President Donald Trump’s global foes found ample reason to celebrate Tuesday’s punishing midterm results, with the Democratic victory set to benefit them in different ways. Trump made foreign policy a key focus of his two years with the trifecta, making no shortage of enemies worldwide. Democrats have openly pledged to use their powers granted by […]
Republicans barely had time to absorb their sweeping midterm losses before President Trump returned to a familiar comfort zone: D.C. construction projects. Why it matters: Voters just delivered an overwhelming rebuke of the administration, demanding that politicians focus on the cost of living, yet the president remains fixed on remaking the nation's capital in his image. Driving the news: Trump hosted reporters at the White House on Wednesday for a previously unscheduled event to update them on the East Wing ballroom's construction, marking his first remarks to the White House press pool since the election. He spent the majority of his remarks discussing planned architectural changes around D.C., including a proposed Triumphal Arch, the National Garden of American Heroes and a planned expansion of a publicly owned golf course that would likely eliminate popular running and biking paths. His remarks came after a pre-election appearance Monday, during which he praised the new pipes installed at the Reflecting Pool and a proposed promenade from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River. What they're saying: Trump addressed criticism he sometimes receives for working on his construction projects, saying he was "doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America, and it's got to be pristine." "It's got to be perfect. And if you take a look at it, that's what it is right now. You have no idea how much work we had to do." He also noted that he spends "very little time" working on the White House, but said he does it because "it's relaxing …I love construction." Catch up quick: Democrats outperformed expectations in Tuesday's midterms, flipping the Senate before the night was over and then the House a few hours later, according to the AP. Democrats have gained complete control of at least five previously divided state governments while ending Republican trifectas in several other states. In ruby-red Texas, the white whale of potential pickups, Democrats fli
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) formally launched his bid for speaker of the House on Wednesday in a letter to colleagues obtained by Axios. Why it matters: Jeffries is widely expected to become speaker after House Democrats' landslide midterm win. He would make history as the first African American to serve in the role. What he's saying: "I write to humbly request your support in connection with my candidacy to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives," Jeffries wrote. He added: "We must now deliver the dramatic change the American people are demanding in the majority." Read the letter in full, via DocumentCloud :
US president rhapsodized about ballroom features for more than 20 minutes, with no mention of Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ Less than 24 hours after suffering historic party losses in the US midterm elections , Donald Trump gathered reporters and network TV cameras at the White House to congratulate his team. “The whole thing is a miracle, and it’s all because of you,” the US president said into a microphone on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vice President J.D. Vance said in a post-mortem of the midterm results in an X post on Wednesday. Democrats flipped seven Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. Both Alaska and Mississippi Senate races remain […]
Trump Media stock and WLFI coin saw declines but he is still $2.7bn wealthier than when he won election in 2024 Trump’s wealth is falling along with his political fortunes. Tradeable investment assets that helped make Donald Trump over $2bn during his first year in office are collapsing in value the day after the Democrats trounced the Republicans in the midterm elections. Trump Media and Technology Group stock, which trades on the Nasdaq exchange, was priced at just over five dollars Tuesday morning – its lowest mark ever, and down from an all-time high of $101. It lost 11% overnight, dropping from $5.90 once the election returns started coming in. Trump has reported he owns 114m shares of DJT. Continue reading...
Donald Trump's Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, with the Democrats wresting control of Congress. What does this mean for US politics and the world?
The results from the U.S. midterm elections could be the beginning of the end of the Trump era.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin credited an absence of purity politics for his party’s landslide wins in Tuesday’s midterm elections, suggesting that a similar approach could be used to expand blue power in 2028. Democrats seized majorities in the House and Senate and are on track to gain governing trifectas in at least five […]
U.S. data-center spending won’t drop a lot, but watch for delays, relocations and increased expenses for individual projects
Joe Lavorgna, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said that Trump's 'inability to deliver' on economic promises is what created a backlash from the American working class and Republicans subsequent midterm losses. Lavorgna said that he does still back the administration's tariffs, but does take issue with the way they were executed. (Source: Bloomberg)
In early, preliminary figures, the news channel trailed several other networks in prime-time viewership On a midterm election night that was a huge disappointment for Republicans , with Democrats taking control of the US House and Senate, the country’s most prominent conservative television network felt the brunt of viewer disillusionment with Donald Trump and his party, according to preliminary audience numbers. The Fox News Channel, which often leads in viewership on election night, appears to have come out far behind the competition. According to preliminary “Fast Nationals” ratings dating from the Nielsen firm, the network averaged 3.882 million total viewers between 8 and 11pm, far behind broadcast networks NBC (6.519 million viewers) and ABC (4.906 million viewers), and even trailing fellow cable networks CNN (3.927 million viewers) and MS Now (3.922 million viewers). Fox News did, however, defeat CBS News, which attracted just 2.629 million viewers. Continue reading...
