Americans headed to the polls in yesterday’s midterm elections to deliver a verdict on the first two years of President Donald Trump’s second term, with surveys and nonpartisan analysts favouring Democrats to wrest the House of Representatives from Republicans while control of the Senate remains uncertain.
The battle for the Senate is unfolding across nearly 10 closely contested statewide races, most in Republican strongholds.
History is against Trump’s Republicans: the sitting president’s party has lost ground in Congress in all but two midterm elections since the Second World War.
Trump’s approval rating is hovering near his all-time lows, dragged down by deep voter frustration over the war with Iran and the resulting rise in fuel prices.
There is little doubt this year’s election is all about Trump, who is nearly two years into his second term. Trump himself has told his supporters repeatedly to ‘pretend I’m on the ballot’, a message Democratic leaders have happily echoed.
Trump touted in a television interview what he billed as his achievements in Venezuela and Iran and declared optimism for fellow Republicans.
In remarks that appeared aimed at swaying voters unhappy with US support for Israel, Trump said that he intended to stop $3.8 billion in promised annual funding to Israel after the end of this year, but it was unclear how he would do so, given a 2020 law mandating the funding levels in the agreement with Israel.
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