Washington, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump faced a radically transformed and hostile political landscape on Wednesday after US voters handed control of Congress to the Democrats in a stunning rebuke to his presidency.

The result was a personal humiliation for the 80-year-old Trump as a Democratic wave swept into his Republican heartland, boosted by anger at soaring energy prices and his costly war with Iran.

The Democratic capture of the Senate and House of Representatives signals an end to Trump’s stranglehold on US politics and gives Democrats the power to block legislation, launch probes into the Administration and thwart his appointments.

Another stark challenge to Trump came from closer to home as Vice-President JD Vance, a likely 2028 presidential candidate, said that Republicans lost the midterms because of the Iran conflict.

“The reason we lost is the war,” said Vance, who had reportedly been sceptical about the war Trump launched in February. “Everyone knows why we lost.”

Hakeem Jeffries, expected to be the next speaker of a Democratic House, singled out the high cost of living as the defining issue for voters and predicted Democrats could end up with as many as 255 seats in the 435-member chamber when all the votes are counted.

Jeffries, appearing on MS Now, said his party would focus not on retribution but on fulfilling its promise to lower the prices of groceries, gas, housing and health care.

Trump, whose approval ratings were at record lows going into Tuesday’s vote, struck a conciliatory tone despite his history of rejecting election defeats, telling
The New York Times he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results.

The White House made it clear, however, that Trump wasn’t going to take a back-seat during the remaining two years of his presidency.

“TRUMP IS STILL YOUR PRESIDENT,” the White House said in a post on X that featured a picture of a glaring Trump in the Oval Office.

Trump, in remarks to Fox News, acknowledged that the Iran conflict had contributed to the defeat but defended the military campaign.

He said Democrats did a “good job” and “fought hard” while distancing himself from his party’s poor showing.

Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE” if he had been on the ballot, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump also repeated his threat to use the presidential veto on Democrat-passed bills, posting a picture of a red baseball cap reading just: “VETO.”

Democrats flipped seven Senate seats that had been held by Republicans, scoring breakthroughs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, and Maine.

Two Senate races — in Mississippi and Alaska — remained too close to call up to press time on Wednesday.

In Maine, former logger Troy Jackson defeated long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins.

In Kansas, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the reliably conservative state since 1932.

Iowa had not elected a Democratic senator since 2008.

In Texas, James Talarico, one of several young, charismatic politicians put up by the Democrats, won a Senate seat and Democrats also won the governor’s race, ending decades of Republican rule.

Democrats protected key Senate seats of their own, including Jon Ossoff in Georgia and an open seat in New Hampshire.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, who Trump crudely derided as a “jihadist,” defeated former Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers, making him the first Muslim elected to the upper chamber of Congress.

In the House, Democrats made gains in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and New Jersey, including districts Trump had carried comfortably in 2024.

Democrats also won Georgia’s governorship, electing former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first black woman governor in US history.

Republicans had some consolation in Florida, where Trump-backed Byron Donalds became the state’s first black governor and Ashley Moody retained a Senate seat.

But the night was “a big wipeout and a strong repudiation of Donald Trump and his policies,” George Washington University Professor Todd Belt told AFP.

Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico speaks after winning the Texas race during a midterm election night watch party at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday. (Photo: AFP)