A Democratic Party riven with division unified around an economic message and avoided previous pitfalls.
America’s wealthiest political donors poured billions into the 2026 midterm elections, but several heavily financed candidates suffered defeats despite unprecedented spending and Supreme Court rulings that expanded political spending rights.
After his party’s historically humiliating midterm defeat, President Donald Trump’s first public move was to show off his ballroom. “This is a special structure. It’s going to be not only one of the biggest, but it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world,” Trump told reporters while congratulating construction workers at […]
Whatever happened wasn't going to be good because this should have been a lay-up election for the GOP given the top-line economic numbers.
Republicans lost most of the Democratic-held seats they had targeted to flip, lost others they had banked on retaining and got swept out of power by a Democratic surge fueled by voter dissatisfaction with Trump, the economy and the war with Iran.
Tuesday night’s blue wave flipped both chambers of Congress for the Democrats, ushering in a new class of medical experts to federal and state offices after vaccine policy and health funding were upended by the Trump administration.
Donald Trump responded to JD Vance’s comments on the Iran war ultimately being the reason behind the catastrophic Republican losses in this year’s midterms, saying 'it's largely true' JD Vance says US war on Iran is ‘real reason’ Republicans lost midterm elections Continue reading...
The war in Iran, efforts to promote fossil fuels and attacks on renewable energy contributed to higher prices for gas and electricity that drove voter discontent.
Bloomberg’s Carol Massar takes a look at what a blue wave means for the tech sector after Democrats won control of the US House and Senate in the midterm elections. Plus, AMD's forecast exceeds estimates as chip demand soars, showing the semiconductor supercycle still has legs. And the AI capital raise continues, as Meta kicks off a six-part debut euro bond offering, adding to a record wave of corporate bond deals in Europe. (Source: Bloomberg)
Data: Financial Modeling Prep ; Chart: Ben Geman/Axios Oil prices fell sharply Wednesday as traders weigh signs — including a widely circulated post by Vice President JD Vance — that the midterm election will add pressure on the White House to find an offramp from the Iran conflict. Why it matters: Elections have consequences. Wednesday's price drop — around $8 per barrel — deepened after Vance posted on X that "everyone knows" the war is why Republicans got pummeled and "any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there." Sen. Chuck Schumer (D), the likely Senate majority leader in the next Congress, vowed that Democrats will push to end the war. "This crude price drop is entirely about the U.S. election and the belief that Trump will de-escalate rather than escalate on Iran. JD Vance's statement amplified that sentiment," Ben Cahill, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, told Axios via email. What they're saying: Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with Raymond James, said in remarks circulated to reporters that Vance's post was a "key catalyst" for today's oil price plunge. "The market is saying that Congress and members of his own administration are likely to start acting as a constraint on President Trump's war in Iran," Seb Barker, a strategist with the hedge fund, Marshall Wace, tells the Financial Times. Catch up quick: Oil prices were already falling to start the week on signs of new U.S.-Iran diplomacy. What we're watching: "[I]t remains unclear whether Vance's comments signal a more dovish stance toward Iran," Molchanov said. "For oil prices to sustainably move lower, a durable off-ramp is needed," he added.
From top officials like Pete Hegseth to White House aides to right-wing pundits, the race is on to find someone besides Donald Trump to blame for the Republican's catastrophic losses.
Democratic leader says party expects at least 255 House seats and promises to deliver on affordability.
President Donald Trump said he does not know for sure whether Vice President JD Vance will run for president in 2028, mere hours after Vance posted a lengthy social media post distancing himself from the Iran war. Trump told reporters he spoke with Vance after Democrats flipped the House and Senate during the midterm elections […]
President Donald Trump ought to hammer Iran tomorrow. He has been waiting for the political season to end, and he ought to wait no more. Two months after the 2006 midterm elections — a vote which President George W. Bush called a “thumpin’” for the Republicans — “W” announced his Iraq troop surge. On Jan. […]
President Donald Trump gave extended comments Wednesday, not about the Republican Party's midterm election wipeout but instead justifying his building a sprawling White House ballroom.
Young voters appeared to distance themselves from Republicans in this year’s midterm election blowout for Democrats, according to a new poll. In The Voter Poll from SSRS, which surveyed 2026 midterm voters, 73 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 backed a Democrat for their House seat, while 25 percent of the age group backed…
Plus: the GOP's uncertain future, the rise of anti-tech populism, and the road to 2028
Even Trump seems to recognize that the relationship has become a political liability, and may never be the same On the eve of a midterm election that ended in an unequivocal rejection of his brand of politics, even Donald Trump seemed to recognize that the US-Israel relationship has become a political liability. Trump’s 11th-hour suggestion, on election morning, that he would cut military aid to Israel at the end of the year because, as he put it, “they don’t need it”, was condemned across the board – with pro-Palestinian advocates dismissing it as “desperate” and pro-Israel ones as “unserious”. Continue reading...
