Trump’s foreign foes bask in Republican midterm defeat

President Donald Trump’s global foes found ample reason to celebrate Tuesday’s punishing midterm results, with the Democratic victory set to benefit them in different ways.Trump made foreign policy a key focus of his two years with the trifecta, making no shortage of enemies worldwide. Democrats have openly pledged to use their powers granted by control of the Senate and House to roll back these rivalries, to the open pleasure of several major adversaries.Trump confirmed his position as Iran’s foremost enemy when he launched Operation Epic Fury, a surprise attack on Iran alongside Israel that killed its senior leaders and battered the country. Iranian leaders have repeatedly vowed to assassinate the president since. The war proved unpopular in the United States, particularly due to higher energy prices linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and was a leading cause of the Republicans’ major defeat Tuesday. Iranian officials were clear in their glee over the results, openly claiming credit for the defeat.“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X, in English. “If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.”Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, who has been floated as one of the de facto leaders of the country, supported the Democrats’ talking points with his own statement.“The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz—and a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington,” Rezaei posted. “Meanwhile, Americans got stuck with the bill for his war. Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price—from the battlefield to their own doorstep.”Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s X account gave similar statements, though the whereabouts of the Iranian supreme leader remain unknown.“The process of the US’s collapse has accelerated,” one post reads.“If there are still those who entertain the slightest hope that the hegemonic system may change behavior or shifts in its political parties may bring about change, or that by making concessions to the US, they can persuade it to abandon its hostility, they’re gravely mistaken,” it continues.Iran stands to gain the most from the Democrats’ victories, given their repeated vows to force an end to the war. Trump now has a limited amount of time to escalate the war before they take power in 2027.Canada Trump’s rhetoric bashing Canada and targeting it politically has turned the U.S.’s northern neighbor into a sworn enemy of the president, culminating in an ongoing trade war that became a liability in border states like Michigan and Maine, which helped the Democrats win. Ottawa was mostly cool publicly, trying to appear neutral. When asked if the election would force Trump to rethink his trade policies, Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s U.S. trade minister, said it wasn’t “particularly constructive for Canadians to interpret results in a foreign country’s election, (and) we’re not going to do that.”“It’s not up for Canadians to try and read into why particular American voters went in a particular direction,” he added. “Our job is to focus on what we can control, and that’s to work with the people that Americans have elected.”Other Canadian officials weren’t so subtle, openly signaling optimism. New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said Wednesday morning that her Liberal Party government is “looking forward to building relationships” with the newly elected Congress, CTV News reported.Relief may not be quick in coming for Ottawa, however, as Trump still retains significant authority over trade as president.China Trump has had a combative relationship with China across both his terms, but Washington and Beijing have recently enjoyed positive relations. Beijing voiced neutrality after the midterm results came in, with China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman telling reporters that the elections “are an internal affair of the United States.”“China is willing to continue working with the U.S. to … strengthen communication, properly manage differences, expand cooperation, and build a constructive, strategically stable China-U.S. relationship based on the principles of respect, fairness, and reciprocity,” she added.But the Democrats’ success and aggressive anti-AI stance give Beijing much to celebrate. The global AI race is often framed as a contest between the U.S. and China for AI dominance, and for U.S. AI research to continue at an advanced pace, data centers are needed. Over 40 moratoria on data center construction passed in the U.S. on Tuesday, and Democrats have run on restricting their construction. This could give China a key leg up on the race at a crucial point.Ukraine Trump’s vacillating relationship with Ukraine has been one of the most unpredictable of his second term, but relations reached their nadir in October, when the president announced his controversial diesel deal with Moscow. After Ukraine refused to stop targeting Russian diesel refineries, the military started complaining about its Starshield coverage being throttled, setting off a blame game.Relations got so bad that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky openly crossed Trump, decrying his actions and not-so-subtly hinting that he could face consequences from pro-Ukraine figures in November.With Democrats in control of Congress, Trump has much less leeway with his handling of aid to Ukraine, which could be a major boost to Kyiv.The Kyiv Independent, a leading liberal Ukrainian outlet and one of its most visible outlets in the West, was open in its celebration of Trump’s defeat, leading its website on Wednesday with the headline, “Democrats seize control of Congress in blow to Trump, potential boost for Ukraine.”Ukrainian influencers and writers for the outlet were even more openly happy with the results.2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS AND ANALYSISSpain Spain has emerged as Trump’s least favorite member of NATO over clashes with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who openly went against the president on the war with Iran. He took Wednesday to gloat at his rival’s defeat, openly bashing Trump’s leadership, without naming him.“Yesterday, American society voted against policies that only impoverish,” Sanchez said in a post on X. “Against hate. Against machismo. Against climate denialism and against the privileges of the elites.”