The 2026 US mid-term elections promise to be amongst the most consequential in U.S. history. What will the mid-terms tell us about Donald Trump’s performance and the future of the MAGA movement?  And how will Americans view some of the more radical Democratic Party candidates?

Professor Michael Ondaatje is an old friend of the Tuesday Dialogues.

Michael is a prize-winning researcher and teacher and a regular commentator on American history and politics in the media. He is an expert on the history of American conservatism and currently Dean (Research) in the Arts, Education and Law Group at Griffith University. He has been a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and was selected by the US Department of State for the International Visitor Leadership Program, the premier professional exchange program of the U.S. government. He is also a recipient of the Max Crawford Medal – ‘Australia’s most prestigious award for achievement and promise in the humanities' – and a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2026, the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney formally recognised Michael for his ‘extraordinary and enduring contribution to fostering understanding of the United States and its history among Australian students and scholars’.

Join us for an evening of analysis and insight into the politics of Australia’s most important international ally of the past 75 years.