With voting still underway across the United States, Portuguese MEPs Francisco Assis of the Socialist Party and Tiago Moreira de Sá of Chega discussed whether the midterm elections could signal the start of the end of Trumpism. Assis said the key question was the scale of any Democratic victory, while Moreira de Sá cautioned against expecting a decisive break in policy.
Assis said that, if Democrats win control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Trump’s final two years in office could become more difficult and the decline of his political influence could accelerate. He pointed to voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the domestic impact of Trump’s external policies, including higher fuel costs and tariffs that made some imported goods more expensive. He also said Democratic voters appeared more mobilised than Republicans.
Moreira de Sá noted that Senate races in several key states were close and said control of the chamber remained uncertain. He argued that losing both chambers would constrain Trump, particularly on domestic policy, but would not necessarily bring the radical change some expected. The president, he said, retains significant authority in foreign policy and trade.
Both politicians described the United States as a democracy with strong institutions and a separation of powers. Moreira de Sá stressed that countries act on long-term national interests, pointing to continuity across administrations in the US approach to China and the strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific. Assis likewise said the shift in US attention towards Asia began before Trump, while noting that relations with Europe had deteriorated during his presidency, including over tariffs, Greenland and his approach to Russia and Ukraine.
Assis said a change in US policy towards Europe was more likely to depend on the next presidential election than on the midterms. Even if Democrats gain control of Congress, he added, they may not be able to prevent Trump from pursuing his agenda: the president has considerable room to act in foreign affairs and trade, and a Democratic majority would not necessarily reject every underlying foreign-policy priority.
Sources: Observador.