I'll pull together a fresh overview of US politics for you — starting with a sweep of today's landscape.
As of September 25, 2026, the United States is in a period of divided and highly polarized politics under a Republican trifecta facing a competitive midterm election:
1. Control of Government
•Executive: Incumbent president is Donald Trump (R), serving his second term which began in January 2025.
•Legislative: As of January 25, 2026, Republicans control the presidency, the Senate Majority Leader position and the Speaker of the House, resulting in one-party Republican control. Reporting from 2024-2026 notes Republicans maintain a slight majority in the House after securing control of the Senate and narrowing its House majority in the 2024 election.
The current Congress is the 119th Congress serving before the 120th is determined in the midterms.
2. The Dominant Event: The 2026 Midterm Elections
Elections are scheduled to be held, in large part, on November 3, 2026. In these midterm elections, scheduled to occur during Republican president Donald Trump's second term, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be contested to determine the 120th United States Congress. 39 state and territorial gubernatorial elections will also be contested.
Historical pattern suggests the president's party loses on average 3 Senate seats and 28 House seats, which if it happened this cycle, Republicans would narrowly retain the Senate however Democrats would gain control of the House.
Current forecasting:
•Divided government is the most likely outcome of the 2026 midterm elections
•Polling shows 50.7 percent of respondents said they would probably or definitely vote for a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress if the election were held today, compared with 42.1 percent who said they would probably or definitely vote for a Republican candidate
•Analysts summarize: The House currently leans Democratic. Not guaranteed. Not safely Democratic. But Democrats have the better national environment, a sustained generic-ballot advantage
•One forecast model gives Democrats about a 70% chance of winning complete control of Congress
If Democrats win control of both the House and Senate, Donald Trump would remain president until January 20, 2029.
3. Presidential Approval and Public Mood
Trump's standing has declined significantly during his second term:
•At the time when Donald Trump began his second term, his approval rating was 47% - the second lowest at the start of a term in polling history.
•Throughout 2025 to 2026, Trump's approval rating has steadily declined to an average of 36 to 37%.
•Recent polls in September 2026 show: Reuters/Ipsos survey shows 33% approval and 64% disapproval, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 32 percent, marking the lowest point of his political career [...] according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on September 21, 2026
•Pew Research Center analysis found Trump's approval stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall, with decline primarily among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents
Public pessimism is high:
•According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 69% of Americans are dissatisfied with how things are going in the U.S., and 59% believe the country’s best days are behind it.
•Eight in ten U.S. adults say Republican and Democratic voters not only disagree on plans and policies but also cannot agree on basic facts
4. Top Issues
Polling identifies three dominant issues shaping politics:
•Economy and Cost of Living: Cost of living and inflation dominate. 43% of respondents name it among the top three issues facing the country, with the economy ranks second at 30%. The economy and affordability have emerged as central issues in the 2026 midterms, with voters frustrated over the rising gas prices, grocery costs and inflation amid the Iran war
•The Iran War: The outbreak of the 2026 Iran war on February 28 introduced a further complicating factor, described as a U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, launched in February 2026 under the codename Operation Epic Fury. The U.S.-Iran conflict now ranks third at 23%, ahead of health care and immigration. Only 29% of respondents viewed Trump’s work on Iran favorably, while 69% viewed it unfavorably, and only 33% viewed Trump’s work on the economy favorably, while 65% viewed it unfavorably.
•Immigration and Border Security: Immigration remains a stronger issue for President Donald Trump than the economy or Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll. The administration's immigration policies, including deportations by ICE due to strengthened funding via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, were also scrutinized.
Other factors include tariffs imposed on much of the world with intent to re-industrialize, which was criticized for worsening inflation rather than fighting it.
5. Polarization and Institutional Friction
Politics is described as defined by intense polarization, institutional friction, and an ideological struggle over the post-Trump political order.
Key manifestations:
•Government Shutdowns: The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from February 14 to April 30, 2026, lasted 76 days and became the longest funding lapse for a single federal department in U.S. history. It stemmed from a partisan standoff over immigration enforcement reforms following the January 2026 killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection agents. A second partial shutdown threat was reported in September 2026 as Democratic senators demanded new restrictions on federal immigration agents following a deadly incident during protests against deportation policies.
•Election Administration and Redistricting Battles: Prior to the elections, Trump called on Republican-led states to enact rare mid-decade redistricting to boost the party's chances, prompting reciprocal redistricting from Democratic-led states through measures such as California's Election Rigging Response Act. In April 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which enabled the creation of majority-minority districts were unconstitutional. The Justice Department also demanded voter registration data from states, suing 23 states and the District of Columbia that declined to provide unredacted voter rolls, and FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Fulton County, Georgia, election center, seizing approximately 600 boxes of ballots from 2020.
•Press and Civil Liberties: President Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House on September 18, 2026, branding their coverage “FAKE NEWS”.
•Political Violence: Recent incidents, including the June killing of Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, the September shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, have drawn attention to risk of social instability ahead of midterms.
•Voter Confidence: Just over half of Americans are confident the 2026 midterms will be fair.
Pew's 2026 Political Typology found nine distinct groups, not just two, with the loudest voices on far right and far left making up 38% of the country, while the majority sits somewhere messier in the middle.
In short, the current state is a low-approval incumbent presidency navigating a costly foreign war, persistent inflation and immigration battles, facing a highly polarized electorate that broadly disapproves of the country's direction and is poised to render a verdict in closely watched November 2026 midterms that could return the country to divided government.