Democrats’ House win won’t deter Trump

The order that the President has ushered in, barring a few edges, is here to stay

Ablue tide was evident in the United States midterm elections this week, a political shift to which President Donald Trump should pay close attention. Outwardly, the president and his Republican Party did well. They actually increased their hold on the US Senate – and traditionally, statewide elections are treated as barometers of the national mood. The midterms indicated that the Midwest, which won him the presidency, has begun to move away. Trump suffered electorally despite a US economy which is in the pinkest of health.

That Trump’s first response to the midterms was to dismiss his attorney general, Jeff Sessions indicates that the president is worried about the consequences of the elections to his presidency. He hopes that a more pliant attorney general will allow him to neuter the main investigation he faces – Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian electoral interference. The House of Representatives is now coloured a solid blue and this will allow the Democrats to harass the White House all through the remaining two years of Trump’s presidency. The Trump administration is now in its last effective year as the next presidential campaign will consume the remainder of its term. The Democrats will tie down his presidency with investigations and few have faith in Trump’s ability to defend himself ably.

India will be reassured that the one thing both parties agree on is the US’S confrontational approach towards China. However, it should be understood that Trump’s broadsides against the international order will not be reversed except perhaps in a few areas like climate change. The one lesson the Democrats have learned is that the US public today prefers a transactional and unilateral foreign policy, both in terms of trade and defence. The Trumpian order, minus a few rough edges, is here to stay.