US President Donald Trump has blamed the sharp decline in the US stock market on the electoral gains made by the opposition Democratic Party in this week’s midterm elections.
Trump made the claim on Thursday in a post on his Truth Social platform, following a significant selloff in US equities.
“The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!” he wrote.
However, market analysts attributed the downturn largely to concerns that Democratic gains could threaten investments in artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, amid growing opposition to such projects across the United States.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq recorded its steepest single-day percentage decline since April 2025.
Data centre developments have increasingly faced opposition from voters across party lines, with several candidates who secured victories in Tuesday’s elections pledging to restrict or slow down their construction.
The Democrats made significant gains, flipping seats previously held by Republicans in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine.
In Maine, former logger Troy Jackson defeated longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins, securing the Democrats’ seventh Senate seat gained from Republicans.
In Kansas, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the traditionally conservative state since 1932, while Iowa elected a Democratic senator for the first time since 2008.
In Texas, Democrat Talarico declared that he had defeated “Goliath” after winning a Senate seat, while Gina Hinojosa unseated Republican Governor Greg Abbott, ending decades of Republican control of the governorship.
Democrats also held on to key Senate seats, including that of Jon Ossoff in Georgia, as well as an open seat in New Hampshire.
Their gains extended to Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed defeated former Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers, becoming the first Muslim elected to the upper chamber of Congress.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats made further gains in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina, Wisconsin and New Jersey, including in districts Trump had won comfortably in the 2024 presidential election.
One of the closely watched contests took place in Indiana, where Democrat J.D. Ford defeated Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz in a district Trump had carried by 17 percentage points in 2024.
The Democrats also captured Georgia’s governorship, with former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms making history as the state’s first Black woman governor.
Republicans, however, secured victories in Florida, where Trump-backed Byron Donalds became the state’s first Black governor, while Ashley Moody retained her Senate seat after overcoming a strong Democratic challenge.
AFP
