Press in Japan and Pakistan sees the election as a defeat for Trump and asks about the consequences for their own country
Japan's major newspapers lead with the Republicans' defeat, Tokyo fears a Trump who moves closer to Asia's adversaries, according to Jiji, and Pakistan's Dawn warns against being too close to Trump.
On the morning of 5 November 2026, newspapers in Japan and Pakistan read the result of the congressional election through the lens of their own country's situation. The basis is projections according to which the Democrats win the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no official final result yet.
Japan: defeat on page 1, concern about investment. According to the press review of the portal Response (Fukuda Toshiyuki, 0:14 CET), Asahi, Tokyo Shimbun and Nikkei lead on their front pages with a historic defeat for Trump's Republicans. Yomiuri, Mainichi and Sankei headline that the Democrats have retaken both chambers. According to the review, the Yomiuri warns that uncertainty about Trump's course could affect companies' investment decisions. According to a Mainichi headline, the benchmark index on the Tokyo stock exchange at times moved by more than 3,000 points, out of concern about stricter rules for artificial intelligence.
Japan: concern about Trump's Asia policy. The agency Jiji, published at Nippon.com (0:30 CET), reports growing concern in Tokyo that Trump could move closer to China, North Korea and Russia to secure a foreign-policy legacy. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to meet Trump as soon as possible to reaffirm the unity of the two countries. The report does not cite any statement by Takaichi herself on this.
Pakistan: Iran war as the reason, closeness to Trump as a risk. The editorial of the newspaper Dawn (3:00 CET) sees Trump's style of government, the war against Iran and the cost of living as the reasons for the result. It speaks of the “unpopular war of choice with Iran”. The paper considers a radical change in foreign policy premature, because Trump retains the veto and many Democrats are also close to Israel. It calls on opponents of the war in both parties to stop attacks on Iran.
Columnist Khurram Husain writes in Dawn (3:08 CET) that Pakistan's leadership has moved too close to Trump. Congressional investigations into the Trump family's business dealings could hit the country; he cites a letter of intent on a cryptocurrency and a contract with a drone company. No wrongdoing has been proven, and the White House denies conflicts of interest. Husain expects the US to withdraw more quickly from commitments in the Middle East. Pakistan, he says, should become more independent.
What the voices have in common is that they read the election as a defeat for Trump. They disagree on whether an unpredictable Trump or a US withdrawal is the greater concern for their country. These are the views of the respective media and authors. More press voices are under reports, and what the new Congress can do from January is in the timeline.