Trump finds himself in an extremely difficult position after the congressional elections: Oleg Makarenko

Oleg Makarenko, a political scientist and international affairs commentator, commented to Alpha News on the recent US midterm congressional elections.

“The recent congressional elections showed that the Republican Party has lost both chambers of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is very, very bad for Donald Trump’s current administration. Until now, neither of the chambers he controlled interfered in the work of the presidential administration. Now, after these elections, I think any initiative by the administration will come under close scrutiny from both the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States. And any action will face not just criticism, but an actual attempt to build a case for impeaching President Trump.

They will want to get even for the presidential election they lost. In other words, Trump is a ‘lame duck.’ He won’t be able to achieve anything now, either legislatively or politically. After these elections, he has found himself in an extremely difficult position. So what we will see now is a confrontation within the US, and everything will be focused on the domestic political agenda. Will he be able to make up for it in foreign policy, for example, with strikes on Iran? I don’t think so either. Why? Because they will immediately accuse him of unauthorized actions and starting a war, since he cannot conduct military operations beyond the 60 days allotted to him by the Constitution. So the situation is very bad for Trump,” the expert believes.

According to the political scientist, the Ukraine conflict will become a bargaining chip for the Trump administration, and he will use it to bargain with the Democrats over the conflict with Iran.

“As for the Ukraine track, I think arms supplies will continue. Trump wants to end the war, but no one will let him end it. The Democrats want to continue the war in Ukraine; they want to weaken Russia. And I think they will make every effort to do so. And this is where he has an opportunity to engage and try to bargain with Congress. Why? Because if he gives ground on Ukraine, they will give ground to him on the domestic agenda, including on Iran. They will push Ukraine and further military action against Russia, while he will gain on the domestic agenda and on Israel,” Makarenko concluded.