US midterms: There’s a sense of dread about America’s future – and we should all worry
America’s midterms don’t normally grip us. Wake us up when you choose another president.
But these should, and for all the wrong reasons. Anyone who has covered a few of them knows they are very different this year.
The mood is dark in America. There is a sense of dread about the future. And if Americans are fearful, we should be too. The reverse Vegas rule applies here. What happens in America does not stay in America.
Those who thought the Donald Trump years were an aberration are in for a shock. Look at the candidates.
Almost 300 were endorsed by Mr Trump. Two-hundred of them have peddled his anti-democratic lie that he won the last election or its results were seriously flawed.
Some are Q Anon supporters to boot, subscribing to a movement that believes a cabal of paedophiles runs the US government.
Donald Trump is expected to declare his candidacy soon after these midterms. Looking at the polls, his second coming looks increasingly likely, with all that means for the world that we live in.
An atmosphere of fear
The atmosphere out on the campaign trail is one of fear, among voters who tell you this great country, an ally, and inspiration for all the free world is, to put it bluntly, on the brink.
It’s not just the fear of the other side winning. It is more powerful, more visceral than that.
Democrats are terrified that US democracy is about to be subverted. People who claim the electoral system is rigged are running for key positions that will give them power over that system. And Democrats fear they’ll use that power next time to twist votes in their favour.
A president who we now know seriously considered seizing voting machines and tried to bully officials to overturn the outcome of a free and fair election may be the frontrunner to win back the White House next time.
Think about that.
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America tearing itself apart
If he fails to do so fairly next time he will now have allies in place as governors or state officials who could help him do so in other ways, should they win as seems likely in this week’s votes.
But Republican voters are equally passionate in their fear the country is being taken in the wrong direction by elites that are unaware how much the ordinary American is hurting.
Voters of all stripes fear recession, inflation, crime and rising costs, and see a government not doing enough to help.
But the fear is more existential than that. America, the country and idea, voters will tell you, is under threat and tearing itself apart.
Americans have stopped doing what they have always done best, talking to themselves and listening. They have retreated to opposing camps, losing themselves in echo chambers on the left and right.
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How a lie consumed a nation
‘It’s on the brink of disaster’
One mother in a town in New York state summed it up like this: “It’s divided and angry and hostile and corrupt, and it’s on the brink of disaster, I think.
“I think it’s incredibly discouraging. People believe what they want to believe and there’s no changing minds, and I don’t know how we’ll ever turn back from it either.”
She was no conspiracy theorist, just a middle class mother picking up pizza for her children.
Visit the US nowadays, and friends will tell you they believe violence or unrest is on its way.
Sober-minded reasonable people talk in all honesty of a reckoning, unrest and even civil war.
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In better days, the midterm elections were a carnival of democracy.
From the highest governor down to the town dog catcher, the people get to choose who runs their lives in a system they’ve been told since childhood is the best form of government the world has ever known.
But there is no sense of celebration this time.
The mood has soured. Entrenched in polarised corners, Americans are suspicious of each other’s intentions and full of foreboding about what comes next. That should have all of us worried.
US
Donald Trump plans to hit Canada with new tariff – while warning of blanket hike for other countries
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
Mr Trump has sent a series of tariff letters to 23 countries so far, including one putting a 50% tariff on Brazil in part for the ongoing trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro for trying to stay in office after he lost the election in 2022.
Mr Trump was similarly indicted for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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But in an interview with Sky News’s partner network NBC News, Mr Trump said he plans to impose higher blanket tariffs on most US trade partners.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
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The US president also teased a “major statement” he will make on Russia over its war with Ukraine.
“I’m disappointed in Russia, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday.”
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It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
The 30-year-old graduate student at Columbia University told Sky News’s lead world presenter Yalda Hakim being detained by ICE agents in March “felt like kidnapping”.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
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‘Absolutely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.
He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.
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