Commentaries in South Korea, Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany draw lessons from the election for their own politics

On 4 November 2026, newspapers in several countries commented on the result of the congressional election less as an event in the US than as a lesson for politics in their own country. The basis is projections according to which the Democrats win the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no official final result yet. The commentaries disagree on how far the lesson can be transferred.

South Korea: a warning for its own politics. In its editorial (16:10 CET), the newspaper Hankook Ilbo sees a verdict by voters on Trump's unilateral actions, the Iran war, high prices and tariffs against allies. The result is “권력의 오만과 폭주로 생활고를 부추긴 트럼프가 받아든 냉엄한 성적표” (a harsh report card for Trump, who worsened people's hardship with the arrogance of power). Korean politics should take the case as a cautionary example.

Austria: a setback for right-wing populists, but no automatic effect. The portal oe24 (17:06 CET) places the election alongside elections in Brazil, Hungary and Serbia. Bochum political scientist Oliver Lembcke says there: “Trump's defeat damages the narrative that international right-wing populism is unstoppably on the advance.” He does not expect an immediate decline in support for the AfD in Germany, because the situation is different in every country.

Italy: the government's distance from Trump. The newspaper Domani (8:12 CET) writes that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has long since distanced herself from Trump. He is “radioattivo anche per l’elettorato di centrodestra” (radioactive even for voters of the centre-right parties). For Italy, the defeat changes little in practice.

United Kingdom: a lesson for Farage. Adam Bienkov writes in the opinion section of Byline Times (10:32 CET) that the election shows the limits of large donations. He sees in this a lesson for Nigel Farage and his party Reform UK, which also receives money from major donors. Money, according to Bienkov, “doesn’t necessarily buy you respect”.

Germany: the Democrats need an agenda of their own. The Frankfurter Rundschau (16:56 CET) reads the result as a rejection of Trump's national-populist politics. But investigations and containing Trump are not enough for the Democrats. “It will not help them in this to want to pick up where things were before Trump.”

What the commentaries have in common is that they relate the result to politics in their own country. They differ on whether this will lead to a turn against right-wing populists in other countries. These are the views of the respective newspapers and authors. Earlier press reviews are under Reports, the state of the count at the Senate and the House of Representatives.