The U.S. midterm elections could seriously weaken Donald Trump’s position and shift the balance of power in Washington. Democrats will have the opportunity to strengthen their control over the White House, push for investigations into the president’s inner circle, and block some of his decisions, particularly in foreign policy. Particular attention is being drawn to possible investigations into Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the future of military aid to Ukraine, and Elon Musk’s influence on American politics.
Will Congress be able to stop Trump’s deals with Russia, why might SpaceX face the threat of nationalization, and how will support for Ukraine change? Uriel Epstein, executive director of the Union of Democracy Initiatives, spoke to 24 Channel about these issues.
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Why does Trump react so painfully to defeats, and are the Democrats capable of a counteroffensive?
When Donald Trump is asked what it’s like to lose, he simply turns around and walks away. Why such a painful reaction? Where’s the explanation? Where are the lines like, “I am great, I will veto everything, I will destroy everyone”? Why is he silent?
I think Trump has become a bit worn out these days. Let’s not forget how old he is. Moreover, this is a man who thinks of himself as being on a par with God. And here it’s obvious that he’s lost absolutely everything.
They always say that during midterm elections, the ruling party loses a few seats in Congress, but this isn’t just a few seats. We haven’t seen a loss like this in several decades. This is truly a unique situation.
And now we’re seeing Trump’s reaction. As children, we learn that a bully who picks on the weak will back down if someone just punches him in the nose. It seems the Democrats have finally punched Trump in the nose.
But Trump is already accusing the Democrats of being blackmailers who will go after innocent people. He’ll order both the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to go after these Democrats. How much influence does he have over the Attorney General and the Department of Justice? Could he start going after Democrats personally?
As of today, Trump does, after all, have some authority within the Department of Justice, where he has the right to investigate individuals – Democrats and others. And he’s already done this; there’s nothing new here. What he’s threatening to do, he’s done before.
He investigated my personal friends: Alex Windman, who was born in Ukraine; Miles Taylor; James Comey; Chris Krebs; and so on.
Moreover, he did so in a completely unconstitutional manner. He issued an executive order stating that criminal activity must be found on the part of Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor. But the U.S. Constitution contains a provision against “bills of attainder.” This means Congress is prohibited from passing laws targeting individual people.
He issued executive orders, but Congress can’t do that, right?
Yes, Congress doesn’t have that right. The idea is that if the president is also supposed to do what the Constitution says, then Congress doesn’t have that right. That’s illogical.
If Congress has no right to introduce a bill where they say, “Here’s what we want to do to someone” – which is unconstitutional – then it’s illogical for the U.S. president to be allowed to do so.
On the other hand, Democrats now have the absolute right to investigate members of the president’s administration through congressional committees. And they have plenty of grounds to do so, unfortunately. After all, billions of dollars were stolen by this administration, and the Democrats will now be keeping a close eye on this.
But my recommendation to the Democrats is not to pursue the president’s impeachment.
Why?
Because they’ve tried to do this twice before and failed. If they try it again now, first of all, they won’t succeed. They’ll still need more than sixty votes in the Senate.
And even if there are four Republicans willing to support it, and they manage to pull it off, it simply means that J.D. Vance becomes president. They’re turning Trump into a martyr, and that strengthens his political position.
It strengthens the political position of J.D. Vance, who is in no way better than Trump.
Full conversation with Epstein: watch the video
Investigation into Trump’s inner circle: Kushner, Witkoff, and corruption risks
The FT reports that Democrats want to allocate $15 billion to the annual defense budget before the current Congress adjourns. They also want to scrutinize the diesel deal along with the potential business interests of Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. In addition, the party intends to tighten oversight of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network. Will this approach yield results?
Yes, I’m all for it. That’s exactly what needs to be done. Witkoff and Kushner are supposedly not members of this administration and supposedly have the right to do whatever they want with the money.
But on the other hand, they have more influence over foreign policy than Secretary of State Rubio does.
