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“It’s doomsday,” one Republican staffer said as the room began to realise the scale of the Republican losses. Expectations at this Maga watch party were always low; but this was worse than anyone imagined. What they were watching was a transfer of power – and the beginning of the end of the long Trumpian age.

The Democratic surge was at the top end of what the pollsters predicted, and they will now take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the next two years. What they do with that power is an open question. But these results are an unequivocal rejection of President Trump. His imperious grip on American politics has been loosened. The way he has governed over the past two years has rapidly torn apart the coalition that elected him in 2024. He promised to lower bills, keep America out of foreign wars and protect the working class. He has not done so.…