Harris predicts Democrats will win midterm, slams Trump for weakening Korea alliance

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris predicted Wednesday that the Democrats will win both the House of Representatives and Senate in November’s midterm elections, while using a Seoul appearance to deliver a pointed critique of U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and his overtures toward North Korea.

Speaking at the 2026 Asan Memorial Lecture, Harris said the electoral map is shifting in Democrats’ favor.

“We are facing a lot of obstacles, but the Democrats are going to win. I believe certainly the House and ... each day presents a new reason to think that of winning the Senate as well,” she said, noting that the number of competitive House seats that could flip from Republican to Democrat had grown from 40 to 46 in recent days.

When asked about a potential 2028 presidential run, she sidestepped the question. “(The year) 2028, from my perspective, doesn’t matter if we don’t win 2026,” she said.

The remarks came as Trump faces declining approval ratings following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war in late February, with congressional races remaining neck-and-neck.

Harris used the lecture to criticize what she called Trump’s erosion of U.S. alliance commitments, singling out his decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea.

“I was very disappointed. It would be an understatement to see when the current president changed the strength of our shared exercises in terms of military exercises,” she said, adding that punitive, erratic tariffs and Trump’s embrace of North Korea sent signals “contrary to the strength of the alliance — not only in the interest of the safety and stability of South Korea and the Indo-Pacific, but also the strengthening of America’s standing around the world.”

She framed the growing partnership among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as a reason to deepen, not weaken, alliance commitments.

“The growing relationship between, for example, China and Russia and Iran and North Korea is something we have to pay attention to and it should be the reason that within our alliance that we are committed to strengthening what must, without any question, happen in terms of deterrence,” Harris said.

“There is work that the United States should always be committed to — that is about participating in and strengthening the Republic of Korea’s armed forces.”

Harris said the South Korea-U.S. alliance needs to be renewed under changing circumstances.

“We have to acknowledge the changing circumstances even over the last year and a half that require a renewal of our commitment to South Korea,” she said, reaffirming her belief that the alliance remains a “linchpin of security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific.”

“I have returned to Seoul because I still believe that is true.”

Broadening her critique to U.S. foreign policy more generally, Harris took aim at what she called the Trump administration’s “blunt, raw transactionalism.”

“American foreign policy and relations among other nations is increasingly grounded in a blunt, raw transactionalism motivated by short term financial payoffs, overlooking the value of long-term investments in the kind of world we want to live in,” she said.

She called on U.S. leaders to use American leverage in ways that align with long-term interests such as artificial intelligence, climate and trade.

“America must use our leverage to ensure our actions align with our interests. It is in our interest to hold our allies accountable for their share of global defense, to ensure trade benefits, American workers and consumers and to uphold our moral obligation to human rights and international law.”