特朗普总统的政治遗产正面临清算时刻，此前民主党在众议院和参议院均取得压倒性胜利，这将影响其总统任期最后两年的走向。尽管他竭力动员一向忠诚的政治基本盘，但将特朗普于2024年送入白宫的联盟在周二晚间瓦解。结果是民主党在全国范围内获胜，包括在南卡罗来纳州和得克萨斯州等共和党传统铁票仓。特朗普辩称，其党派表现不佳是因为他本人不在选票上，但许多共和党人表示，这些失利表明总统对党的掌控力正在松动。
President Trump’s legacy is facing a moment of reckoning following sweeping Democratic wins in the House and the Senate that will impact the trajectory of the last two years of his presidency. Despite his efforts to mobilize his normally loyal political base, the coalition that sent Trump to the White House in 2024 fell apart on Tuesday evening. The result was nationwide Democratic wins including in red strongholds like South Carolina and Texas. Trump argued his party underperformed because he was not on the ballot, but many Republicans say the losses are indicative of the president’s loosening grip on the party.
“这肯定会留下印记，”特朗普首任政府时期的前立法事务主任马克·肖特在谈到周二共和党惨败时表示。“我认为其他总统也曾在中期选举中遭遇重大挫败，但仍保有强劲的历史评价，但毫无疑问，这是对过去两年施政的一次相当清晰且响亮的否定。”此外，共和党人警告称，民主党在众参两院占据多数，可能会成为总统议程的主要路障。
“It’s definitely going to leave a mark,” said Marc Short, Trump’s former legislative director during his first administration, referring to Tuesday’s massive Republican defeats. “I think other presidents have had significant midterm defeats and have still had a strong historical record, but I think there’s no doubt it was a pretty clear and loud repudiation of what the last two years have been.”Additionally, Republicans warn that Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate could pose a major roadblock for the president’s agenda.
截至周三晚间，民主党在参议院以54比44领先共和党，在众议院则以249比153领先。佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯（共和党）所在州勉强避开了“蓝色浪潮”，他在周三的新闻发布会上对本党前景给出了严峻评估。“这接近于共和党的灭绝级事件，”德桑蒂斯说。德桑蒂斯在周三深夜的一条X帖子中预测，如果大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯和塞缪尔·阿利托在未来两年内退休，确认一位保守派继任者的机会将是“零”。
As of Wednesday evening, Democrats had a 54-44 majority over Republicans in the Senate, while Democrats led Republicans 249 to 153 seats in the House. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R ), whose state narrowly avoided the blue wave, offered a dire assessment of his party’s future during a press conference on Wednesday. “This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans,” DeSantis said. DeSantis predicted in an X post overnight that the chances of confirming a conservative successor to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, if they stepped down in the next two years, would be “zero.”
该州长辩称，在“假设的2029年共和党政府”期间，这一机会依然很低，因为该党无法在参议院赢得足够多的席位。
The governor argued that those chances would remain low during a “hypothetical GOP admin” in 2029 because the party would not be able to win enough seats in the Senate.
在大选惨败后的首次公开露面中，特朗普将大部分时间用于谈论他正在建设的舞厅的细节。总统在该建筑最后一根钢梁安装完毕时签名，内政部长称这是一个值得庆祝的日子。总统还谈到了他在白宫及华盛顿特区周边的美化工程。“我这么做是因为白宫是美国的终极象征。它必须一尘不染。它必须完美无瑕，”特朗普说。
In his first public appearance after the landslide, Trump spent most of his time talking about the details of his under-construction ballroom. The president signed the last beam installed in the structure, in what his interior secretary called a celebratory day. The president also discussed his beautification projects at the White House and around Washington, DC. “I’m doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America. It’s got to be pristine. It’s got to be perfect,” Trump said.
