US Midterm Elections Results 2026: Democratic Party Regains Control, Rebuking Trump's Claims

US Midterm Elections Results 2026: After months of to-and-fro on a trade deal triggered by harsh tariffs on India, the Donald Trump administration, in the run-up to the 2026 US midterm elections , showcased a “new and improved trade agreement” with India among key trading partners as a win for the US, which could foster industrial growth in the country. The Trump administration also sought votes for “leveraging his dealmaking ability” to achieve peaceful resolution of the several conflicts throughout the world, including between India and Pakistan (New Delhi has contested the involvement of a third party in the ceasefire reached in May last year). Yet, the Democratic Party has regained control of the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, and the House of Representatives, the lower house, after voting in the 2026 US midterm elections concluded on Tuesday. In fact, the Democrats have won in several states that have traditionally voted Republican. This reveals a major rebuke for Trump — and his claims on the economy and peacemaking. What Trump and claimed and promised The White House on November 2 said that US President Donald Trump had “promised” that he would be a champion for the American worker, who suffered under lopsided trade deals. “President Trump has delivered better terms for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers by levelling the economic playing field with our trading partners,” the White House claimed. “By using tariffs as leverage, President Trump secured new and improved trade agreements with major US trading partners covering more than half of global GDP — including the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, China, India, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia,” the statement read. The White House statement said that Trump had promised that warmongering would be expelled from the government. “President Trump has achieved remarkable success, leveraging his dealmaking ability to achieve unprecedented peace in eight conflicts throughout the world,” it said. According to the US government, the Trump administration resolved conflicts between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Israel and Hamas and that Trump is “now driving the push for trilateral talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine”. After the India-Pakistan ceasefire Minister of External Affairs of India, S. Jaishankar had said, “I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President [JD] Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9,” Jaishankar said. “There was no linking of trade and ceasefire.” What US citizens actually face Trump came to power on promises of addressing the cost of living crisis in the US. However, the concerns on this front have only flared up. The inflation rate in the US was 2.4% when Trump took charge. But it has not come back to that level since. At last count, it was at 3.7% — almost double of the US central bank target of 2%. The results showed that the economy proved to be the single-most important issue on which votes were cast. The AP Voter Poll, conducted by SSRS, found that 39% of voters considered the economy the country’s most important issue, followed by the state of democracy (32%) and immigration (14%). Nearly three-quarters rated the economy poorly, while 65% believed Trump’s policies had worsened economic conditions. Another 62% blamed his policies for higher-than-usual prices. Trump’s policy choices have directly contributed to the spike in inflation rate, which has robbed average US workers of any real earnings growth. He has pursued his sweeping tariff war despite a Supreme Court setback. But research has shown that it is the US consumer who has actually ended up paying for these tariffs. And then there’s the war he launched in Iran, which further spiked fuel prices. Since the Iran war, retail fuel prices have gone by almost 50%. The continuing war in Iran also directly contradicted his claims of bringing about peace across the world. The AP Voter Poll found that 62% of voters believed the US had been wrong to launch military action against Iran, while 74% said the conflict was a major or crucial factor in their Congressional vote. While India and the US signed a framework agreement earlier this year in February, both countries are yet to officially sign an agreement. As per the framework agreement, the US and India agreed on a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement aimed at lowering tariffs, opening markets and reshaping energy and technology ties, as both sides work towards a full bilateral trade pact. Under the framework agreement, India had agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a broad range of US agricultural and food products, including animal feed, nuts, fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits. But the framework agreement is yet to be implemented. And the US agreed to apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18% on many Indian goods, including textiles, clothing, leather, footwear, plastics, chemicals and certain machinery, under existing executive orders. It also agreed to remove tariffs on certain aircraft and aircraft parts, generic pharmaceuticals, gems, and diamonds and provide preferential market access to India in sectors of respective interest. India had also agreed to buy $500 billion worth of US goods over five years, including energy products, aircraft, precious metals, technology products and coking coal. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told The Indian Express last month that the two countries were “incredibly close” to signing the deal, and that “99 per cent of the work” had been done. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also said that the US free trade deal is sometimes sought to be politicised by a few elements, but India will get a competitive advantage when the US deal is signed.