Italy's front pages interpret Trump's defeat differently, commentaries in South Africa and Saudi Arabia see him as still powerful abroad

On the morning of 5 November 2026, the first newspaper editions since the congressional election are out in Italy, along with commentaries from South Africa and Saudi Arabia. The basis is projections according to which the Democrats win the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no official final result yet.

Italy: defeat or just a setback. According to the press review of the agency Opinione, La Repubblica (3:30 CET) leads with “L'America è di nuovo grande” (America is great again) and speaks of a defeat for Trump and a halved president. In the lead article, Paolo Mastrolilli writes that Trump is defending his decisions, starting with Iran. La Stampa (1:12 CET) leads with “Trump umiliato” (Trump humiliated) and reports celebrating stock markets and falling share prices of Elon Musk's companies.

The conservative newspaper Il Giornale (press review of 4 November, 22:33 CET) also headlines the halved Trump. One piece pushes back: “Ma il trumpismo è vivo e vegeto” (But Trumpism is alive and well), the progressives lack ideas. As reasons for the result, the paper cites fuel prices and inflation. Under the line about the view from Rome is the headline that Prime Minister Meloni sees the right winning that does not shout.

South Africa: Trump weakened, the pressure remains. Makhudu Sefara, editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times and TimesLIVE, assesses the election in a commentary on TimesLIVE (5 November) as a historic rebuke for Trump. With the Senate majority, the Democrats could launch investigations, for example into the war with Iran and into a refugee admission programme only for Afrikaners, whose justification he considers false. But Trump remains in office, and South Africa will drop out of the AGOA trade programme on 1 January. His conclusion: “The Washington bully has a bloodied nose.”

Saudi Arabia: no turnaround in the Middle East for now. The newspaper Arab News (Jonathan Gornall, 4 November, 22:03 CET, updated 1:29 CET) writes that the new Congress could rein in Trump on the war with Iran from January. The veto and the powers as commander-in-chief would, however, remain with the president. Experts in the report warn that Trump could strike again before January. Brian Katulis of the Middle East Institute says: “For the moment, it will be business as usual.”

What the voices have in common is that they read the election as a defeat for Trump. They disagree on how much this changes. 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.