Trump is doing this on purpose so that they can shape U.S. foreign policy, and at the same time, so that they can take bribes and do business. The Democrats will now have the opportunity to expose just how hypocritical this is and how utterly corrupt the situation is.
So, under the guise of geopolitical initiatives and negotiations, they’re simply traveling around and striking deals for their own pockets and for Trump’s?
Absolutely. I have no doubt that this is exactly what’s happening. We’ve seen this happen with Putin, where they discuss business deals.
Now Putin is offering to let Trump’s friends take what’s left of the American companies that have left Russia.
These companies have lost a lot of money – billions of dollars – and now the people around Trump, who have no sense of morality, stand to gain. I hope they try to do this, because it’s such a brazen act.
People will react to this; it cannot be ignored. Politically, it could backfire on them and only strengthen the Democrats.
But they’re officially nobody. How, then, will legal tools be found to hold them accountable?
That’s the key question. We need to talk to the lawyers working on this. I have no doubt that there are ways to do it, because they do have some role in the government.
Special envoy is a formal title, but it’s not like Marco Rubio, who isn’t allowed to trade stocks or engage in business. Kushner and Witkoff, in theory, are allowed to.
But we can see just how blatantly corrupt this is. I really hope the Democrats find a way.
Even if there’s no formal legal avenue, at the very least they should be summoned so they’re forced to appear before Congress and answer questions about where they just made two billion dollars or what deal they struck in Kazakhstan. Even if they can’t be arrested, we must at least show the public who they really are.
Trump, Putin, and the “New Security Architecture” for Europe
David Ignatius writes in The Washington Post that Kushner wants to implement an initiative to revive the Russia–NATO Council and develop security guarantees for Europe even before hostilities cease. But who is he, anyway – a diplomat, a geopolitical strategist, a new Kissinger? Or are these ideas, which are so closely tied to the Kremlin, actually coming from Trump?
This is all nonsense and empty talk. Trump is trying to do everything he can to help his best friend, Putin. He wants to create a new security architecture for Europe.
But Europe already has a security architecture, and it’s called NATO.
Russia is not part of this security architecture; Russia is NATO’s enemy. Period. And Ukraine today is NATO’s best friend and most important defender. Because you have a larger army than any other NATO country, except the U.S.
If Putin tries to do anything against Europe, it will all come down to Ukraine. If you advance on the battlefield, Europe will be safe. If not, Europe will be at risk.
Those living in Lithuania, Poland, and Estonia understand this. I very much hope that people in France, Germany, and England understand this as well.
If “ Trump will try to push for talks with Putin on a new security architecture,” that means going back to the 1990s; NATO must take a step backward.
Does Trump really not understand the value of the alliance as a counterweight to Russia, and that the U.S. is also part of NATO?
I think Trump doesn’t care whether he understands it or not. I know he wanted to take over Greenland, even though we could have done whatever we wanted there just by asking. Instead, he said he wanted to conquer Greenland. That’s just idiocy.
He’s said he’s already conquered Venezuela and wants Canada to become the 51st state. It’s obvious he has absolutely no understanding of the value of having allies. He acts on the world stage as if he were Putin himself.
For me, the real question is: does he realize just how much Putin is mocking him? When he won his second term, Russia was showing nude photos of his wife. Did he see that or not?
In Moscow, they call him Putin’s lapdog, a poodle. Someone needs to show him what Russian propagandists are saying about him.
I think he’ll assume they’re just promoting him that way, and – driven by his irrational love for Putin – he’ll forgive him.
That’s entirely possible. I’m often asked in America whether I think Trump is a Putin agent. My answer: I don’t know, and I probably never will.
But that’s not the right question. The right question is: Would he do anything differently if he were a Putin agent?
Since the answer is no – he’s doing everything a Putin agent would do – what difference does it make whether he’s an agent or not? What matters are the consequences of his actions.
