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Trump is still president, and we don't know where things will go from here - but sometimes it just feels good to see some terrible people have a terrible timeThe last couple of days have been very bad for Donald Trump. Of course, in Trump's usual style, he is denying that the Republican loss at the midterms has anything to do with him - but we all know it does. While I fear the Democrats will not use this decisive moment to exercise some ambition and take meaningful action, the goings-on of the last couple of days have been undeniably fun to watch.Seeing so many conservatives lose in such a spectacular way has blessed millions across the globe with powerful schadenfreude. It is a much needed moment of relief, an experience of positivity to rejuvenate our ailing nervous systems (or whatever biology does). Sometimes you just need to see some terrible people have a terrible time. For me, it's just been the icing on a cake I've been dining out on for the last couple of months: watching Trump supporters watch Trump describing other men's bodies in detail. Continue reading...

European far-right leaders quick to distance themselves from US president and stress their own priorities

The wins for Democrats come after years of cuts and upheaval to US health and science infrastructureA political organizations behind a wave of Democratic doctors and scientists winning elections up and down the ballot is calling the stunning rebuke of Trumpism the Stem swing" and revenge of the nerds".The wins come after years of cuts and upheaval to US health and science infrastructure, as Democrats spent big on health-related ads and as voters rejected the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement. Continue reading...

Criticism of US-Israel war on Iran seen as huge factor in Democrats' sweeping victory. Plus, a spiky customer steps into a North Carolina bagel store

Bitter postmortem under way as party comes to terms with Darline Graham's stunning loss to Annie AndrewsIt's not that Shane Brown somehow didn't know about the US Senate election in South Carolina. Nor was he unaware that the outcome of the race between Senator Darline Graham and her Democratic challenger, Annie Andrews, was shockingly competitive when he refrained from voting Tuesday.The campaigns would not let him forget it. Continue reading...

James Talarico and Adam Hamilton's interpretations of the Bible are wildly different from the conservative vision we are regularly fedTwo-thirds of Americans identify as Christian, but since less than a third of the country actually makes it to church regularly, many rely on what they pick up from the media - social or otherwise - to know what the religion means.And until yesterday, that received wisdom could be summed up as: a conservative, domineering, and above all anti-gay force fiercely committed to the Republican party.Well, let's just talk about what Republicans and Democrats believe, and I value Republicans, too. But ... Republicanism - often we hear it's about fiscal responsibility, limited government, a strong defense, and personal civil liberties, and let's say conservative values in some ways. And Democrats - if you think about what they stand for, it's education, it's the vulnerable, it's social safety nets, it's a progressive spirit that's trying to lift people up. And I said: if you think about those two, which sounds more like Jesus in the gospels? Continue reading...

Polling done for the Guardian shows plummeting support from a former key constituency of Donald Trump's basePolling conducted by the Harris Poll for the Guardian before the election shows just how angry voters were and points to one key reason Republicans lost so badly: plummeting support from rural voters, once a key constituency of Donald Trump's base.Over the summer, 95% of Americans indicated they believed there was an affordability crisis, particularly because of steep gas and grocery prices. By October, 61% of voters believed the country was experiencing a recession, even though technically it wasn't. Continue reading...

Senior leaders say party will be united' in focus, but progressives call on party to take radical actionProgressive Democrats have declared that significant US midterm election wins across the country are as much a repudiation of their own party's political establishment as of Donald Trump's presidency.After a string of left-wing candidates scored stunning victories from Texas to Michigan, senior Democratic leaders have stressed the party's new representatives in Washington will be united" in their focus on reducing costs for Americans and ending corruption under Trump. Continue reading...

A Democratic sweep has changed Washington's balance of power. But from gambling legislation to stadium subsidies, both parties have helped build the system that enriches American sports' billionaire ownersBefore a single vote was cast this election cycle, the technocrats and oligarchs who own American sports had already voted. Pro sports owners put more than $100m into this cycle, according to Front Office Sports. But Tuesday night was a referendum not just on Donald Trump and Maga policies, but on the puppeteers who pull America's strings. The people voted, and the owners lost.Before anyone frames this as a rescue, a word about the rescuers. Democrats are the instrument for ending Maga, and they are also the other face of the same coin. Think Republicans are behind all of our ills? Think again. New Jersey's governor, Phil Murphy, placed his state's first legal sports bet in 2018. Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed sports betting into law a year later. New York's mobile sportsbooks went live under Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022, with the state taking 51% of the revenue. Pritzker and Hochul both won Tuesday, and all of them are Democrats. In some of the biggest betting markets in the country, the bookmakers' most reliable partner has been a Democratic statehouse. Continue reading...

Administration had waged aggressive bid to sow doubt about midterms results but worst fears were not realizedIn the months leading up to the midterm elections, Donald Trump's administration waged an aggressive effort to sow doubt about the results, intimidate voters and election officials, and signal they would use the power of the federal government to challenge the electoral process.But when the results came in Tuesday night, revealing a massive blowout for the GOP, Trump did something almost unprecedented: he accepted the results. Trump said he was absolutely willing" to accept the outcome and looked forward to working with Democrats. With the exception of the 2024 election, which he won and Republicans performed well in, Trump has raised doubt about every presidential race and midterm since his first election in 2016. Continue reading...

