US general election: Trump's Republicans clearly lose the US general election

Washington. In a clear reckoning with President Donald Trump's policies, US voters have given Democrats full control of Congress. Trump's Republicans have lost their majority not only in the House of Representatives, but also in the Senate - something that was hardly likely just a few months ago. The vote became a referendum on Trump, whom Americans blame, among other things, for rising prices. The Democrats even celebrated historic successes in states where they had not been able to win for decades.

The Republicans started the election with a majority of 53 Senate seats. Even before all the races were counted, the Democrats were projected to have 54 seats - with a chance of more. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton won the first Senate seat for Democrats since 1932. In Texas, James Talarico became the first Democratic senator in nearly 40 years. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won the seat that current Republican Vice President JD Vance held until two years ago. In a closely contested race in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim in the Senate.

Talarico won against scandal-plagued Republican Ken Paxton. Tech billionaire Elon Musk pumped more than $150 million into Paxton's election campaign - and supported the Republicans overall with more than $440 million. Musk responded to the Trump party's crushing defeat with a joke: "I guess my space lasers to influence the election didn't work this time."

In the House of Representatives, where the Republicans only held a razor-thin majority, there is a clear lead for the Democrats after the overwhelming election night. Leading Democrat Hakeem Jeffries is now on track to become the first Black Speaker of the House.

The loss of the congressional majority is a bitter defeat for Trump. It will make it more difficult for him to govern in the last two years of his term. Democrats will set the tone for legislation starting in January. Candidates for important government positions and judges must be confirmed in the Senate.

In addition, the Democrats in Congress can initiate investigations against the president and his administration. They have long had their sights set on numerous business activities of the Trump family, as well as deadly raids against migrants and the president's controversial construction projects in Washington. “Take lawyers,” wrote Democratic member of the US House of Representatives Robert Garcia on Platform X to the Republicans.

The House of Representatives can also initiate impeachment proceedings against the president. The Senate then decides on the actual impeachment - but this requires a two-thirds majority, which is difficult to achieve. The Democrats had recently shown little ambition to start impeachment proceedings against Trump again. In his first term, the impeachments failed in the Senate.

Trump announced that he would accept the results of the congressional elections and congratulated the Democrats, whom he had called dangerous and “sick” for months. At the same time, he announced on Fox News that he would make generous use of his right to veto. In order to override a presidential veto, the votes of two-thirds of the members in both chambers of Congress are required. Trump can also continue to govern by decree.

US voters went to the polls with enormous dissatisfaction with Trump's policies. In a large survey, 62 percent blamed the president's policies for the rise in prices in the country. 37 percent were dissatisfied with the situation in the country - and 38 percent were even angry about it.

According to the survey, the economic situation was the main issue for 39 percent of voters. Americans are particularly angry about fuel prices, which have risen sharply as a result of Trump's Iran war. They grew particularly rapidly - in some cases by more than 70 percent - in the middle of the country, where Republicans have traditionally done better.

In the voter survey, 40 percent said the economic situation in the USA was “not so good”. 35 percent described it as bad. Nearly two-thirds said Trump's import tariffs had hurt the economy. Unlike before, 43 percent are more likely to trust the Democrats to get the economy going - compared to 38 percent for the Republicans.

Trump had become a central figure in the Republican election campaign. He traveled tirelessly from state to state, always bringing the same message to his supporters: “Imagine if I were on the ballot.” But on election night he didn't want to hear any more about it: "I wasn't on the ballot paper."