Will Ukraine receive $15 billion under the NDAA?
Will the Democrats succeed in including $15 billion in aid for Ukraine in the NDAA annual defense budget bill before the current Congress’s term ends? Will Trump and the Republicans block this initiative?
The Republicans won’t block it. The odds are pretty good. The Republicans have lost a lot recently, and many of them are interested in helping Ukraine.
Most of them do understand who is defending freedom here and who poses a threat to the free world.
They’re all afraid of Trump, but since he’s very weakened right now, I think there will be enough Republicans to push this through both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The key question is: Will Trump veto it?
It’s difficult to veto the NDAA because it’s not just the 15 billion for Ukraine – it’s everything, including the Pentagon. To veto this, you’d have to veto the whole thing.
The second question: let’s say Trump signs it – what will he do next? In 2018, he was also forced to provide you with $400 million in aid, but he tried to blackmail Zelenskyy into passing on dirt on Biden.
Perhaps now Trump will try to withhold those 15 billion, even though it’s unconstitutional. Then there will be a serious battle between Congress and the president in the courts.
Could Republicans support this, since many of them are resentful and angry that Trump’s actions led to their defeat in the election?
Yes, that’s right. The Republicans who lost would be the most reasonable ones to work with. But those who won and remained in office are the most radical.
But among them are those who understand the importance of supporting our allies. Trump has been seriously weakened since this election; he has less influence.
Perhaps there will be Republicans who show some backbone and are willing to stand up to the president.
As a reminder, on November3 , the U.S. held midterm congressional elections, which ended in a victory for the Democratic Party. The Democrats gained control of both chambers of Congress – 54 seats in the Senate and 229 in the House of Representatives. This significantly weakened Donald Trump’s position and opened up opportunities for the opposition to conduct congressional investigations, oversee White House decisions, and influence U.S. foreign policy. At the same time, the election results may create new opportunities to support Ukraine, although they do not guarantee the automatic resumption of military aid.
Elon Musk, Starlink, and the Risk of SpaceX Nationalization
Russian propagandist Solovyov is inviting Elon Musk to Rostov-on-Don. Democrats will also be reviewing documents related to restrictions on Starlink. What is at stake for Musk, and will he go to Russia?
I don’t think Musk has much interest in going to Rostov-on-Don. He understands the risks and won’t go – he’s not Tucker Carlson. As for what he faces – it will be difficult to take action against him.
I believe he is one of the four most influential people in the world in terms of individual power: Putin, Xi Jinping, Trump, and Elon Musk.
Musk answers to no one. He controls moreStarlink satellites than all the countries in the world combined. It’s a monopoly to such an extent that no one will be able to seriously compete with him over the next ten years.
It’s unclear to what extent Democrats will be willing to go to war against him. In Texas, Democrats finally control everything, and they can put pressure on his companies there.
The biggest question people have already started discussing is whether they could nationalize all of SpaceX or part of it. That’s a huge risk – we’re a capitalist country, and nationalizing companies is what Putin does in Russia.
But for a single person to be able to single-handedly influence global geopolitics is also very risky. I see arguments both for and against it.
Will Trump really appoint a fighter as White House press secretary so that journalists get beaten up, rather than just having to walk away and turn their backs on them?
If UFC President Dana White had agreed to it, Trump would have gladly taken him on. But he’s already turned it down.
It should be noted that Donald Trump considered bringing UFC President Dana White onto his team. However, White declined the offer. White is known for his closeness to the U.S. president and his support for the president’s political activities. At the same time, the idea of such an appointment would attract particular attention due to Trump’s abrasive style of communication with journalists and his conflicts with the press.
It’s worth noting that one of the fighters Trump called out – Khabib Nurmagomedov – is Russian. The president did this to a Russian citizen.
This is yet another indication of who our president really is. He actually said that he needs a Russian fighter to take on the American press.
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