'Lame duck' explained as Trump branded one following disastrous midterm loss

The US midterm elections have resulted in a landslide loss for the Republicans leading to Donald Trump being branded a 'lame duck' - but what does that mean?

As of midnight in Washington, the Democrats flipped control of both the House and the Senate, taking control of Congress for the remainder of Donald Trump's presidency.

The sweeping victory against the Republican government came after states such as Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North and South Carolina saw the Democrats win multiple Senate seats - despite Kansas not having elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.

For Trump, his final two years of presidency has now had a spanner thrown into the works - Democratic control of the House and Senate already seeing the party voice its intentions to investigate his administration.

After securing a second term, Senator of Georgia Jon Ossoff said to voters on Tuesday (November 3): "The American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption, and incompetence of the failed lame duck President Donald J. Trump."

And the labelling of Trump as a 'lame duck' has continued online too, an X user writing: "BREAKING: Trump reacts to decisively losing the midterms. "I'm a little bit surprised. I thought we'd do better. We had tremendous rallies. LAME DUCK TRUMP!!!"

"Donald Trump accepting his inevitable lame-duck, job status for the next two years," another added.

For anyone who doesn't typically fling the term 'lame duck' into a sentence every now and again, the noun, unsurprisingly, doesn't have a particular positive meaning, really going in on the Republican's loss.

Trump, the 'lame duck' (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

What 'lame duck' means

'Lame duck' has three possible meanings, as per Merriam Webster.

The first? To describe 'one that is weak or that falls behind in ability or achievement'.

The second? "An elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor."

Or the third? "One whose position or term of office will soon end."

And as if to rub salt in the wound even further, the site even adds: "The President was a lame duck during the end of his second term."

While the results of the elections may've diminished Trump into a 'lame duck,' he still has two years to serve of his presidency.

So what happens next?

Trump will have to work with the Democrats (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

How do the midterm election results impact Trump's final years of presidency?

Essentially, Trump still holds executive power which means he can veto Democrat bills.

However, the Democrats control of Congress means he will face a lot more push back and the government could face some standoffs, it becoming a lot harder for Trump to simply push laws through.

Reflecting on the US midterm results, Trump said to Fox News: "I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard. They were, you know, they'd been fighting for a long time. They've been fighting me for a long time. This fight's been going on for ages.

"I started and really, look at it, I've been doing it for 12 years with them. And I've come up on top all the time."

Alas, sadly not this time 'lame duck'.