The far far far right is losing elections. And voters appear to be losing patience. First Viktor Orbán in Hungary, after 16 years in power. Then Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil, where voters rejected another attempt to return the Bolsonaro dynasty to the presidency. Now Aleksandar Vučić in Serbia, whose authoritarian grip on the country has been broken by a student-led democratic movement. Three countries. Three defeats. And across the Atlantic, Donald Trump’s Republicans are bleeding support. When a billionaire receives another enormous tax cut, somebody still has to pay for public services. And that somebody is you! There is only so long you can convince ordinary working people that making the extraordinarily wealthy even wealthier is somehow an act of economic patriotism. There is something else these defeats suggest. People are growing tired of politicians who admire dictators, attack democratic institutions, manufacture enemies and treat public office as their personal property. It is 2026. Most people want competent governments, affordable lives and a future for their children. They have remarkably little appetite for aspiring wannabe strongmen.

Mitch McConnell has just delivered a warning Trump cannot afford to ignore. In The Wall Street Journal, the veteran Republican senator warned that Trump’s continued submission to Putin could jeopardise his entire legislative agenda. McConnell calls Trump’s Russia policy strategically naive and morally bankrupt. More importantly, he signals that Republican senators may withhold their support unless Trump changes course. This is no longer merely about Ukraine. It is about whether Republicans will allow an American president to keep rewarding a Russian dictator while undermining America’s allies. For once, Trump may discover that Congress has a spine.