Democrats take Congress as voters reject Trump over prices and Iran war

Democrats take both chambers

Democrats will take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the next two years, after the midterm vote on Tuesday, 3 November, delivered a surge at the top end of what pollsters had predicted. Democrats won Senate seats in Kansas for the first time since 1932, in Texas since 1988 and in South Carolina since 1998. The two chambers have changed hands in the same midterm only three times since the second world war, in 1946, 1994 and 2006, and this year it has happened again. According to The Guardian, a Democratic Congress will be able to block legislation, launch investigations into the administration and check Trump's judicial and senior government appointments.

What voters said

According to exit polls from the Associated Press, voters named the cost of living and government corruption as their two top issues. Voter polls cited by the BBC found that 79% of voters said inflation had caused them and their family severe or moderate hardship in the past year. More than six in 10 respondents blamed Trump's policies for higher-than-usual prices. Prices rose 3.7% in the year to September, driven higher by fuel and energy costs, according to government data.

Inflation caused severe or moderate hardship79%

Iran conflict a significant factor in vote74%

Iran military action the wrong decision63%

Inflation caused severe or moderate hardship

79 %

Iran conflict a significant factor in vote

74 %

Iran military action the wrong decision

63 %

Data from the article text

The Iran war and prices

The war with Iran, which the United States and Israel launched in February, has been a key driver of surging prices. Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, strangling passage of oil and liquefied natural gas and pushing up fuel prices at the pump. Around six in 10 (63%) of those polled said the US made the wrong decision to take military action against Iran. Three-quarters of voters (74%) said the conflict was a significant factor in their vote for Congress. Trump conceded to Fox News that the war had played a role in the Republican defeat, saying people did not like paying more for fuel.

Trump's final days before the vote

On Monday, 2 November, Trump stood at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and touted his $14m renovation of the site, blaming predecessors for the algae that once bloomed in its water. The Wall Street Journal reported that he viewed the beautification of Washington as one of his strongest legacies, despite aides advising him to focus on other matters. He claimed he had achieved more in two years than any other administration in history, saying:

“I've kept every single promise I made, except far more.”

In the same week he published an 'American declaration of freedom in space' and declared that week 'Anti-Communism Week'. On Tuesday morning, as polls opened, he told Fox News he would end military aid to Israel at the end of the year, he claimed.

Europe and the wider right

Politico's analysis warns that allies fear Trump will target NATO, and that he could move thousands more troops out of Europe or reduce funding for the alliance. Constrained by Congress on domestic matters, he may seek more control over foreign affairs, where he has greater freedom to act. Euronews asked whether a Democratic Congress would end the tariff threat against Europe and judged that it probably would not. The coverage notes that most leading Democrats have supported sending aid to Ukraine.

A wider pattern for populists

Viktor Orbán lost power in Hungary in April, and in October Flavio Bolsonaro in Brazil and Aleksandar Vučić in Serbia failed in presidential elections. Nigel Farage's Reform UK, which polled 31% in 2025, has since lost ten percentage points. The Financial Times reports that Farage is under investigation over an undeclared gift of £5mn, and that Bolsonaro faces a money laundering probe. Orbán faces allegations of crony capitalism, while Trump and his relatives made over $1bn in pre-tax profits over the past year, in part from the digital currencies sector.