Trump in Tatters: America Votes for a Political Rebirth

Trump remains the king of magical realism — a leader who sells dreams and then unleashes chaos on those who dare to believe in them.

By MANISH ANAND

New Delhi, November 5, 2025 — Victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York City is a tight slap to Trumpism. For months, the Trump Era unleashed the brutal force of enforcement harassing immigrants and hammering the working class of the US. In the first major elections since Donald Trump returned to the presidency, America appears to have sent a warning — the Republicans have squandered their mandate.

Trump refused to read the writing on the wall. He posted on his Truth Social, his principal amplification platform, that “Trump was not on the ballot.” He also took refuse in tame alibi of an extended shutdown.

But Trumpism has been globally read as lying gleefully. Trump throughout the NYC mayor election campaign set the poll narrative. He threatened to cut funding of the city. Trump also warned to remove Zohran Mamdani from the election. He tried every trick to influence the city election outcome. Yet the people voted with exploding anger against Trump and his politics of courting the rich.

Not only did Mamdani win the New York City mayoral election, but Democrats also swept contests in Virginia, New Jersey, and beyond.

Mamdani scripted history by raising a war cry against Trumpian narrative of the politics controlled by the rich. The club of billionaires gave a call to defeat Mamdani. Elon Musk also trooped into the battlefield. But the people had sized up Trumpism for its full scale of follies.

The federal shutdown prolongs with observers noting that Trump wanted it for laying off the employees. The air traffic controls at airports run at reduced strengths due to the federal shutdown. The Congress remains paralyzed as the Executive Orders of Trump have become the tool of an authoritarian regime in the US.

Donald Trump seemed to sense the changing winds a day before voters headed to the polls in New York City. He appeared to fear that Democrats were poised to make gains in the upcoming midterm elections. In response, he tried to summon the politics of fear — using it as leverage to pressure Congress into stalling over his executive orders.

At its last meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve warned of rising prices, and the specter of inflation rattled global markets. Trump’s revived tariff regime has not only disrupted global supply chains but also shaken America’s own economic stability.

The bloated MAGA campaign may have powered Trump’s dramatic return to power, but the past ten months have revealed a different truth: Trump remains the king of magical realism — a leader who sells dreams and then unleashes chaos on those who dare to believe in them.

(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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