Gordon Brothers still in active discussions' with interested parties and seeking to protect as many jobs as possible'The US owner of Poundland has said the high street chain remains challenged and vulnerable" after holding talks with ministers amid government criticism of its handling of the retailer.Gordon Brothers said in a statement on Thursday morning that it was still in active discussions" with interested suitors and had been seeking to protect as many jobs as possible". Continue reading...

The Democrats have taken control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. These charts and maps reveal the key trends and races behind this result

With many seats still to come in, the Democrats have taken control of the Senate, House and several key governorships. Find live updating results in full here

Accuracy of US polling came into sharp focus after Trump outperformed polls in 2016, 2020 and 2024Political polling experts hailed a great night" for the industry after surveys accurately foresaw much of the Democratic blue wave that swept across the US in midterm elections.In only a handful of US Senate races, including Texas and New Hampshire, key polls failed to gauge the scale of the Democratic victory over Republicans on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Guardian analysis shows how tumbling approval ratings may have hurt candidates backed by US president

This blog has now closed - our live US midterms results coverage continues hereWall Street surged at the open, after Democrats scored historic victories in midterm elections and secured control of US Congress.The Dow Jones rose 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 both gained more than 1%. That's quite a reversal: Overnight, stock futures fell sharply as investors worried about the prospect of tougher regulation of the AI sector and the impact on economic growth. Continue reading...

Amendment 81 would have required law enforcement to notify federal agents if people accused of violent crimes were not lawfully present in USColorado voters have spurned a conservative group's effort to force police and prosecutors to aid the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.Amendment 81, which failed to receive 55% of the vote on Tuesday, would have required Colorado's law enforcement agents to notify federal immigration authorities if individuals accused of violent crime were not lawfully present in the US or if their legal status was undetermined. Continue reading...

JD Vance calls Iran war into question as Thomas Massie files eight articles of impeachment

Donald Trump's crushing defeat in the US midterms over cost-of-living pressures is a warning for politicians closer to homeFascinating, isn't it, that for all that Donald Trump has got away with, it's arguably the cost of fuel that's finally led to an absolute rout in the midterms.So many Americans held their noses at so many other things, but in the end his own decision-making on Iran will haunt the rest of his presidency. Continue reading...

When the US's first Muslim senator used Arabic in his victory speech, it cut through the torrent of vile racism Maga launched at him throughout his campaignRepeat after me: yallah. YAH-luh. This versatile Arabic word means everything from hurry up", to come on" to speak to you later". If you add a bye" at the end, the meaning shifts to please shut up, fool" or speak soon friend," depending on your intonation.Next up: wallah. wa-LAH. Again, the definition changes depending on context and cadence. It can mean everything from no way!" to I swear to God." Continue reading...

Community college professor unseats incumbent Republican David Valadao in seat redrawn under Prop 50

US president rhapsodized about ballroom features for more than 20 minutes, with no mention of Democrats' blue wave'

Trump Media stock and WLFI coin saw declines but he is still $2.7bn wealthier than when he won election in 2024

Troy Jackson, in just 101 days, bested the Republican, preventing her sixth Senate term: You can't eat road salt'

Donald Trump responded to JD Vance's comments on the Iran war ultimately being the reason behind the catastrophic Republican losses in this year's midterms, saying 'it's largely true'

Even Trump seems to recognize that the relationship has become a political liability, and may never be the sameOn the eve of a midterm election that ended in an unequivocal rejection of his brand of politics, even Donald Trump seemed to recognize that the US-Israel relationship had become a political liability.Trump's 11th-hour suggestion, on election morning, that he would cut military aid to Israel at the end of the year because, as he put it, they don't need it", was condemned across the board - with pro-Palestinian advocates dismissing it as desperate" and pro-Israel ones as unserious". Continue reading...

The real question in my mind is whether Democrats will take advantage of the new age of populismThe great sleeping giant of the US has awakened, taken a hard look at what's become of the nation, and roared a thunderous NO!"What occurred on Tuesday was not - as some are saying - the inevitable midterm swing of the pendulum against the party in power. Texas hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1988. The last time Kansas elected a Democratic senator was 1932.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK Continue reading...

The 2026 edition of the tournament brought in untold amounts of money to Gianni Infantino's governing bodyThe total hasn't entirely stopped rising yet, still clicking away towards a final tally. Still, Fifa has already announced that it surpassed its own lofty revenue projections for the 2026 World Cup, bringing in $15bn, significantly more than anticipated. It appears that a third of that total - $5bn - came from ticket sales and hospitality alone, per reporting from the Times.That would mean direct income from the matchgoing fans came in five times as high in the United States, Canada and Mexico as it did at the last World Cup, in Qatar in 2022, when the total stood at $929m. While 2026's expanded World Cup added 40 games to the schedule, the takings nevertheless went from an average of about $14.5m per match to about $48m. Continue reading...

