(Courtesy: @PopBase/X & Canva)
Despite a major Democratic victory in the U.S. midterms, University of Toronto political science professor, Renan Levine says Canadians should not get their hopes up that the results will quickly ease trade tensions with Donald Trump’s administration.
After the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, the Democratic Party achieved what people are calling a “blue wave” or “blue sweep” capturing majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Levine shares that while Canadians are hoping that the results will make a change in the trade war between the United States, even with the Democratic gains, they will still fall short of the Senate votes needed to overcome Trump’s veto of any legislation.
Democrats still face challenges in the Senate, Levine explaining that even if they win Mississippi and Alaska, they would hold only 56 seats, short of the 67 required to override a presidential veto.
“What would need to happen is 14 Republican Senators would have to say, ‘Enough is enough. We’re breaking with the president. We’re breaking with the leader of our party, and we’re going back to our old free trade days.’ Could it happen? Yes. Am I expecting it to? Not really,” Levine tells The Brandon Gonez Show.
The Democratic gains could also give them greater power to hold Trump’s administration accountable, and block new legislation. However, Levine says they would still face limits when challenging presidential executive orders.
As the political landscape shifts, there may be opportunities for negotiations between both parties noting that Trump could offer a compromise on issues such as Canadian tariffs for example, in exchange for Democratic support on other priorities.
“But of course, that requires the Democrats to cooperate. And I think one thing that we’ve seen since 2016 is that Democrats are generally not in the mood to cooperate with Donald Trump,” he said.
Canadians or citizens in other countries who have been impacted by Trump in office over the last two years may be feeling optimistic following the results of the midterm results. Levine urges people to relish in this victory since this is “the biggest put down” since Barack Obama brought his birth certificate to The White House to prove he was born in the country amid Trump’s public doubts.
“This is like, the biggest put down that Trump has had in a very long time, so you know if you’re looking forward to doing that, enjoy this moment because the new Congress won’t come in till January anyway,” said Levine.
