The Democrats will now take revenge on Trump and his ilk
This article originally published on November 4, 2026, in The Telegraph / London.
The day after America’s 2006 midterm elections, George W Bush said at a White House press conference that the result for Republicans “was a thumping”. As head of the party, he added: “I share a large part of the responsibility.” Bush told legislative leaders, Democrat and Republican alike, that he looked forward to finding common ground with them in the next two years. Very little of that will take place in Donald Trump’s Washington after the 2026 results.
Trump said repeatedly during the campaign: “Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot.” Predictably, Trump wanted a referendum on Trump. Voters across the political spectrum took him at his word, and now he, and increasingly disaffected Republicans, will pay the price, unable to escape the damage he has done to the party and the nation.
But Trump will not accept responsibility; he will point the finger at others for defeat. His most important international response could come in renewed attacks on Iran, likely again in cooperation with Israel, in the coming days, now that polls are closed. Whatever the strategic arguments for resuming strikes, and there are powerful reasons to do so, the triggering factor in Trump’s decision will be to show he is still “relevant”, as Bill Clinton once characterised his own wounded administration in 1994.
Beyond the possible immediate éclat of Iran, as Democrats take full control of the legislative branch, Washington’s next two years will be filled with stark partisanship. Democrats have planned how to wield their new control of Congress, using every committee, all of which they will soon control.
Endless congressional hearings will scrutinise all aspects of Trump’s last decade, not just the prior two years, but also his first term and the Mar-a-Lago interregnum. Every committee, within its jurisdictional lane, will dissect Trump’s actions, looking for wrongdoing, or even just political embarrassments.
Democrats face their own risks. Trump’s likely response is outright resistance, which will simply exacerbate political infighting. It is entirely possible the ensuing spectacle will cause even more Americans to recoil from politics, further undercutting civic confidence in their government.
Many of the investigations will focus on governmental operations, material fascinating to Washington’s denizens, but tedious to normal people around the country. One set of issues, however, will undeniably cut through, namely the mounting allegations of personal corruption, self-enrichment, conflicts-of-interest and ethical violations.
Indeed, current polling shows that the panoply of “corruption” issues was on voters’ minds before Nov 3. If Democrats can stay on a steady, evidence-based path, perceived as fair and not a witch-hunt, they could considerably damage Trump and his ilk. Of course, given the inherently political nature of all these investigations, that may ask more of the Democrats than they are up to.
Impeaching Trump for the third, fourth, etc time is undoubtedly on many Democrats’ minds. They would be well-advised to stay away from impeachment, which in the first term hardly deterred or constrained Trump. If anything, the impeachment saga emboldened and enabled him to do even worse.
Despite this historical record, Democrats will likely be unable to restrain themselves. They will contend that the near certainty of Trump pardoning “everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval,” himself included, requires aggressive use of Congress’s impeachment authority, which the Constitution excepts from the president’s pardon power. The Constitution prescribes impeachment for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” which allows enormous play for political factors, all of which are present here.
Impeachment proponents remain highly unlikely to garner two-thirds majorities in the Senate, the constitutionally required margin to convict Trump. His Cabinet members and lesser officials may not be so lucky. Even Trump family members who ostensibly hold no government position will be in the line of fire.
Vulnerability for officials will also certainly extend beyond corruption issues, as defence secretary Pete Hegseth, already the target of Democratic impeachment threats, could find out in short order. All those engulfed in the impeachment turmoil will face not simply the risk of being removed from office, but having to expend the time, energy, attention, and personal resources for legal services they may need. The struggle will be brutal.
But what of high policy, affairs of state, war and peace? Assuredly, policy issues will figure in the political fratricide that is about to begin. Especially in foreign affairs, however, the president’s is constitutionally predominant, checked primarily by Congress’s power of the purse. That won’t change, however weakened politically Trump becomes.
Indeed, frustrated lame-duck presidents often turn more to international affairs, the world outside Washington, to escape the drudgery of domestic policy. Think how much of the world’s geography remains to be renamed.
