Trump’s two-year demolition derby satisfied the bloodlust. Now his voters know the cost

November 3, 2026 — 11:41am

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Follow our live coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections here. 

Since the beginning of the US midterm campaigns, which face the final judgment of voters on Tuesday, Donald Trump has held three rallies in my home state of South Carolina.

Republicans haven’t had to worry about South Carolina elections for a long time. We last elected a Democrat to statewide office in 2006. We most recently sent a Democrat to the Senate in 1998.

But 2026 is redrawing the political map. States like South Carolina that went for Trump by double digits are now open ground – enough to warrant the million-plus dollars it costs to host one of his rallies.

The US president’s rally schedule makes it clear how far the map has shifted. In the past month, he has held 28 rallies. Just one was in a state that Trump lost in 2024.

Trump’s midterm fall is the fault of one person: ‘I could say the stupidest things and you’d clap’

Daniel HannanPolitician and writer

Politician and writer

Republicans may well still hold some ground in the midterms. But they are playing defence all the way to the horn.

Trump has delivered on many of his policies, but voters have not seen the outcomes they were promised.

Many Trump supporters are struggling with the effects of his immigration policy and the rising cost of fuel and other necessities as a........

© The Sydney Morning Herald