What the UK Knows About Handling a Weakened Trump After Midterms

Democrats now control the House, the Senate and most governors' offices after the Nov. 3, 2026 midterms, a result former British ambassador Kim Darroch calls "the extraordinary political earthquake of Tuesday night," writing in the Guardian on Nov. 5, 2026. Darroch, who served as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Washington from January 2016 to December 2019, argues the result strips President Trump of most domestic authority while raising the chance he looks abroad — including toward the UK — to assert control for the remainder of his term.

What changed in the midterms, mechanically?

Per Darroch's account, Tuesday's results gave Democrats ownership of the House, the Senate and "the majority of governors' mansions across the country," ending Republican control of both chambers of Congress and most state executive offices. Control of the House and Senate determines which party can advance or block legislation, confirm nominees and run committee investigations for the rest of Trump's term — the structural baseline Darroch's piece uses before assessing the politics.

Who is Kim Darroch, and what is his basis for the forecast?

Darroch's byline identifies him as Britain's ambassador to the US between January 2016 and December 2019, a tenure spanning Trump's 2016 win and the 2018 midterms. He writes that he heard Nancy Pelosi correctly predict, at a Nov. 6, 2018 watch party, that Democrats would retake the House — they ultimately flipped 41 Republican seats, handing Pelosi a second speakership, according to Darroch's recollection.

"To a real estate guy such as Donald Trump, imagine how galling it must be to lose so much property in one night: the Monopoly board almost swept clean," Darroch writes.

Why would a weaker Trump turn to foreign policy?

Darroch's argument is that domestic power is draining away now that Congress and most governorships are Democratic-held, so the president will look for arenas where he retains more direct authority — namely foreign affairs, where the UK remains one of Washington's closest partners. The piece frames that as the central question facing British diplomats drafting assessments for London.

How does this compare with the 2018 midterm precedent?

• Nov. 8, 2016: Trump wins the presidential election; Darroch is roughly ten months into his ambassadorship.
• Nov. 6, 2018: Democrats flip 41 House seats, per Darroch, retaking the chamber under Pelosi.
• Dec. 2019: Darroch's tenure as ambassador ends.
• Nov. 3, 2026: Democrats take the House, Senate and a majority of governorships, per Darroch's Guardian piece — a wider swing than 2018 by his telling, since it spans both chambers plus statehouses.

What is Darroch recommending for UK policy?

The Guardian column is framed explicitly as a guide for "how the UK should deal with him now," built on the idea that Trump has lost domestic ground but keeps the authority to act unilaterally overseas for the balance of his term.

Data points from the piece

• 41: Republican House seats Democrats flipped in the 2018 midterms, per Darroch.
• Majority: of governors' offices Democrats hold after the 2026 midterms, per Darroch's account.

What else is moving on UK-US and UK-EU policy?

Separately, a Financial Times editorial backed a UK-EU reset while raising concerns about university funding, according to HTT News — a sign London is recalibrating more than one external relationship as Washington's political balance shifts.

For the full column, see Kim Darroch's piece in the Guardian.

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