career as a backlash to the first Black presidency, of Barack Obama, and have been shaken by his searing racial rhetoric, White cultural references and attacks on minority women and Muslims. But the elasticity of American politics has shone through again. In a backlash to the backlash, Hinojosa will be the first Latina governor of Texas. Georgia will have its and the nation’s first Black woman governor in Keisha Lance Bottoms. Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim elected to the Senate after fending off Trump’s religious bigotry during the campaign. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become the first Black speaker. Trump is far from the first president to endure a midterm meltdown. Obama suffered a “shellacking” in 2010; George W. Bush took a “thumpin’” in 2006; and Bill Clinton’s unpopularity triggered a Republican revolution in 1994. But 2026 seems especially personal. The president’s entire persona and political rationale is built around the conceit that he’s one of the world’s greatest winners. Yet he’s just been dealt one of the most ignominious defeats. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP” the president wrote on Truth Social. But his words rang hollow. Just two days ago he’d told a crowd in Iowa: “Pretend I’m on the ballot because, essentially, I am on the ballot.” The US Capitol on October 19, 2026. Ellie Merritt for CNN Turmoil to come So what next? The new Democratic Congress will make the lives of everyone in Trump’s orbit miserable next year with relentless investigations into the administration, the Iran war, alleged White House corruption and potentially the business ventures that have swelled the president’s personal wealth during nearly two years in office. After capturing the Senate, the Democrats will have power to block any Supreme Court vacancies that occur during the last two years of Trump’s term and the confirmation of any new Cabinet secretaries that the party opposes. A period of fierce partisan warfare is now likely. Trump might have been stung by the country’s rebuke on Tuesday, and he will effectively be a lame duck. But the most disruptive president in generations is unlikely to behave like one. Expect showdowns over the budget and over the Iran war if Trump can’t end it before the next Congress arrives in January. Also likely are prolonged constitutional tussles over his attempts to rule through executive power and Democratic subpoenas for testimony from Trump aides. The president may become even more erratic and aggressive overseas as he tries to compensate for his crimped domestic power. The size of the GOP disaster on Tuesday — when Democrats won almost everything they hoped to in their wildest dreams, and more — raises grave questions for those eyeing the GOP presidential race in 2028. Vice President JD Vance now has a giant problem: He’s been seen as Trump’s heir apparent, but he may now have to begin the delicate business of separating himself from the boss. Could Secretary of State Marco Rubio be the man to create a new post-MAGA coalition with remnants of the old GOP, of which he was once a leading light? Or will others, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, now reason that a hopeful from outside a discredited administration will have a chance of winning the nomination and reviving the Republican brand? Democrats will also have an issue when they finally stop partying. They’ll have a share of power but will lack the full capacity to deliver the change that voters crave because of Trump’s veto pen. If they can’t deliver on affordability, where both President Joe Biden and Trump failed, they could find themselves on the wrong end of an election night drubbing in just two years. There are fundamental lessons everyone should learn from this tempestuous era. No political victory is forever, and no majority is permanent. And most importantly, no president, no matter how powerful they believe themselves to be, is invincible. The post What’s next after Trump’s massive miscalculation triggers historic defeat appeared first on Egypt Independent .