What's at stake for Trump in the US midterm elections? | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC [music] World Service. Hello, I'm Valerie Sanderson and this is what's. coming up. >> What's at stake for President Donald. Trump in the midterm elections? Millions. of Americans are voting in House, Senate. and governor races. Mr. Trump is not on. the ballot, but these elections could. shape his final two years in the White. House and [music] his political legacy. We'll hear from our correspondents. across the US. >> All eyes will be on those close and.

contentious races across the country. like here in Alaska. The race here could. tip the balance of power in Washington. >> And find out how issues like fuel costs, immigration and health care are seen in. the crucial battleground states. >> President Trump says the high price of. diesel is temporary. Are you buying what he's selling? >> Yeah, I hope he's right, but I don't. know. >> This is a pivotal moment for Donald.

Trump. His Republican Party has held the. majority in the House and Senate for the. past two years giving him a lot of. leeway to enact his political agenda. But polls suggest the Democrats could be. set to seize back control. Our. correspondent Shaimaa Khalil sent us. this report. >> These are the midterms, halfway through. a president's four-year term. Americans. are choosing members of Congress, the. House of Representatives or the lower. chamber, and the Senate, the upper. house. Republicans currently control both.

Losing either would make it harder for. President Trump to deliver his plans. It. would also give Democrats greater powers. to investigate his administration. Mr. Trump heads into this vote with his. approval rating nearing its lowest level. according to the latest polling. But in. his final campaign speech, the president. remained defiant. >> If the people that voted for me and. voted in the last election where we had. such a great victory, if they go out and vote just. a good portion of them we will win in a.

landslide. >> In Michigan's heated Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed could become. America's first Muslim senator. He's faced inflammatory attacks from. President Trump over his faith, but his. pitch is affordability. >> Shouldn't be this hard to afford a. second bag of groceries. Shouldn't be. this hard to pay your rent. Shouldn't be. this hard to fill up your tank, and it. shouldn't be this hard to see a doctor. in the richest, most powerful country in. the world. >> All right, here we go. >> El-Sayed is up against Republican Mike. Rogers, a former FBI agent and. congressman backed by Donald Trump.

Even traditionally Republican Texas is. fiercely contested. Democrat James. Talarico is challenging Republican Ken. Paxton, who has warned supporters their. stronghold could slip away. Here in Alaska, the incumbent Republican. Senator Dan Sullivan faces Democrat Mary. Peltola and another candidate with. almost the exact same name, prompting. accusations of an attempt to confuse. voters. >> All eyes will be on those close and. contentious races across the country,

but some results won't come in for days. or even weeks like here in Alaska. The. race here could tip the balance of power. in Washington, but it will be a long. wait to find out. >> Millions have already voted early. Now, America decides whether to back the. president or put a brake on his. ambitions, a choice that will be felt. far beyond the country's borders. >> Let's take a closer look at some of the. battle ground states across the United. States and how voters there feel about.

the biggest issues in these midterm. elections. Iowa is in America's. agricultural heartland, and farmers have. been badly affected by rising fuel costs. exacerbated by the war with Iran. Our. correspondent Sumaira Hussain has been. speaking to two cattle farmers, one. Democrat and one Republican. >> They weighed 530 lb and they were $2,500. and 30 cents a head delivered to my farm. from western North Dakota. Diesel fuel. is is the lifeblood of the economy, you.

know, and I look I checked the crude. price before he came here and you know, we are below $100. So, we're not at. record high on crude, but we are at. record high on retail prices, which is. there's an anomaly there some kind, yeah. >> And why do you think prices are so high? >> Well, it's it's just fuel is is the big. thing. In fact, I've had fuel man bring. fuel 2 weeks ago and I we talked about. crude. back in the Biden years, it was about.

$100 many, many days. We said, "Tim, we never had $6.25. diesel." He said, "What it and he you know, we didn't talk. politics. We just talked fuel." He says, "It's what's going on in the world right. now is what's causing it.". >> President Trump says, "Look, this is. just going to be temporary. The high. price of diesel is temporary.". Are you buying what he's selling? >> Well, I'd I'd sure rather see it, you. know, than yeah. Yeah, I hope he's. right, but I don't know. >> Yeah, I hope he's right, too, but things. you read, it doesn't sound like it's.

going to take a while, you know, so I'm. >> Yeah. >> I'm prepared for it to not go down for a. little bit, you know. What you do? You. just what you cut? It's like what Jack. and you know, your field trips, what we. do. We we we we don't make trips across. the field we don't need to make. We try. to watch our our fuel consumptions. >> For in Iowa, it's politics, election, you know, is coming up. I'm wondering. where you are politically. >> I I'm not happy. I'm I'm real honest. with the point black with what's going.

on. I mean, I. I guess and I'm focusing on the farm. economy. It's it's impacting on my. decision on who who will who I will vote. for. >> Yeah, I think we're you know, we're. going to see how people what the. sentiment is in ag country and we're. going to find out real quick and whether. you know, some people. you know, will support the status quo. because of maybe a social issues or you. know, I think you know, so we're going. to find that out. I don't know, you. know. Yeah. >> Where are you leaning, Jack? >> Well, I've I'm a lifelong conservative,

but it would be nice if we lived in. among politicians who were statesmen who. put country before. you know, and we're we're a long way. from that at the moment. You know, where. everybody's just so polarized. You know, it's it's a sad state of affairs, I. think. I am concerned about the federal debt. $40 trillion debt is a problem with no. end in sight. And and I don't know how. that looks down the road for our kids, you know. You know, probably be okay for. Tim and I, maybe, but you know, long-term it can't be very healthy, I.

don't think, for the economy. >> President Trump's crackdown on. immigration and the deployment of ICE. agents to US cities have been among the. most divisive policies of Mr. Trump's. second term. Tom Bateman reports now. from Ohio. >> Ohio is on the front line in President. Trump's mass deportation drive. And this. neighborhood in Columbus has been one of. the areas targeted by immigration agents. or ICE, as I've been reporting through. this. midterm election campaign. Now,

President Trump's immigration policy. helped him win the presidential election. in 2024. But in this midterm race, things are very different. In fact, the. issue of immigration has dropped down. the list of voter priorities. That is in. part because those who wanted fewer. unauthorized border crossings are pretty. much satisfied with what President Trump. has done. But here inside the US, the. removals policy has led to quite a lot. of anger and opposition, even among some.

moderate Republicans. Nevertheless, none. of that has stopped Donald Trump hailing. the policy on the campaign trail, while. Democrats think that it's enough to help. them flip this state of Ohio. >> Affordable health care has been center. stage in Georgia's Senate race. We heard. more from Carl Nasman. >> This is Georgia's largest safety net. hospital, which cares for patients. whether or not they can afford health. insurance. And one of the worries for. some this election is that they might.

end up here. That's because the price of. health insurance has been soaring, especially for low-income Georgians on. subsidized plans known as Obamacare. Those prices per month have gone up. about 26% over the past year. That's. forced around 400,000 Georgians to drop. their Obamacare plans altogether. This. has been a big topic on the campaign. trail here. The Democratic Senator Jon. Ossoff, his Republican challenger Mike. Collins, they've been sparring over. Republican cuts to Obamacare. And the.

Democrats say that restoring that. funding would be one of the first things. that they do if they regain control of. Congress. >> And that's it [music] for now. To hear. more about the topics we covered, you. can find the audio version of the Global. News podcast wherever [music] you get. your podcasts. If you'd like to get in. touch, we'd love to hear from you. Our. contact details are below. I'm Valerie. Sanderson. Until next time, thanks for. listening, thanks for watching, and. bye-bye for now.