总统回答了记者关于中期选举、伊朗战争以及与新一届国会中的民主党人合作的几个问题。然而，他不断将话题拉回建设工地。周三的活动是本周特朗普第二次发表讲话谈论他在华盛顿的美化项目。在选举日前的周一，总统在林肯纪念堂倒影池发表讲话，谈论翻新工程。“这次惨败清楚地表明，遗产不是靠舞厅和镀金的虚荣项目建立的——事实上，它们向辛勤工作的美国人传递了相反的信息，”约翰·乌利奥特说，他是特朗普首个任期内的前副助理，也是《总统值得更好》一书的作者。
The president took several questions from reporters on the midterms, the Iran war, and working with Democrats in the new Congress. However, he kept returning his focus to the construction site. Wednesday’s event marked the second time this week Trump delivered remarks to talk about his beautification projects in Washington. On the Monday before Election Day, the president delivered remarks at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to talk about renovations. “This rout makes clear that a legacy is not built with ballrooms and gilded vanity projects — in fact, they send the opposite message to hardworking Americans,” said John Ullyot, former deputy assistant to Trump during his first administration and author of “The President Deserves Better.”
“为了在最后两年铸就真正的遗产，特朗普应该用不怕直言进谏、能帮助他跨党派合作推动重要事务的称职领导人，取代他那群唯唯诺诺的亲信，”他接着说。乌利奥特今年早些时候被调离五角大楼的通讯职位。特朗普周二在接受福克斯新闻采访时似乎排除了内阁改组的可能性，称中期选举失利与其内阁部长无关。“我长期以来一直在做很多伟大的事情，”他说。“这只是一个时间点。只是一个时间点。事情就是如此。”
“To forge a true legacy in his final two years, Trump should replace his cadre of yes-men with competent leaders who aren’t afraid to give frank advice and help him work across the aisle to get important things done,” he continued. Ullyot was moved out of a communications role in the Pentagon early this year. Trump appeared to rule out a Cabinet shakeup in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, saying the midterm election losses did not have anything to do with his Cabinet secretaries. “I’ve been doing a lot of great things for a long time,” he said. “It’s just a point in time. Just a point in time. Just the way it is. There was a mood in the air, I guess.”
“空气中弥漫着一种情绪，我想。”白宫发言人劳伦·比斯在给《国会山报》的一份声明中说，特朗普的内阁将继续致力于推行他的议程。“正如总统所说，他愿意与任何人合作，继续为勤劳的美国人赢得胜利。如果民主党选择进行虚假调查并推行激进左翼政策，他们就是选择与美国人民为敌，”她说。
In a statement to The Hill, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Trump’s Cabinet would continue working to deliver his agenda. “As the President has said, he's willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people,” she said.
在中期选举前夕，如果共和党大败，关于可能的人员和内阁大换血的猜测不绝于耳，这在政府遭遇糟糕的中期选举表现后并不罕见。“奥巴马在2010年输得几乎同样惨，似乎并没有玷污他的[政治遗产]。特朗普还有2年时间来经营他的遗产。不像奥巴马那样长（奥巴马有6年，包括2012年成功连任），但仍有时间，”特朗普首任政府时期的前幕僚长米克·马尔瓦尼说。
Ahead of the midterms, questions swirled about potential staff and Cabinet shakeups if the GOP lost big, which is not unusual in administrations after a poor midterm performance. “Obama lost nearly as badly in 2010, and it doesn’t seem to have tarnished his [legacy]. Trump has 2 years to work on his legacy. Not nearly as long as Obama (who had 6, including a successful 2012 re-elect) but still time,” said Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff during his first administration.
肖特表示，他不确定共和党是否已经触及“谷底”。“我们必须做大量的疗愈工作，而且我们团队内部关于前进道路的分歧甚至可能更大，”他说。“我大概不认为我们会像2028年那样迅速反弹。”
Short said he was unsure whether Republicans had reached “the low point” yet. “There’s a lot of healing that we have to do and there could be even more divisions inside of our team about the pathway forward,” he said. “I’m probably not thinking it’s going to boomerang around as quickly as 2028 for us.”