Donald Trump told voters to pretend he was on the ticket, even though he wasn’t.
asserted
he → tell → ticket
So they did.
asserted
they → do → ?
The result of the midterm elections was a crushing defeat for his ruling Republican Party, and especially for Trump himself.
asserted
result → rule → Trump
It was a repudiation of the past two years of the Trump presidency rather than a ringing endorsement of the Democrats.
asserted
It → ring → Democrats
A loveless landslide, if you like.
asserted
you → like → ?
Just as British voters chose to punish the Tories, Americans have decided that Donald J Trump has delighted them long enough.
asserted
Trump → choose → them
A man who promised to end ‘forever wars’ and slash the cost of living has done the opposite.
asserted
who → promise → opposite
His war of choice on Iran has pushed the price of petrol, diesel and agricultural fertiliser through the roof.
asserted
war → push → roof
The knock-on effect has fuelled inflation, leading especially to sky-high food prices.
asserted
effect → knock → prices
Voters are hurting and exacted their revenge.
asserted
Voters → hurt → revenge
The result of the midterm elections was a crushing defeat for his ruling Republican Party, and especially for Donald Trump himself, writes Richard Littlejohn
Trump’s tariffs have jacked up the cost of imported goods, piling more pressure on household budgets.
asserted
tariffs → crush → budgets
His insane vendetta against Canada, America’s northern neighbour, has disrupted supply chains in the auto industry and almost certainly contributed to the Republicans losing the swing state of Michigan to a hardline Muslim called Abdul El-Sayed.
asserted
Republicans → disrupt → Muslim
Yet according to Trump himself, none of this is his fault.
uncertain
none → accord → this
As Fox News was preparing to call it a night, after declaring Democrat victories in both the House and the Senate, the phone rang in the studio.
asserted
phone → prepare → studio
He went into full Norma Desmond mode.
asserted
He → go → mode
She was the ageing, washed-up Hollywood star in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard who protested: ‘I am big, it’s the pictures that got small.’
asserted
that → age → Boulevard
Trump insisted he was still big, it was the candidates who let him down.
asserted
who → insist → him
Had he actually been on the ticket, the Republicans would have swept the board.
asserted
Republicans → sweep → board
He even blamed Fox News coverage of the election, despite the fact that Rupert Murdoch’s Right-wing TV network has been his staunchest broadcast supporter for the past 12 years.
asserted
network → blame → years
On his own Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: ‘I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!’
asserted
we → write → LANDSLIDE
By all accounts, the President had spent the evening increasingly isolated in the White House, watching the bloodbath unfold, as his staff deserted him to drown their sorrows in nearby bars, leaving finger food from the Cheesecake Factory untouched.
asserted
staff → spend → Factory
‘He’s watching Fox News, barely uttering a word and paralysed into silence,’ a source close to the President told the Daily Mail.
asserted
source → watch → Mail
The President said that had he actually been on the ticket the Republicans would have swept the board, even blaming Fox News coverage of the election
His rambling, 25-minute midnight call to the network ranged wildly from melancholy to defiant, one minute offering to work with the Democrats, the next vowing to veto any ‘insane’ bill they sent to him.
asserted
they → say → him
Some of us saw this meltdown coming.
asserted
meltdown → see → us
Two weeks ago in this column, I wrote that Trump was riding for a fall.
asserted
Trump → write → fall
That was based not on the opinion polls or the view from inside the Beltway (America’s version of the Westminster Bubble) but on a straw poll among traditional Republican voters in a Cheers-style Florida bar.
asserted
That → base → bar
The consensus was that Trump had lost his marbles.
asserted
Trump → lose → marbles
A shrewd friend of mine, who has run a serious US corporation and is a lifelong Georgia Bulldog Republican, predicted a bloodbath for the GOP (Grand Old Party) and laid the blame at Trump’s door.
On Tuesday night, before the results had been declared, he rang me.
asserted
he → run → me
‘It’s worse than I thought.
asserted
I → ’ → ?
Every word you wrote was bang on the money.’
asserted
you → write → money
Trump comforted himself with the turnout of the faithful at his Maga rallies.
asserted
Trump → comfort → rallies
But independents and more thoughtful Republicans have tired of his increasingly bizarre and unpredictable antics.
asserted
independents → tire → antics
If he had a horse, he’d make it a consul, like the Roman emperor Caligula.
asserted
it → have → emperor
Ultimately, though, it was the war and the cost of living that tipped the balance, outweighing Trump’s solid achievements in sealing the southern border and growing the economy.
And even on the economic front, things are looking wobbly.
asserted
things → tip → front
Over the past three weeks, the AI bubble has been punctured, if not burst, wiping $5trillion – yes trillion – off share prices.
asserted
bubble → puncture → prices
To put that in perspective, that’s enough to wipe out Britain’s national debt and leave plenty for a fish supper on the way home.
asserted
that → put → home
Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all suffered similar half-time defeats, yet bounced back to win a second presidential term two years later.
asserted
Reagan → suffer → term
Trump, though, can’t stand again.
asserted
Trump → stand → ?
He’s got nothing to lose.
asserted
He → get → nothing
So what comes next?
asserted
what → come → ?
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
