Ever since US President Donald Trump realised that bombarding Iran would not result in the Islamic regime in Tehran caving in, he began looking for a face-saving exit. Six weeks into the conflict, he agreed to a ceasefire. The first round of talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad was inconclusive; but a truce wasn’t beyond reach. Moreover, it was imperative for Trump to arrest the economic hardships the hostilities had created at home.

State-by-state primaries for the US midterm elections began on 3 March and will conclude on 15 September, determining the final Democratic and Republican candidates. The mid-term elections — for state governorships, senators and law-makers in the House of Representatives — will be held on 3 November.

The landslide victory of November 2024 that returned Trump to the White House after an interval of four years reflected a wave of popularity that has since steadily receded.

Indeed, despite his Republican party enjoying majorities in the Senate and the House — normally a boon for an American president — he has failed to pass a number of legislations through the two chambers because of pushback from Republicans themselves, who have been concerned about such enactments upsetting their constituents and consequently injuring their chances of election or re-election.

Thus, Trump has resorted to a plethora of executive orders, which have finite validity and, in some cases, limited acceptability.

Majorities in the House and Senate have, though, enabled him to bypass Congress on military operations abroad. These include the unlawful kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife and renditioning them to New York in January, and the unprovoked attack — with Israel — on Iran. Since the first strikes on 28 February, at least 3,300 people have been killed, many of them innocent civilians, nearly 25,000 injured and over 3 million displaced.

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