Trump Won, What Next?
Edward Lozansky
U.S. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris called Donald Trump to congratulate him and to stress the importance of accepting the election results. But if one digs a little deeper into the statements of Harris and other Democratic leaders, one sees that the “Deep State” is not willing to give Trump full latitude.
One must admit – when many expected turbulence, accusations of cheating, lawsuits, and even outright violence, Trump’s sailing to victory was pretty smooth. However, what comes next is still unpredictable. After recovering from the shock, Harris called Trump to congratulate him and emphasize the importance of accepting the election results. She added that the White House administration would facilitate a peaceful power transfer to aid the transition process. Biden, in turn, has invited Trump to a traditional post-election meeting at the White House, and both President and Vice-President will attend the inauguration ceremony.
So far, so good, but when one looks a bit deeper into the statements from Harris, Biden, other Democratic leaders, plus the mainstream liberal media, besides trying to figure out how a “biggest threat to democracy,” “fascist,” or even “Hitler” could win, they certainly are not ready to give him a free ride.
During her concession speech, Harris said, “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. ” She referred to the words “fight” or “fighting” 19 times.
Biden followed with a similar message: “Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. As my dad would say, we all get knocked down, but the measure of our character is how quickly we get back up.”
All this is usual rhetoric for politicians, and one would accept it with the understanding that it only addressed domestic affairs. At the same time, the world is worrying about how Trump’s victory would affect U.S. foreign policy, especially the current wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, both of which might escalate into much larger conflicts.
Trump pledged to end the Ukraine war 24 hours after victory, but obviously, it was just campaign rhetoric.
According to Biden’s NSC advisor, Jack Sullivan, during his CBS interview, “Our approach remains the same as it has been for the last two and a half years, which is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.”
Trump pledged to end the Ukraine war 24 hours after victory, but obviously, it was just campaign rhetoric. He criticized Biden for getting America into this war and labeled Zelensky “the greatest salesman on Earth” for how much American money he’s been able to get. However, it is doubtful that Trump can even start negotiations with Putin before entering the White House on January 20. Did he forget how quickly he had to fire his National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, for calling the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak on December 29, 2016, i.e., 22 days before having the right to engage in foreign policy negotiations? At that time, Flynn was still a private citizen, and the so-called “Logan Act” prohibited them from engaging in diplomacy on behalf of the United States.
Flynn asked Kislyak to “reciprocate moderately” in response to the sanctions Obama imposed on Russia for “interference in U.S. elections,” pledging to lift these sanctions after January 20, 2017. Moscow agreed not to escalate, and as a sign of goodwill, Putin invited the children of American diplomats to the Kremlin Christmas Tree celebration.
I am unsure about Christmas Tree attendance, but losing Flynn, probably the only one who shared Trump’s vision that “Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing,” was one of the reasons for the current mega-crisis, including the Ukrainian tragedy.
We can only hope that this time, Trump will surround himself with loyalists instead of traitors, but no doubt the resistance to his efforts to end this war will be not only from Democrats but from many Republicans in Congress.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is in line to become the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is demanding that President Biden exercise his responsibilities as commander-in-chief and give Ukraine the weapons it needs to make a “substantial difference” on the battlefield in the last days of his term.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, lobbied House Speaker Mike Johnson to support the Ukraine 60 billion aid package last April. McCaul says that he isn’t giving up hope that a second Donald Trump presidency will support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois, suggests to Trump to “cut through the bureaucracies, the swamp, and the deep state” by putting JD Vance – Vice-President-elect and the Chair of the future Senate, in charge of peace negotiations.
In any event, Trump’s landslide victory mandates a new, more realistic foreign policy away from the self-proclaiming hegemony.
It is too early to predict whether he can achieve this goal, so help him, God.