US midterms: Not even Trump's Israel aid stunt could rescue the Republicans

There is nothing particularly unusual about an election stunt. Politicians routinely perform them. Rarely, though, is a stunt as obvious as the one US President Donald Trump pulled on 3 November, Election Day, when he announced that America would, at year's end, stop providing $4bn in annual military aid to Israel.

Trump had clearly read the room, and the polls.

For all his public disdain for polls he claims are "fake" or "rigged", the president understands their political significance.

Polling data suggests that American voters are increasingly uncomfortable contributing their tax dollars to Israel's military, particularly as costs rise in the US and Americans struggle to afford basic necessities.