Trump Enters 2-Year Lame-Duck Phase After Democrats' 13-Point Midterm Win

2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Nov 14

A week after Republicans’ midterm rout, Trump is entering a weakened final two years with allies and critics alike bracing for a more erratic, confrontational presidency.
Democrats’ 13-point victory — the party’s second-biggest midterm margin since 1942 — was driven by the Iran war, high living costs and backlash to deadly masked immigration raids in Minneapolis.
Trump has answered with mixed signals: calling his deportation push “too tough,” rejecting amnesty, elevating hardliner Stephen Miller to chief of staff and backing Pete Hegseth after an impeachment bid failed.
Republicans still show little sign of breaking with him, electing Jim Jordan as minority leader and largely rallying behind Trump despite the losses, raising the prospect of a more Maga, not less, endgame.
With Democrats taking Congress in January, Trump’s room at home will narrow, but analysts warn he still has broad latitude abroad on Iran, Nato, Ukraine and China during the run-up to the 2028 succession fight.