Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said Donald Trump "deserved to be thrashed" in the US midterm elections, describing his heavy defeat as "entirely self-inflicted". In an interview with The Independent's editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, she criticised the US president's record on tariffs, the Iran war and his treatment of allies, and denounced what she called his "dirty" style of politics. The Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's elections, flipping at least seven Senate seats and more than two dozen House districts.

'Voters want results'

Asked whether Mr Trump deserved his defeat, Mrs Badenoch replied: "Yeah. He has not been acting in the way that I would consider conservative. Where is the push for free markets and better trade… rather than protectionism, America first, the squabbling with allies? That's not what conservatives do." She added that his defeat was "entirely self-inflicted", saying: "Voters want results." She also said she would have been content if Mr Trump had never won a second term and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris had become president in 2024 instead.

A wider break with Trump and Farage

Mrs Badenoch also criticised Mr Trump's threats towards Canada and Greenland and said his insults did not meet the standards expected of a statesman. In the same interview she attacked her Conservative predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss over their "mistakes" in government, refused to work with Nigel Farage and dismissed Reform UK's proposals as "bonkers". The remarks mark her sharpest break yet with the US president and with the populist right at home, as she tries to set out a distinct Conservative offer to voters.

[Source: The Independent, via EuropeSays](https://www.europesays.com/britain/161263/) | [Source: Brit Brief](https://britbrief.co.uk/politics/partisanship/badenoch-trump-mid-term-loss-was-self-inflicted.html)