Blue landslide in US gives SA hope — but Trump still has sharp teeth

Detailed summary

Democratic control of the US Congress could help South Africa to repair its strained relations with Washington, but the cornered president retains power over foreign policy — and…

Democratic control of the US Congress could help South Africa to repair its strained relations with Washington, but the cornered president retains power over foreign policy — and he may well use it.

The Democratic Party’s emphatic seizure of control of both houses of the US Congress has raised hopes that South Africa will be able to restore its relations with the US that have been so badly damaged by the hostility of the Trump administration.

Tuesday’s election was a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump in particular, who hand-picked many of the defeated candidates and kept telling voters to “vote as if I am on the ballot”, which they did by kicking out scores of his acolytes and others.

As of Thursday morning, 5 November, Democrats had won control of 54 seats in the 100-seat Senate and had at least 245 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, as counting continued.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Maverick. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.