Inside Team Trump's Historic Collapse
The gist
Democrats flipped the Senate and made sweeping House gains, with Jon Ossoff winning Georgia by 18 points.
The rout leaves Trump weighing his next move in the unpopular Iran war.
How it unfolded
- Six days before the electionMore than two dozen of Trump's top strategists joined a private video call, where Tim Saler laid out two scenarios for the $400 million MAGA Inc. super PAC, one optimistic and one a wipeout.
- Nov 3, 2026Democrats won a resounding midterm victory, flipping the Senate and making sweeping gains in the House; Jon Ossoff won reelection in Georgia by 18 points and James Talarico won a Senate seat in Texas by 12 points.
- Nov 4, 2026Trump said it was "largely true" the Iran war hurt Republicans because it drove gasoline up, but said "if I had to do it again, I'd do it again." The Democratic margin in the national House vote was expected to be about 13 points, the largest Democratic rout in at least half a century, according to the New York Times.
Key terms
- midterm
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
- super PAC
- A U.S. political action committee that can raise unlimited funds for independent campaign spending but cannot coordinate with candidates.
Source: Wikipedia