The morning after a midterm rout is never kind to a president. It is least kind to one who has built his political identity on winning.
After the Republicans’ heavy defeat on November 3, the White House is taking stock of a Democratic sweep. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is asking the same question: What does a weakened Donald Trump do next?
The conventional hope is that humiliation breeds caution. That may not happen. Governing by executive order will anger a renewed legislature but Trump is unlikely to care. It will re-energize the MAGA faithful, and for a president whose standing with that base drives nearly everything he does, that may matter more than broadening his coalition. The risk is that his determination to preserve that influence beyond his time in office will make him more unpredictable, not less.
So will a debilitated Trump inflict more chaos on the world? A president who feels cornered has less incentive to respect institutional norms and more incentive to stage spectacles. That does not make the world safer. It makes it more volatile.
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