Why Trump may look abroad after mid-terms

DONALD Trump signed into law last Friday an US$854 billion funding bill that averts a government shutdown ahead of November's crucial congressional elections. With Democrats hoping to make striking gains in the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate too, Mr Trump may be staring into a major mid-term backlash.

While major gains for Democrats would by no means be the end of Mr Trump's presidency, it may well stymie his domestic agenda in the two years to come. Yet the president, who gives every indication that he will stand again in 2020, may potentially face an easier path to re-election running against a hostile Democratic Congress, much as Barack Obama did in 2012 against a Republican House after that chamber flipped control in 2010.

In the current febrile political climate, there could still be further significant swings in sentiment in the weeks ahead. However, history is on the side of Democrats.