The Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the US midterm elections, losing its majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The result triggered fierce internal recriminations, with lawmakers, advisers and party officials identifying President Donald Trump as the central cause.

In mid-October, only weeks before the vote, Trump reportedly asked a close associate how the party had reached such a poor position. By then he had begun travelling across the country, trying to mobilise apathetic voters in districts Republicans had won comfortably two years earlier.

The party faced exceptionally difficult conditions. Democrats were energised, fuel prices had risen, inflation had revived concerns about living costs, and Trump’s approval rating had fallen to record lows. A gloomy Republican operative in Texas said voters were angry and that the president had done nothing to address it.

The losses exceeded expectations. Republicans lost districts Trump had carried by more than 10 percentage points only two years earlier. Two Democratic sources believed a strong performance could give their party more than 240 House seats. In the Senate, Republicans lost ground in traditional strongholds including Kansas, Iowa and South Carolina.

The result is likely to leave Trump substantially weakened during the final two years of his term. Democratic investigations and opposition could obstruct his agenda. Within the Republican Party, officials began blaming an overly optimistic strategy, indecisive messaging and the selection of weak candidates.

Many Republicans nevertheless concluded that they had been unable to overcome Trump. Republican strategist Barrett Marson said the election cycle would have looked very different if the war had not happened, because only one person had started it.

The White House rejected the idea that Trump was responsible. An official said the president had promoted many candidates more effectively than the candidates had promoted themselves. That argument marked a sharp change from earlier plans to use Trump’s popularity to preserve the party’s narrow congressional majorities.

Republican leaders had initially relied on Trump’s MAGA coalition, a major spending and tax-cut package known as the Big Beautiful Bill, and an economy that appeared resilient. They planned a unified message focused on living costs, lower medicine prices and the need for two more years to complete their programme.

Another advantage was supposed to come from an unprecedented redistricting effort organised by James Blair. The plan sought to tilt more than a dozen districts towards Republicans and reduce the number of seats they would have to defend. It was presented at closed meetings beginning in February, even though its authors recognised that the unpredictable Trump might follow his own course.

Less than two weeks later, Trump launched a surprise attack on Iran. A large part of the country’s senior leadership was killed, but the expected rapid collapse of the regime did not occur. The conflict expanded, American service members died, and the disruption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz created a global energy crisis.

Trump and his senior advisers initially claimed the war was nearly won and would end within four to six weeks. Some advisers privately warned that oil reaching $100 a barrel could become a political disaster. Fuel prices in the United States later approached $4 a gallon, while food prices also rose.

The war displaced the president’s economic agenda. A planned tour to promote his achievements was frozen, and decisions about how to use the nearly $400 million accumulated by MAGA Inc. were delayed. Allies believed Trump had abandoned his political identity as a president focused on economic growth and keeping the United States out of foreign wars.

Some Republican lawmakers discussed whether to distance themselves from Trump over tariffs and the war. Most hesitated, fearing the loss of MAGA supporters or Trump’s personal anger. Candidates were left without a clear position on the conflict as the economic foundations of their campaign collapsed.

The White House tried to calm voters by approving access to cheaper forms of petrol, allowing truck drivers to use untaxed diesel and promising support payments to farmers worth approximately $15 billion by election day. A temporary increase in beef imports, intended to lower food prices, instead angered Republicans across the Midwest.

Candidates personally backed by Trump also became liabilities. In Texas, scandal-plagued Ken Paxton performed poorly; Michael Whatley started weakly and never recovered in North Carolina; and Darlene Graham appeared politically inexperienced in South Carolina. In Kansas, Republicans rushed to protect Senator Roger Marshall as Democrats expected a victory there for the first time in nearly a century.

After internal polling showed Republicans consistently trailing, Trump launched an intensive final-month tour. He visited a different city almost every day and urged supporters to vote as if his name were on the ballot. The rallies energised parts of the base but did not overcome concerns about the war and high prices.

As the campaign ended, his messaging became increasingly erratic. In Ohio, he publicly commented on Republican John Husted’s physical shape, linking it to Husted’s college football career. In his final speech before the election, Trump devoted extensive attention to construction work and algae problems at the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial.

The mobilisation of Trump’s most loyal supporters ultimately failed to stop the blue wave. Republicans were left debating whether the defeat reflected a series of party mistakes or the political weight of the president himself.

Source: dnes.bg