US midterms begin in major test for Trump
Voting began in the United States on Tuesday as millions of Americans headed to the polls in midterm elections that could reshape Congress and test President Donald Trump’s political influence.
The first polling stations opened in Vermont early in the morning, while voting in New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and parts of Kentucky and Indiana began later.
The US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it would deploy a record 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states to oversee the voting process.
The elections will determine all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Voters in 36 states will also elect governors.
A victory for Democrats in either chamber of Congress could limit Trump’s ability to advance his legislative agenda during the remainder of his presidency.
Around 58 million of the country’s 210 million registered voters had already cast their ballots through early in-person voting and postal voting.
The first results were expected on Tuesday evening as polling stations began closing at 23:00 GMT. However, the final results could take several days to emerge.
In a last-minute development, Trump said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that they had agreed over the past few months to end US aid to Israel.
The announcement came as Israel’s financial support became a significant political issue, particularly in Michigan, one of the key battleground states.
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has strongly criticised the annual $4 billion in US assistance to Israel, a position that has attracted considerable support among voters.
Trump said he wanted to remove the issue from the Democrats’ political arguments, particularly those raised by left-wing candidates.
His position also reflected concerns among members of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, many of whom have questioned why American taxpayers should provide billions of dollars to another country.
Trump presented the move as an effort to protect American interests and keep the money at home.
However, there is an important constitutional distinction. The aid is approved and allocated by Congress, meaning Trump cannot end it unilaterally.
It remains unclear whether his announcement represents a last-minute election strategy or signals a possible change in US policy.
In Michigan, the two Senate candidates made their final appeals to voters ahead of the election.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are competing in one of the most closely watched and contentious races.
“It’s time. It’s up to us to show the country what’s possible. The world is watching,” El-Sayed wrote in a post on X.
He also shared a video compilation of his campaign activities, showing him meeting voters and appearing alongside former US president Barack Obama.
Rogers also urged supporters to vote, writing on X: “We have a state to save.”
His campaign shared a video featuring interviews with supporters, including one person describing El-Sayed as an “extremist”.
Meanwhile, Florida’s gubernatorial race has attracted attention as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis prepares to leave office in January after reaching his term limit.
Republican US Representative Byron Donalds is seeking to retain the party’s control of the governor’s office. However, he faces stronger-than-expected competition from former congressman David Jolly, a centrist Democrat.
Political experts said DeSantis’s record as a hardline Republican could influence the outcome of the race.
“Was [DeSantis’s position] going to alienate some voters? It definitely has. We’ll find out tomorrow if it’s enough to make a change,” Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said.