President Trump, in his first public remarks since Republicans lost big in the midterm elections, showed off the White House ballroom construction Wednesday. The president signed the final beam, along with workers and other officials, and watched it get lifted into place. He didn’t mention the midterm election results until taking questions from reporters, when…
Outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) sharply criticized his own party Wednesday, blaming Republican candidates’ divisive rhetoric and political infighting for a string of bruising midterm election losses that handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Cornyn lamented the party’s shrinking appeal, arguing Republicans had squandered […]
President Donald Trump made his first in-person appearance since Democrats’ landslide victory in the midterm elections at the site of his White House ballroom, where he spoke at length about his renovation projects in Washington.
US midterm results could reshape Trump’s political landscape and increase congressional scrutiny of his foreign policy.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) ribbed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday over the Democrats’ landslide midterm victory, saying the GOP leader was right in predicting the polls were wrong — just not in the way Johnson intended. Johnson, heading into Tuesday’s midterms, said repeatedly that the polls forecasting large Democratic gains were simply…
One of the biggest stories of the 2026 midterms came before any votes were cast: the mid-decade redistricting wars. Fearing a backlash to President Trump’s policies at the ballot box, Republicans in several states moved to redraw their congressional maps to shore up their House seats and minimize potential losses. Democrats sought to counter those…
After the GOP's losses in the midterms, President Trump hosted a celebratory event in the unfinished ballroom that stood in stark contrast with his new political reality in Washington.
A few days before this week’s midterm elections, which saw Democrats run the table and reclaim control of the House and Senate, The Wall Street Journal’s nonsubstantive Peggy Noonan said this was exactly what she was hoping for. Unfortunately for her and other terrible people like her, she got what she wanted but not for […]
President Donald Trump told the Washington Examiner that he isn’t worried about being impeached, even after Democrats picked up sizable majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. “Not even a little bit. I think it would destroy — I think it would destroy the Democrat Party if […]
While not an exhaustive list, here's a breakdown how the biggest measures fared on Tuesday night.
Ukraine and its European allies discussed the war-ravaged country’s economic recovery during talks with US officials in Brussels on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered a drubbing in the midterm elections.
Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) called the midterm election a “s‑‑‑ show” for Republicans following major GOP losses in key Senate and House races. “Republicans literally squandered their majority. Congratulations,” he told TMZ D.C.’s Jacob Wasserman. “We have people losing seats in states that we never thought we’d see, like Anne Wagner lost Missouri. Not…
Washington Examiner White House reporter Christian Datoc said officials at the White House are experiencing multiple stages of grief after the blue wave in the midterm elections. “My talks with White House officials, there was a lot of profanities,” Datoc said Wednesday on C-Span. “ … But folks were defiant, I think that’s the right […]
The midterm election results have fundamentally altered the balance of power in Washington. With a shifting legislative landscape, the incoming majority now holds considerable leverage, including authority over congressional oversight, committee investigations, and executive branch nominations. The American electorate has spoken, shifting control of the levers of power and signaling a desire for a new […]
Several counties in Northern California were hit with fresh grand jury subpoenas over alleged noncitizen voting just days before the midterm elections, local officials told CBS News.
Former President Clinton released a statement following the Democrats’ sweeping victory in the midterm elections urging them to work “with humility and determination” to rebuild public trust. “Last night’s victory gives us an opportunity and a responsibility to rebuild trust,” Clinton said his statement posted to social platform X Wednesday afternoon. “We should do so…
Owners of pilates and yoga studios in the US got political and encouraged their followers to vote on social media Your local pilates instructors only want you to do two things: breathe through your side-planks and vote. In the days leading up to the US midterm elections, a wave of posts from fitness and wellness accounts blanketed Instagram, eschewing their typical messaging around the importance of strengthening your core in favor of the importance of exercising your civic duty. Owners of pilates and yoga studios and instructors across the US posted reels and pictures on platforms like Instagram encouraging their followers and clients to vote. Engagement varied depending on their following: posts reaped anywhere from 70 to more than 10,000 likes. Continue reading...
The Democratic Party’s sweep into power in the 2026 midterm elections means Democrats will spend the next two years planning the extreme power grabs they have been agitating for, to be carried out if they retake the White House in 2028. Democrats have secured 54 Senate seats and could add two more in Alaska and […]
