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    Deep-red Kansas votes for change as patience wears thin with Trump: ‘The economy is really taking a beating’

    Bills have soared in rural state buffeted by tariffs and war in Iran – and Democrat Adam Hamilton’s stunning upset shows how deep economic frustrations runLinda Olson always does her homework before voting – a trait she inherited from a family invested, and interested, in politics. Her father was a photographer who took portraits of political leaders in Washington, while her grandparents were farmers who cared deeply about their industry.In 2024, Olson’s research led her to Donald Trump. She trusted that the then-former president would improve their economic realities in Junction City, Kansas – where she was born and raised – if he returned to the White House. Continue reading… More

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    US midterm voters responded in a thunderous voice. This is just the beginning | Betsy Reed

    A note from our US editor: A reckoning is coming, but make no mistake: Trump is still president – we’ll need a free press in 2027 as much as we did in darker days. Please help today if you are ableBetsy Reed is US editor of the GuardianOver the past two years, millions of people all over the world have watched Donald Trump’s destructive reign unfold with one question in their minds: Is there no check on his power?This week, voters deciding who controls Congress responded in a thunderous voice: there must be a check on the president’s power. From Texas to Ohio to South Carolina, Americans surged to the polls to register their opposition to Donald Trump – and to show their support for the kind of leaders who will look out for the interests of everyday people rather than those of a corrupt ruling elite. And now many people are looking at politics with a new and unfamiliar feeling of hope. Continue reading… More

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    Was Elon Musk the US midterms’ biggest loser? – Stateside with Kai and Carter

    The tech industry spent big on the midterms, but it turned out to be a poor investment. Elon Musk poured a staggering $446m dollars into Republican-aligned political action committees (Pacs) and groups since last year, but his efforts didn’t pay off. Democrats won every one of the five Senate races where Musk’s America Pac spent the most money backing Republican candidates. Carter Sherman and Kai Wright are joined by the Guardian’s US tech editor, Blake Montgomery, to ask what the ‘blue tsunami’ will mean for Musk and the wider tech industry. Will this spell the end of AI datacenters? And if so, what could this mean for the US economy? Continue reading… More

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    US midterm elections 2026 live: Democrats eye historic upset in Mississippi Senate race as Republican blame game begins

    Democrat Scott Colom is leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the southern state; JD Vance pointed to the war in Iran as the ‘obvious’ culprit for Republicans’ lossLive results | How do you feel about the results?Sign up for Breaking News US emailAnalysis: Is this the beginning of the end for Trump?Dozens of Republican candidates directly endorsed by Donald Trump lost their US midterm election races, according to analysis by the Guardian, raising questions over the power of the president’s support.In past elections, Trump’s endorsements have been coveted. In the final stages of this year’s campaign, he actively urged voters to act as though he were on the ballot. Continue reading… More

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    A Democratic-controlled Congress will likely try to constrain Trump’s foreign adventures

    But the president still has veto power, which he can wield to dictate policy over tariffs, the war in Iran or aid for UkraineIn a rare occurrence, a US election may have actually been decided by foreign policy. Donald Trump’s war in Iran and international tariffs are seen as playing a key role in the inflationary pressures that drove so many Americans to vote against his party on Tuesday in what has been described as a “generational wipeout” for the Republicans.And in the coming months, the president is going to face severe headwinds on those policies as Democrats storm back into control of Congress, threatening investigations of some of his top envoys and Pentagon contractors, big fights over budgets linked to the Iran war, and greater scrutiny of US relationships with allies such as Israel. Continue reading… More

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    Republican blame game begins as Democrat’s Mississippi lead grows – as it happened

    This blog has now closed – our live US midterms results coverage continues hereWall Street surged at the open, after Democrats scored historic victories in midterm elections and secured control of US Congress.The Dow Jones rose 2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 both gained more than 1%. That’s quite a reversal: Overnight, stock futures fell sharply as investors worried about the prospect of tougher regulation of the AI sector and the impact on economic growth. Continue reading… More

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    Iran unveils ‘We will kill Trump’ banner – but US president may now be tempted to resume bombing

    Iran celebrates its claimed role in ‘regime change’ amid pressure on Trump to ‘finish the job’ with attackUS midterms live – latest updatesIran this week unveiled a huge billboard and banners over Enqelab Square in central Tehran. The billboard pledged in English: “We will kill Trump” – elevating the degree of personal animus with which Donald Trump is viewed in official Iranian circles.The poster depicts the US president behind bars with his head bowed. And in a sense, given the US midterm election results on Tuesday, Iran has indeed killed Trump, or at least the second term of his presidency. Trump’s reverse is all the more piquant because it comes on the day Iran’s leadership celebrates the anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, an event that ensnared Jimmy Carter, and a reminder of how Iran has ruined the prospects of more than one US president. Continue reading… More