“Joy and relief”: Americans in the Netherlands react to midterms

US Democrats in the Netherlands are rejoicing at the results of the US midterm elections, which saw the party take back control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in a landslide victory.

The victory was widely expected by pollsters and attributed largely to the Trump administration’s war on Iran, which has driven up inflation and the cost of living. Hundreds of formerly Republican state and local seats were lost, some for the first time in decades.

Chad Lykins, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad Netherlands, a campaign group helping people vote from overseas (despite the mounting obstacles), told Dutch News he was “thrilled” by the result.

“Republicans tried to limit our right to vote and I think that actually motivated people both domestically and abroad to turn in their ballot and vote Democrat,” he said.

“Voters rejected Republicans’ incompetence, corruption, and violence and chose a positive vision focused on affordability, good governance, and a sane foreign policy.”

Greg Shapiro, a US-Dutch comedian who hosted an election night event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, said he felt “joy and relief” and also expressed surprise at Trump’s initial acceptance of the results.

“I was predicting that the current Republican Congress would refuse to certify the election results, and I hope I’m wrong about that too,” he said.

“We all have a long enough memory to realise that Americans are stupid enough to elect Donald Trump twice. But for now, it’s nice that so many qualified candidates seem to have won.”

Impact on US expats

Shapiro also said the results “matter to every US expat in the Netherlands” as the Dutch public is so well informed on US political affairs that it shapes how they see their American neighbours.

“Dutch people know more about the details of American democracy than over half of America. The fact that American voters occasionally act responsibly is palpably reassuring for every Dutch person I talk to.”

“Are Dutch people going to allow me to ‘doe normaal’? Or are they going to lecture me about everything wrong with my birth country’s domestic and foreign policy?”

Another US citizen, Amsterdam-based reporter Sabine Waldeck, told Dutch News that since leaving her home country she cares more about US politics than ever, that “distance makes the heart grow fonder” and that the inability to do much beyond voting when living abroad while her friends and family remain there is hard.

“Right now, the US is run by a tyrannical fascistic government,” she said, and the outcome “gives me hope”.

Sharon Comiteau, an 86-year-old US Amsterdam resident, told us the result “is the only way we can survive”.

“I’m jumping for joy,” she said. “I’m proud of America for the first time in a long time.”

Opportunity for Dutch politics?

Shapiro said the Dutch government is “absolutely going to benefit from this election result.”

“There will now be checks and balances against the Project 2025 White House. There will now be so-called guard rails, which existed during Trump’s first term. This makes Trump a lot less dangerous on the world stage,” he said.

“Dutch politicians can perhaps afford to stop licking Trump‘s boots and make public alliances with the new Democratic power centre in Congress.”

With Washington being extremely divided, some analysts see an opportunity to begin dealing with individual US states.

Ian Kenny, director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam, told news programme EenVandaag: “There is an entire country behind the White House.

“There are 50 different states with their own culture. If you do business with individual states, you create more opportunities for yourself.”