You can read accounts of how Donald Trump’s first year was a success and of how it was a debacle, and, oddly enough, neither genre is preposterous—unless it pretends that Trump did as well as one could have under the circumstances. The self-sabotage of the man continues to astonish because it takes so many new and unexpected forms. Because Trump’s outbursts are unpredictable, so are many of his headaches. (For example, had he not impulsively fired James Comey from the F.B.I., he could have avoided a drawn-out investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.) But some of his headaches for 2018 can be predicted in advance. Here are five to expect:

1. Democrats will be less open to deal-making.

When Trump got into office, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats greeted him with a detailed infrastructure proposal, hoping to split Trump from Republicans and to get something passed on terms more favorable to them. Had Trump taken it up with a counterproposal and reached a compromise, he could have enjoyed praise for a bipartisan moment (one that wouldn’t have bothered his own base), played Santa Claus, and maybe even gotten a few miles of his border wall started. He likewise could have worked with both parties to fix Obamacare and call it “repeal and replace.” Republicans would have been no less eager to do tax reform later.

Now, however, Democrats will be less willing to negotiate. They see the midterm elections coming in November and anticipate winning back the House—possibly, despite long odds, even the Senate. So why not wait to cut a deal until they can get something better? To be sure, Obamacare will need help after the latest tax bill eliminated the coverage mandate, and Trump is hoping Republicans and Democrats will work together on health care going forward. But Democrats can still afford to wait on that.

As to be expected in an election year, a primary focus of Democrats this year will be making Donald Trump and his allies look bad.

2. Robert Mueller sticks around.

According to The Washington Post, people close to the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller say they expect Mueller to keep up his digging for another year. Since the initial indictments so far have been for perjury and business mischief rather than something directly involving Russia, it’s unlikely there’s a lot of fire beneath the smoke (unless George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn, among others who may have cut a deal with Mueller, have dirt on Trump). Trump and his allies may have done something illegal in their responses to the allegations of fire—and Trump’s business dealings probably offer plenty of sleaze in their own right—but this isn’t the sort of thing a Republican majority will find compelling.

If Mueller wants to get anywhere with making a case against Trump, therefore, he’ll need Democratic majorities in the House and, ideally, the Senate. As long as Mueller is eager to show something for his work, or if he’s filled with outrage over Trump, he has every incentive to move glacially in 2018. Congressional Democrats probably aren’t the only ones who are making calculations with the midterms in mind.

3. Someone has to blink on DACA.