Donald Trump emerged battered by an election night that was disastrous for his party, after failing to deliver on the promise that secured his second White House term: lowering the cost of living for Americans.Tuesday’s vote was “not expected to be a victory,” Trump told Republican senators a day after elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York handily won by the Democratic opposition.”I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he added.Steve Bannon, one of the leading architects of Trump’s Make American Great Again movement, had foreshadowed the Democratic wave: “The warning signs are flashing.””It was a very, very bad night for Donald Trump,” said Robert Rowland, a professor of communication at the University of Kansas.Democratic wins on Tuesday night shared “a common theme: the cost of living,” said Thomas Kahn, a professor of political science at American University in Washington.- Life of a baron -Billionaire Trump, 79, proclaimed Wednesday that the US has “the hottest economy we’ve ever had.”But that sentiment clashes with “the reality that people experience when they go to the grocery store,” Rowland said.Polls show Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with the cost of living, along with rising concern over the impact of Trump’s global tariff war.Instead of hammering home messages about rising costs and kitchen-table issues, Trump’s gone “completely off script,” Kahn said.Recent gold-and-marble renovations at the White House and an opulent Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate show a US leader out of touch with ordinary citizens, he said.”The American people are suffering… facing these high prices and struggling, they watch Donald Trump live the life of a baron,” Kahn said.Trump blamed Tuesday’s Democratic sweep on the federal government shutdown — now the longest ever, at 36 days — over a budget standoff in Congress.It has led to hits on social welfare programs, unpaid leave for hundreds of thousands of civil servants, and pared back public services.- ‘Kamikaze’ -Far from signaling a willingness to compromise, Trump slammed “kamikaze” Democratic lawmakers and urged Republicans to force through a budget bill.This would mean abandoning a key 60-vote threshold required for the Senate to advance legislation, a longstanding check on power that forces lawmakers to find bipartisan solutions.Republicans hold only a simple majority in the chamber but senators are reluctant to scrap the so-called filibuster.Without it, Trump and his party would be able to pass reforms including a voter ID law that would favor Republicans ahead of next year’s midterm elections, in which one-third of Senate seats and entire House of Representatives will be contested.Republican candidates are wary, after seeing voters who supported Trump in 2024 turn to Democratic candidates on Tuesday.- Uncoupling -Conservatives “have really tied themselves to Trump, but Trump is now underwater,” said Wendy Schiller, a political scientist at Brown University.Republicans now face the problem of “how do they uncouple from Trump,” she said. “What these elections showed is that they’re on the wrong side of these issues, according to a lot of voters.”However, Republican candidates are reluctant to directly oppose Trump for fear of being sidelined by more radical candidates, Rowland said.Trump’s comeback abilities are also unparalleled, considering his White House reelection after a criminal conviction and the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.”Anybody in the past who’s ever counted out Donald Trump loses the bet,” Kahn said.His return to power wasn’t solely due to the unwavering support of his base, but because he was able to attract undecided voters concerned about making ends meet.”He can survive anything except bad economic news,” Rowland said.

New York mayoral election winner Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday that he was ready to engage with his arch-critic President Donald Trump on the issue of cost of living.The Muslim-American lawmaker, whose rapid ascent from rank outsider to mayor-elect has stunned observers, joked at a briefing that the “White House hasn’t reached out to congratulate me.””I continue to be interested in having a conversation with President Trump on the ways in which we can work together to serve New Yorkers,” he said suggesting “delivering on his campaign promises around cost of living” as one.Mamdani, like Trump, put the high cost of living, impact of inflation and elevated grocery expenses at the heart of his campaign which triumphed over former governor Andrew Cuomo’s platform.”I think the lesson for the president is that it’s not enough to diagnose the crisis in working class Americans lives. You have to deliver on addressing that crisis.”Mamdani called out Trump for his own campaign promises to address the soaring cost of groceries, but seeking to suspend food assistance while in office under the government shutdown.After winning on promises to make city bus travel free, control rents and offer free childcare, Mamdani said “what scares Republicans across the country is the fact that we will actually deliver on this agenda.”Mamdani on Wednesday introduced the five women who will co-chair his transition.Among them is Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission under Joe Biden, and Maria Torres-Springer, who resigned her post as deputy mayor under outgoing mayor Eric Adams due to his engagement with Trump.

A majority of US Supreme Court justices appeared deeply skeptical of the legality behind a swath of Donald Trump’s tariffs as they heard a landmark case Wednesday that could uphold — or upend — the president’s economic agenda.Billions of dollars in customs revenue and a key lever in Trump’s trade wars are at stake as the conservative-dominated panel again grappled with the Republican’s attempts to expand presidential powers.The high court’s nine justices are considering Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every US trade partner, as well as levies targeting Mexico, Canada and China over their alleged roles in illicit drug flows.In a hearing lasting more than two-and-a-half hours, several conservative justices, along with the three liberals, questioned whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that Trump invoked confers the authority to impose tariffs.”The statute doesn’t use the word tariffs,” said Chief Justice John Roberts, and imposing tariffs is equivalent to taxation, which has always been a “core power of Congress.”The justices sought to clarify whether Congress has to give clear authorization for policies with significant economic or political consequences.Solicitor General John Sauer, arguing on behalf of the Trump administration, said this did not apply given the president’s inherent, broad range of authorities.”President Trump determined that our exploding trade deficits have brought us to the brink of an economic and national security catastrophe,” Sauer said.Sauer sought to frame the issue as one involving the power to regulate foreign commerce — including the ability to impose tariffs — rather than the power to tax.Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal, noted that the power to impose taxes is a “congressional power, not a presidential power.””You want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are,” Sotomayor said.- ‘Simply implausible’ -Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, questioned if Congress could reclaim powers once it delegates them to the presidency, suggesting that “as a practical matter in the real world, it can never get that power back.”Neal Katyal, representing small businesses challenging Trump’s tariffs, charged that it was “simply implausible” that in enacting IEEPA, Congress “handed the president the power to overhaul the entire tariff system and the American economy in the process.”He contended that the word “regulate” has also not been used to impose taxes.But there were questions too surrounding refunds if Trump’s tariffs were overturned, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett saying it could be “a mess.”The court’s decision, which could take months to arrive, does not concern sector-specific tariffs Trump separately imposed, including on steel, aluminum and automobiles.Trump has brought the average effective tariff rate to its highest since the 1930s, and has repeatedly warned of calamity if his duties are overturned.A lower court ruled in May that he had exceeded his authority, with the case ultimately making its way to the Supreme Court.Trump did not attend Wednesday’s hearing but several top officials did, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.”In recent years, the court has been reluctant to overrule presidential decisions of this magnitude,” ING analysts said.But the outcome is hard to predict, they added, as “upholding Trump’s tariffs would shift the balance of power from Congress to the President.”Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council noted that even as justices were skeptical, they appeared concerned about fallout from overruling the tariffs.”How do the refunds work?” Lipsky asked. “What does this mean for the president’s foreign policy ability to negotiate deals?”Although Trump’s tariffs have not sparked widespread inflation, companies say they bear the brunt of higher import costs.Lawyers noted that if the top court finds Trump’s global tariffs illegal, the government can tap other laws to temporarily impose up to 15-percent duties while pursuing pathways for more lasting levies.Countries that have already struck deals with Trump may therefore prefer not to reopen negotiations.