Democratic control of Congress will constrain Donald Trump’s domestic authority, while he retains considerable room to manoeuvre on European security, trade and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to polls, the cost-of-living crisis was at the forefront of American voters’ concerns.
Democrats won across the country in the midterm elections, including in Republican strongholds such as South Carolina, Texas and Kansas. The party won the Senate, made decisive gains in the House and regained control of both chambers of Congress. It also won several governorships.
Some races had yet to be called on Wednesday morning. Yet the direction of the result was clear: Trump had lost both the House and Senate, shifting the balance of power in Washington.
Jack Blanchard called the outcome a “generational changing of the guard”.
European leaders reacted to the result. Sophie Wilmès, the European Parliament vice president and former Belgian prime minister, described it as a “major shift in the balance of power in the US Congress”.
Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, called the Democratic victory “historic”. Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, said: “American society voted against policies that only impoverish. Against hate. Against sexism. Against climate change denial and against the privileges of the elites.”
Roland Lescure, France’s economy minister, said Trump would be “quite weakened” at home while remaining “in charge of international policy”. Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said: “The foreign policy of the United States has not changed.”
European markets opened slightly higher on Wednesday in Paris, London and Frankfurt after the Democrats’ sweeping victory. The episode considered whether a Trump constrained at home could turn his attention towards Europe.
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