Democrats have won a historic sweep in the US midterm elections, winning back control of Congress in a major setback for Donald Trump. Senate seats went blue in traditional Republican strongholds such as Texas, South Carolina and Kansas, where the Democrats had their first win since 1932. Voters have sent a strong message of discontent to the Trump administration over the economy, the cost of living and rising gas prices. Trump is now a lame-duck president for the rest of his term. Lucy Hough speaks to our Washington editor, Ankita Rao Continue reading...

Trump's rout could be part of a democratic spring that began in Hungary. But will it extend to the French elections next May?Hungary, Brazil, Serbia, and now the US. So far this year, when their hand has been held to the stove, voters have chosen what the Texas senator-elect James Talarico, the new face of the US's Christian left, campaigned on as a politics of love": a society where we aren't at each other's throats, or a police state at ours.Is it any surprise that when there is clarity about the choice on offer, voters have started to shrink away from a vision fuelled by billionaire wealth and runaway inequality? Away from oligarchic rule and unapologetic corruption, connivance with aggression, expansion, colonialism and war; environmental degradation and the surrender of the human spirit to a reality mediated by the algorithm.Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out nowDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Government bond yields fall while initial fears ease over impact of election results on world's biggest economy

Democrats have taken back the House and Senate in the 2026 midterms. Here's what a majority in Congress means for them - and for Trump

Republicans' crushing setback will play out in stock markets, inflation, interest rates and economic growthDonald Trump's loss of control of the House of Representatives and the Senate has put the world economy on notice for an unpredictable final two years of his presidential term.After Democrats swept aside his Republican party in the midterm elections, analysts said the prospect of a highly erratic lame-duck president would have significant implications for financial markets, growth, inflation, government borrowing costs and living standards. Continue reading...

Donald Trump and his Republican party have been dealt a devastating blow in the midterm elections with Democrats taking control of the House and Senate Continue reading...

Exclusive: letter sent to department and agency heads signals Democrats will look to investigate Trump officialsA group of Democratic lawmakers are asking leaders in the Trump administration to preserve records in accordance with federal law or risk criminal penalties after voters across the country gave Democrats control of Congress.In a letter sent out to department and agency heads Wednesday morning, Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House committee on education and workforce who is expected to become chair next year, noted the requirements to collect, retain and preserve records that document the transaction of public business' or contain informational value' under the Federal Records Act of 1950". Continue reading...

Democratic leaders and seat-flipping victors from Tuesday's blue tsunami' offer post-election commentsThe broad repudiation of Donald Trump, his policies and the Republican party, focused on Trump's personal unpopularity, high costs of living and the Iran war, offer Democrats an opportunity to reset the US domestic agenda. But what will they do with it?Here, Democratic leaders and seat-flipping victors from Tuesday's blue tsunami" offer their post-election comments. Continue reading...

Voters watched results in near disbelief as James Talarico claimed victory in Senate race and Gina Hinojosa was elected state's first Latina governor

Rebecca Solnit and other leading writers on the epic changes to the political mapThis is a special election edition of How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America's political future. Sign up here to receive future editions in your inbox. Continue reading...

US voters elected the first black female governor and the first Muslim to the Senate on a night of historyThe US midterm elections have ushered in a slew of historic wins, shattering racial and gender ceilings, among other barriers, for races at the state and national level.Here are some of the ways winning candidates are making history: Continue reading...

The Democrats have had a resounding win, taking control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in a historic midterms result. Hosts Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy examine what went wrong for the Republicans and why voters turned out in droves to deliver the blue wave so many predicted.But perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Donald Trump accepting the result and vowing to work with the Democrats. So will he? Or could this make him more dangerous?Read more:Democrats win control of Senate as US voters reject Trump's agendaUS voters rebuke Trump as Democrats win control of Congress in blue wave'Analysis: Resounding wins for Democrats a wholesale rebuke of Trump's Maga movement Continue reading...

An impeachment investigation would enhance transparency and allow Congress to reassert its authorityIn Tuesday's midterm elections, voters sent the Republican party an unmistakable message: their love affair with Trumpism is coming to an end.The overwhelming victory for Democrats in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, was foreshadowed by a number of polls showing growing disenchantment with Donald Trump - and it was personal. Continue reading...

We'd like to hear from people in the US and around the world about their reactions to the results and what they could mean for the futureWe'd like to hear from people in the US and around the world about their reactions to the midterm election results, which saw Democrats win control of both houses of Congress after a series of sweeping victories over Donald Trump's Republican party.Were you surprised by the scale of the Democratic victories? How are you feeling about the outcome, and what does it mean to you? Continue reading...

Democrats of all stripes declared victory on Tuesday night in clearest sign yet voters have had enough of TrumpismNo single Democratic coalition can claim victory after Tuesday's resounding midterm results - all parts of the Democratic coalition can.Their wins were so sweeping, so resounding, that factional divisions fail to explain them. This year, the most important thing Democrats had to be to win was, simply, not Republicans. Continue reading...

Party sees historic victories with Gina Hinojosa's win in Texas and Georgia's Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming first Black female governor in US

Republicans routed as Democrats gain powerful new leverage over Trump for remainder of his presidency