Midterms: Donald Trump doesn't want to lose at all costs - and resorts to controversial means

Trump's power is shaking. Even here in Republican Ohio, his party could lose its majority in the midterms. So Trump tried a lot to influence the midterm elections. Four examples.

His first choice: money, of course. Trump's party has received millions of dollars in donations, and at the Republican convention in Texas he made serious promises about this. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the US Senate, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the US - over $5,000. This would cost the government over a trillion US dollars. This is totally unrealistic, both politically and financially. Nevertheless, Trump repeats this again and again, especially during the election campaign: “5,000 dollars.”

Postal voting is particularly popular among democratic voters. Trump repeatedly describes them as susceptible to fraud. There is no evidence for this. But Trump doesn't care. At the end of March, he ordered stricter regulations regarding the sending of election documents. Some democratically governed states sued. After a long legal wrangling, the Supreme Court blocked Trump's plan, at least for the time being. For critics, this is one thing above all: an attempt to disadvantage the Democrats and weaken trust in election processes.

And that is generally a good keyword. Because sowing doubts about democratic processes is Trump's thing. For example, in July in his last address to the nation: Our voting computers are threatened by hacking, manipulation and corruption. China and other countries have tried to interfere in our elections. Evidence of fraud was covered up. According to Trump, official documents should support the allegations. But they don't. Trump wants to continue his narrative of a stolen election so that he can use it if the Republicans lose the midterms. Then it would be easier for him to doubt the result.

In the end, it is important for Trump in the midterms that the Republicans win as many districts as possible. There is a tool to control this: gerrymandering. This is what it means when parties redraw the boundaries of constituencies in order, for example, to distribute voters from the opposing party across many individual districts. For example, in District 32 in Dallas, Texas. The Democrats won it in 2024. But for the midterms, the constituency was split up and merged with rural regions closer to Trump. Forecasts now show a clear Republican majority there. And the democratic votes would come to nothing according to the “winner takes all” principle.

But it's not always that easy. In Missouri, the Supreme Court dismissed the Republicans and rejected the new district layout. And it has to be said: Of course, the Democrats also use gerrymandering. Where all this will lead is still completely unclear here in Ohio and in many other states. We will definitely be there and report on everything related to the midterms on SPIEGEL.de.