Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the big winners and losers of state and local U.S. elections, the European Union’s weakened emissions reduction target, and a devastating typhoon in the Philippines.
The Blue Wave
Several high-profile state and local elections on Tuesday marked the first major litmus test of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term—and Democrats won big. From gubernatorial races to mayoral elections, Democrats swept their Republican opponents by campaigning on an anti-Trump platform that prioritized lowering high costs of living, improving public schools, investing in local infrastructure, and hiking taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
“We got our asses handed to us,” Vivek Ramaswamy, a close Trump ally running for governor in Ohio, summarized in a video captioned “Lessons from tonight, no sugar coating.” (Ramaswamy wasn’t on the ballot on Tuesday, as Ohio’s gubernatorial race isn’t until 2026.)
The results were stark. In the first round of elections since Trump took office in January, Democrats won nearly all seats up for grabs. Most notably, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani swept the New York City mayoral vote, becoming the Big Apple’s first Muslim mayor. His win delivers a major setback for Trump, who personally endorsed Mamdani’s main rival, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, and had threatened to cut off federal funding to New York City if Mamdani won.
Among Democrats’ other major wins, Mikie Sherrill was elected governor of New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger won the race for governor of Virginia, and Pennsylvania voted to retain three liberal state Supreme Court justices. Even races further down the ballot turned blue. In Virginia, 13 seats in the state House of Delegates flipped in favor of Democrats, while Democratic candidates Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones were elected lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively. Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Pittsburgh all elected Democratic mayors. And Democrats ousted two Republicans in a statewide election for the Georgia Public Service Commission.
To cap things off, Californians also voted on Tuesday to approve Proposition 50, which will allow the Democratic-controlled state legislature to redistrict its congressional map for the 2026 midterm election. This comes in direct response to Republican-controlled states, such as Texas, seeking similar measures to maintain their majority in Congress.
“Tonight’s results are a repudiation of the Trump agenda,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X. “The cruelty, chaos, and greed that define MAGA radicalism was firmly rejected by the American people.”
Trump, however, attributed the GOP’s poor showing on two things: himself not being on the ballot and the U.S. government shutdown, calling the latter a “big factor, negative.” The shutdown entered its 36th day on Wednesday, breaking the record as Washington’s longest ever. The White House has blamed the shutdown on Democrats while also vowing not to negotiate with the left until after the government reopens. Instead, Trump has repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to pass a motion ending the filibuster in order to circumvent the need for Democratic votes.
Today’s Most Read
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- With Military Buildup Against Venezuela, the U.S. Eyes Cuba as Well by William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh
- What the U.S. Supreme Court Tariffs Case Is Really About by Keith Johnson
What We’re Following
Weakened climate pledge. Last-minute negotiations helped European climate ministers secure a new emissions reduction target on Wednesday—just one day before top European leaders are scheduled to attend a two-day summit in Brazil ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30). Experts suggest that passing the new agreement will give the European Union greater influence at COP30, where the bloc is hoping to portray itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change.
The new target aims to reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent from 1990 levels by 2040. However, in order to obtain several nations’ support, EU climate ministers agreed to allow member countries to buy foreign carbon credits to cover as much as 5 percent of the required reduction. This would effectively mean that European industries are only required to reduce emissions by 85 percent, with foreign powers making up the rest. The EU also agreed to consider using international carbon credits to meet a further 5 percent in the future—potentially shaving off another required chunk of the domestic target.
Still, support for the approved policy remains fractured. While several European countries (namely, France and Portugal) celebrated the 5 percent flexibility, some (such as Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) denounced the still-high target, arguing that it would hurt their industries’ competitiveness. Meanwhile, others (including the Netherlands and Spain) opposed the weakened measures entirely. However, such opposition was not enough to sink the deal, which needed the approval of at least 15 of the 27 member states to pass.
Legality of levies. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments over the legality of Trump’s global tariffs. Specifically, the case involves whether a U.S. president can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose duties on nearly every country in the world. The 1977 law never explicitly mentions tariffs in its wording, and under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has sole authority to levy duties.
The Trump administration’s legal team, led by U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, argued that the reciprocal tariffs were used to regulate foreign commerce, not to tax U.S. citizens. “The fact that they raise revenue was only incidental,” Sauer said.
But several Supreme Court justices cast doubt on this claim. “You want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. Fellow liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson added that “it’s pretty clear that Congress was trying to constrain the emergency powers of the president and IEEPA.” Even some members of the court’s conservative supermajority expressed skepticism with Trump’s rationale on Wednesday.
The court has until the end of its term in July 2026 to rule on the case. However, as FP’s Keith Johnson wrote, “[e]ven if the Supreme Court, which has been deferential to Trump in the past, draws the line on his use of IEEPA for tariffs, it’s not likely that the import taxes will just go away.” That’s because there are several other court-tested legal authorities that the administration can invoke to continue the trade war.
Deadly storm. Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the Philippines this week, killing at least 85 people and causing widespread flooding and landslides, local officials reported on Wednesday. Among those dead were six people killed when a military helicopter crashed en route to deliver humanitarian supplies in the southern province of Agusan del Sur.
According to Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro, years of quarrying that clogged nearby rivers as well as possible political corruption may have exacerbated much of the damage. Testimony in September alleged that several Philippine lawmakers secured substandard or nonexistent flood control projects in exchange for huge kickbacks. Such corruption allegations sparked mass anti-government protests in the capital of Manila at the time. On top of that, much of Cebu province is still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in September, which killed at least 79 people and displaced thousands more.
Now, Typhoon Kalmaegi is hurtling toward Vietnam, where it is expected to make landfall by Friday. As Kalmaegi left the Philippines, meteorologists recorded sustained winds of up to 81 miles per hour and gusts of up to 112 miles per hour.
Odds and Ends
Lions and tigers may not be an issue for Japan’s northern residents, but bears certainly are. Tokyo deployed Japanese troops to Akita prefecture on Wednesday to help trap bears that have plagued communities there with deadly attacks. Since April, Japan’s Environment Ministry has recorded more than 100 bear attacks across the country, killing 12 people and frightening locals. Authorities in Akita estimate that bear sighting have jumped sixfold to more than 8,000—prompting the governor to request help from Japan’s military before the number of assaults hits a new record.
The post Sweeping Democratic Wins Serve as a Referendum on Trump 2.0 appeared first on Foreign Policy.
