Washington, DC – A year into US President Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats are hoping the Republican president’s campaign promises — the oath End foreign wars And the staples to “America First” – are coming back to haunt him.
Party leaders have long hammered affordability as a key issue in the upcoming 2026 midterms in November, in which the opposition hopes to reclaim both houses of Congress from Republicans and, in turn, regain the ability to vet the president. Extensive use of executive power.
Recommended stories
3 List of itemsEnd of list
Trump’s Military pressure campaign Against Venezuela, to date, the extraordinary kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, as well as his increasingly caustic attempt to take over Greenland – an autonomous region of Denmark – have emerged as powerful conspiracies on the issue.
Speaking at a news conference in the wake of the Maduro operation, Chuck Schumer, the 75-year-old top Democrat in the Senate, adopted decidedly Trumpian language as he promised a “relentless” message on affordability over the next year.
“We Democrats are fighting to stop military adventurism and endless wars in Venezuela and other countries,” he added.
“So the Democrats in the House and the Senate are focusing on reducing your spending, dealing with affordability,” Schumer added. “Republicans under Donald Trump appear to be focused — no, focused — on spending our coffers and, God forbid, on military adventures abroad.”
Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee — which sets the party’s platform, national strategy and messaging before elections — took a similar line in a statement after the Venezuela operation.
“Trump promised peace, but has made war,” he said. “Now, Trump has committed the United States to running another country for the foreseeable future, while the American people are pushing a regime change bill.”
Former Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, seeking to regain his seat in a special election this year, added in a post on X: “We should be more focused on improving the lives of Ohioans — not Caracas.”
Campaign promises
Certainly, foreign policy has traditionally been viewed as a low-impact issue at the ballot box in the US, often overshadowed by more domestic concerns such as crime, social issues and the economy.
But since Trump’s brand of politics hinges on promises to avoid high-concept international maneuvers in exchange for the lived experience of US voters, any notion of expensive ventures abroad presents a unique opening for Democrats, according to Democratic strategist Arshad Hasan.
“Trump is insecure right now because he can’t connect what he’s doing in Venezuela and Greenland to the everyday lives of voters,” Hasan told Al Jazeera.
“Whenever Democrats want to talk about what he’s doing overseas, they have to make it relevant to what voters are seeing in their daily lives,” he said. “Anarchy isn’t bad because it’s chaotic. It’s anarchy because it doesn’t actually serve anyone or anything.”
For critics, the first week of 2026 after Trump’s follow-up has greatly increased his scorecard on international adventure. Bombing missions in Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, Somalia and the Caribbean in 2025.
In the wake of Maduro’s Jan. 3 kidnapping, military assets have lined up off Venezuela’s coast, with Trump proposing the use of the U.S. military to secure the country’s vast oil wealth. Experts have repeatedly warned that relative stability under interim president Delsy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy, remains very much on the table.
While threats against neighboring Colombia have subsided, Trump appears committed to the White House stated goal Establishing US “predominance” in the Western Hemisphere. In an interview with NBC News published Monday, Trump again refused to rule out military force to take over Greenland. In a foreshadowing, Trump told Norway’s leader in a text message on Sunday that “I no longer feel obligated to fully consider peace”.
Trump’s Republican allies have also warned that a US military attack on Greenland would effectively blow up the NATO alliance, as Democrats seek to capitalize on the dissonance between Trump’s campaign message and his threats against perceived US allies.
“The American people voted for affordability at home, not threats to invade our closest allies abroad,” Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a Jan. 6 post on X.
“Trump is ignoring the affordability concerns of Americans with his overseas exodus and is making things worse with more tariffs. This will only increase costs for Americans,” the panel wrote earlier this week, referring to Trump’s threats to impose further tariffs on European countries over Greenland.
The Trump administration, for its part, has tried to link both Venezuela and Greenland to the cost of living.
It involves pushing Questionable claims The impact on markets of U.S. access to Venezuelan oil and plans to exploit Greenland’s untapped natural resources, which Trump maintains owns, are vital to U.S. national security.
Test for Democrats?
Of course, with the midterms more than nine months away, much can change under an administration that depends not only on bold, attention-grabbing policies, but also on their Fast and relentless deployment.
But there are several potential signs of trouble brewing for Trump’s Republican Party, which has so far largely fallen out of line with the president’s agenda, including his refusal to exercise congressional oversight. military action.
Economists argue that despite signs of economic growth, a relatively comfortable unemployment rate and the so-far muted domestic impact of Trump’s broad reciprocity tariffs, inequality remains. Continued yawning Under Trump.
For many in the low- and middle-income brackets, there has been little change in their life experiences and daily living expenses that suggest a perception of affordability, as reflected in recent polling slates. It may dovetail with other public opinion polls showing dissatisfaction with Trump’s actions abroad.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted between January 8 and 11 found 61 percent of American adults disapprove of Trump’s foreign policy approach, with 56 percent saying they thought Trump had “gone too far” on military intervention, although support for Maduro’s ouster remained relatively high. This was especially pronounced among independents, a voter segment targeted by both parties, with 63 percent saying Trump has overreached.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll of US residents found particularly dismal support for the US annexation of Greenland, with only one in five respondents supporting such a move. A separate CBS poll found that only 14 percent approved of using military force to take over the island.
Democratic strategist Hasan assessed that both major parties’ messages are lacking in affordability, with Republicans telling voters “not to believe your eyes” and many old-guard Democrats offering only a “milquetoast” alternative vision.
He said that in the coming months a “deterrent” could adopt bolder positions that have woven US actions abroad and have consequences at home. He pointed to his recent success as mayor of New York City Johran Mamdani as a possible blueprint.
“We’re at a point where the Democrats are really going to have to test whether their messaging can live up to the dangerous moment we’re in,” Hassan said. “They really have to stand for something.”