The beginning of the end of Trumpism?
Tuesday’s Democratic sweep suggests the president’s star may be waning

As the dust settles on Tuesday’s US state and local elections, many are hailing a political earthquake.
For the first time in years, the Democrats have made significant gains at state level. Beyond the headline wins in Virginia and New Jersey, hundreds of state seats fell to progressives, even in traditionally conservative districts.
A year on from Trump’s shock election victory, it is hard not to link the president’s 38% approval rating with the Democrats’ victories.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
They “enjoyed particular success in the type of high-income suburban areas that the Clinton campaign was convinced would be sufficiently repulsed by Donald Trump to overwhelmingly back her”, says Ben Jacobs in The Guardian.
Following a shaky performance in 2016, the Democrats have romped home, “reinforcing a growing cultural chasm between white non-college educated voters and the rest of the electorate”, Jacobs adds.
But “as significant as all these wins are in their own right, they will also help shape the political future”, says The New York Times.
Coupled with the ever-growing list of moderate Republican congressmen and senators announcing their retirement in the face of hostility from the far-right, the results could galvanise progressive Democrats to stand, and win, seats they previously have not contested, tipping the balance of power in Congress.
Polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight has declared the Democrats to now be “slight favourites to retake the House [of Representatives] in 2018” - something that until this week had seemed unlikely.
Highlighting the divisions within the Republican Party, Trump mouthpiece Breitbart yesterday denied Tuesday’s results were a repudiation of the president, claiming it "would be more accurate to point out that, once again, the Republican establishment came up short”.
Not so, says The New Yorker. Since last year, “the president’s leverage over Congress has depended in part upon the belief that Republican voters now identified more strongly with Trump than with conservative ideology or the party”, meaning the way for Republican candidates to win office is to stick to Trump’s themes.
Yet following the rout in Virginia, “the questions now will be about whether even Trump can afford to stay loyal to Trumpism”.
He “remains the most powerful person in the country, if not the world”, says The New York Times, “but the election results show that he also remains the weakest first-year president in modern history”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
May 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons feature Medicare and Medicaid cuts, James Comey's social media post, and Trump's big beautiful bill.
-
5 cartoons about the Russia-Ukraine peace talks
Cartoons Artists take on a stand-in for Vladimir Putin and phone calls with Donald Trump.
-
Donald Trump's foreign policy flip in the Middle East
Talking Point Surprise lifting of sanctions on Syria shows Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are now effectively 'dictating US foreign policy'
-
Donald Trump's foreign policy flip in the Middle East
Talking Point Surprise lifting of sanctions on Syria shows Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are now effectively 'dictating US foreign policy'
-
Elon Musk says he's 'done enough' political spending. What does that really mean?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The world's richest man predicted he'd do 'a lot less' electoral financing moving forward. Has Washington seen the last of the tech titan?
-
'Organ donation is kindness'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Home energy: Bills are up, efficiency is out
Feature The Energy Star program saves Americans billions of dollars, but the Trump administration plans to 'eliminate' it.
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
'These businesses have appealed to generations'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Starlink: what Elon Musk's satellite soft power means for the world
The Explainer The rapid expansion of his satellite internet company has given Musk a unique form of leverage in some of the world's most vulnerable regions