Repudiation

The American people repudiated Donald Trump’s presidency yesterday.

They rejected his policies, his strategy and the culture of corruption he made the symbol of his government. They rejected a president who attacked America’s closest allies, imposed enormous costs on people at home and around the world, and used public office to enrich himself and his allies. The result was unmistakable: Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, flipping seats in states and districts Trump carried in 2024.

This was a historic rebuke. Trump repeatedly urged voters to treat him as if he were on the ballot. They did. Voters turned his own demand into a verdict on his leadership.

It is a relief to see the country reject this kind of politics. It is also a mistake to confuse repudiation with renewal.

For nearly two decades, American elections have followed the same pattern. Barack Obama’s 2008 victory repudiated George W. Bush’s presidency and the Iraq War. Obama entered office with extraordinary goodwill. His administration left the country with private health insurers still at the center of health care, a banking system whose largest institutions remained too big to fail, and an expanded presidency with enormous power over war and surveillance.

Trump’s first victory repudiated Hillary Clinton and the Obama-era promise that the system was working. Biden’s victory repudiated Trump. Trump’s return repudiated Biden. Yesterday, voters repudiated Trump again.

Each election ends one political moment. None has repaired the machinery that keeps producing the next one.

Repudiation destroys the authority of a leader. It does not build a government people trust. It does not change the incentives that reward corruption, make political money powerful or let elected officials shape rules that protect themselves. The names change. The machinery remains.

The Democratic Party now controls Congress. Its victory is not proof that Americans trust the party or its leaders to reform government. A new majority can block an agenda, investigate abuses and reject nominees. That is power. It is not structural reform.

The danger is that the winners treat this result as permission to celebrate, reward their allies and take their turn operating the same system. The country has watched that performance before. Replacing one party with the other does not end the two-party cycle.

The public is already moving beyond party loyalty. Gallup found that 45 percent of Americans identified as political independents in 2025, compared with 27 percent identifying as Democrats and 27 percent as Republicans. The independent bloc is larger than either party’s base. Millions of people do not see either party as their political home.

The winners must answer the demand beneath this election: reform the system of government. That means comprehensive campaign-finance reform, independent redistricting to end gerrymandering, radical transparency and term limits. These are the foundations of a government that answers to the public instead of protecting the people who hold power.

Yesterday’s vote was a clear rejection of Trump. It was also a warning to the Democrats who replace him in Congress. Americans are finished granting political parties trust simply because the other party has lost it.

Repudiation is a necessary act. It removes permission to continue. It does not create a future.

The test begins now: whether the winners change the rules that enabled this crisis, or use their victory to inherit them.