The results of the US midterm elections have, to a very large extent, contained the possibility of Donald Trump acting with more brazenness, but it is not the end of Trumpism.
However, it appears that the American public has thwarted Trump’s attempts in having his way. The midterm elections, held on 3rd November, 2026 to determine the control of the Congress—the legislative branch of the American state has made a swing towards the Democratic Party; this clearly appears to have been a stunning upset for Trump who appeared to have been politically unassailable since his stunning return to power during the 2024 American Presidential elections.
The Results
Officially, the Democratic Party has won control of the Congress. They have won 225 seats out of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives—the lower house of the Congress; the party has also captured the Senate, the powerful upper house of the Congress by winning 54 out of the 100 seats. The Democratic victory has also scripted a few historic firsts—
- James Talarico became the first Democratic Party candidate to win a US Senate seat in Texas, a state which historically has been the bastion of the Republican Party.
- Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, public health administrator, and academic scripted history by being the first person of Islamic faith to have been elected as a senator from the state of Michigan.
- Peggy Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe—a Native American tribe, won her Senate race in Minnesota to become the first woman of Native American ethnicity to be elected to the Senate.
- Gina Hinojosa of the Democratic Party pulled off a massive upset over her Republican competitor by winning the Texas governorship, becoming the state’s first governor of Latina ethnicity.
- Democrat Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota’s gubernatorial race, becoming the state’s first female governor in American history.
The Impact
Given that the Congress is firmly in the grips of the Democratic Party, it can be expected that Trump’s political life will likely become more difficult. We can expect tougher scrutiny of the American President’s reckless war in Iran. In fact, the Democratic Party has been a vocal opponent of the war on Iran, arguing that it has not only upended the energy security of the world, but has also made life difficult for ordinary Americans. Therefore, it is quite expected that the additional funding to finance the American military’s war against the country would run into some serious roadblocks.
Apart from this, the Democratic Party controlled Congress may launch federal investigations into the many dealings of Trump and his family members. While the American judiciary confers significant protection to sitting and former presidents, the protection, however, doesn’t apply to Trump’s family members and associates. His family’s cryptocurrency interests, the ‘acceptance’ of luxury airliners from foreign regimes, and the sharing of the profits of the American oil companies that are wrecking the future of Mother Earth can all be expected to come under intense scrutiny.
Is this the end of Trumpism?
In politics, some personalities tend to have a larger-than-life presence whose impact goes beyond their stay in office. In the view of this writer, Trump is one such personality. Even though the Democratic Party has been successful in upsetting Trump’s political calculations, it would be presumptuous to expect that America will be free of Trumpism. The country is at its most perilous moment in history—Trump and his allies still exhibit significant political and social influence. The White Christian Nationalist backers of the incumbent president continue to call the shots in Trump’s policies to a large extent.
Racism, white nationalism, xenophobia will continue to remain the dominant issues that will drive Trump’s core constituencies to support him and his compatriots after his tenure concludes. Therefore, even though this election has upset Trump’s electoral strength, Trumpism as a phenomenon will continue to shape America in the future.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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