Trump Midterm Elections Fallout and Transatlantic Allies, Digi Mart USA News: The sweeping results of the US midterm elections prompted celebration in Britain last week, with many wondering whether the era of Donald J. Trump had finally closed.
Is it no longer necessary to placate his impulses or pretend to respect him? Might the transatlantic “rupture” be mended?
Author Fred Kaplan says he hopes so, and expects the new Democratic Congress to rectify some of Trump’s more egregious stances and policies. But he warns that the danger is not over.
Trump remains president for another two years and is asserting his presence with unusual imperiousness, which is a concerning sign for allies across the Atlantic, since presidents enjoy much latitude in foreign affairs.
Kaplan argues that American politics has pivoted in several dimensions during the Trump era, so even if a Democrat succeeds him in 2028, there is little chance of returning to the pre-2016 world. Europeans and certain Asian allies who expect to spend small sums on defence while relying on Washington’s security umbrella should think again.
The winning Democratic candidates shared one central message, affordability, and the new Congress is expected to focus above all on restoring cuts to health, housing, education and other social programmes, with military spending discussed mainly in terms of how to reduce Trump’s $1.5trn defence budget.
Kaplan contrasts the response to this month’s defeat with past midterm losses. After Republicans lost both houses of Congress in 2006, President George W.
Bush acknowledged the “thumping” and changed course. After Democrats lost in 2010, President Barack Obama called it a “shellacking” and toned down some policies.
This time, Trump acted as if the elections did not reflect on his record, claiming Republicans lost because of poor candidates and that he would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE” had his name been on the ballot.
The article also says Trump elevated Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff, and that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, now titled Secretary of War, faces uncertainty over his position and possible impeachment efforts. Kaplan expects the Democratic-controlled Congress in January to pass bills tightening sanctions on Russia, loosening restrictions on military aid to Ukraine, placing stricter conditions on support to Israel, and barring withdrawals from major treaties and alliances, though Trump could veto them.
Kaplan concludes that international allies should prepare for more pain. Emmanuel Macron’s push for an “autonomous” European defence force, Mark Carney’s appeal for “middle powers” to band together, and a continent-wide increase in defence budgets, all responses to Vladimir Putin’s aggressiveness and Trump’s growing unreliability, should move forward and may accelerate.
