▲ U.S. President Donald Trump
Following the U.S. midterm elections in which the Democratic Party swept both the Senate and the House of Representatives, major U.S. media outlets evaluated the results as a historic voter judgment on President Donald Trump's governance.
Analyses also suggested that the war with Iran and the resulting high inflation, combined with President Trump's self-centered governance, led to the defection of some of the base that had led him to victory in the 2024 presidential election.
In an editorial titled "The Moment of Reckoning for Trump," The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) evaluated that this defeat carries significance far beyond a typical second-term midterm election loss.
It noted that losing Senate seats and governorships in several states that were once Republican strongholds, along with successive defeats in down-ballot races such as state legislatures, could impact the party for years to come.
WSJ diagnosed that "President Trump himself is the main culprit behind this crushing defeat," pointing out that he intervened in Republican primaries—such as pushing loyalist candidates instead of competitive incumbents in Texas—thereby bringing about defeats in certain regions.
The newspaper added, "President Trump's erratic and self-centered second-term governance has turned a significant portion of the coalition of supporters he built during the 2024 presidential election against him."
Above all, WSJ analyzed that the war with Iran drove up fuel prices, exacerbating the burden of living costs, and that President Trump lost voters' trust by failing to present a consistent strategy and goal for the war.
In an article analyzing the election results, The Washington Post (WP) emphasized that "U.S. voters delivered a historic judgment against President Trump on a scale not seen since 1974," highlighting that the Democratic Party won landslide victories even in areas where it had not triumphed for decades.
It particularly focused on the fact that voter sentiment shifted toward the Democratic Party across demographic groups and regions.
Compared to the 2024 presidential election, support for the Democratic Party surged significantly among Hispanics, Catholics, and voters under the age of 30, the newspaper noted.
The New York Times (NYT) also diagnosed in an editorial titled "Americans Rejected Trump" that "the rejection of President Trump was broad enough to transcend the political polarization of American society."
The Republican Party lost even in its traditional strongholds, which the newspaper analyzed was because many independent voters and even a considerable number of Republican supporters concluded that the governance of the "second Trump administration" had failed.
Furthermore, mentioning favorable redistricting for Republicans, false claims of election fraud, and attempts to obstruct mail-in voting, NYT pointed out that "tens of millions of Americans came out to the polls to reject the Republican Party in the face of President Trump's multiple attempts to rig the midterm elections."
Regarding this election result, NYT evaluated that "an important mechanism has been established to check President Trump's autocratic behavior."
It cited as grounds for this that the Democratic Party, having retaken majority status in both the Senate and the House, has gained the power to investigate President Trump's corruption and illegal activities, and to pass legislation serving as alternatives to the Trump administration's counterproductive policies.
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