Press in Germany, Ukraine and South Korea expects a defeat to do little to slow Trump

In the press of several countries, a common line emerges on the day before the congressional election. The authors expect losses for the Republicans, at least in the House of Representatives. They do not expect President Trump to govern differently afterwards. He could act around Congress with vetoes and executive orders. Chinese state media, by contrast, interpret the election as evidence of shortcomings in the political system.

Germany. Gerhard Spörl writes in his column at t-online that even a Democratic victory would change little for Trump. He governs by executive order, he writes, and the Supreme Court has given him a free hand with immunity for official acts. “This president has always governed around Congress,” Spörl writes (t-online, 2 November 2026, 11:02).

Ukraine. At the Kyiv Independent, Martin Fornusek expects that a Democratic Congress would be more favorably disposed toward Ukraine and would scrutinize the administration more closely. Foreign policy, however, would remain in Trump's hands. A veto can only be overridden with two thirds in both chambers. He quotes James M. Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations: Congress has a “weak track record” of overriding vetoes (Kyiv Independent, 2 November 2026, 7:44 CET).

South Korea. The business newspaper Asia Economy writes that Trump is already preparing for a defeat. According to its New York correspondent Hwang Yoon-ju, Trump said in an interview with the New York Post that if the Democrats win, he would stop their bills with vetoes until they negotiate. He would then probably be “Mister Veto” (Asia Economy, 2 November 2026, 5:40 CET).

China. In a report by its reporter Liu Chen, the state agency Xinhua calls the election a report card on Trump's term in office. The Democrats are likely to win the House of Representatives, while the Senate is open. Above all, Xinhua sees three problems: the growing influence of money, the division between the parties and declining trust in elections and institutions (Xinhua, 2 November 2026, 8:32 CET).

The difference lies in the perspective: the texts from Germany, Ukraine and South Korea ask about Trump's room for maneuver, Xinhua about the political system of the US. All texts are the authors' assessments, not government statements. Xinhua is a state medium. Earlier press reviews are under Reports. The forecasts for both chambers are on the Senate and House of Representatives pages.