Trump likely to become more erratic following midterm elections debacle

Not all the results are in yet, but one thing is for sure. Democrats won big in the midterm elections. Very big. Displacing the Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Democrats have inflicted a punishing and embarrassing defeat on President Donald Trump and his party.Trump bears significant responsibility for this loss. The war on Iran, designed for regime change rather than to blunt Iran’s nuclear program, was a predictably foolish gambit that weakened America’s ability to deal with the far more important threat from China. The war also sent gas prices soaring. Alongside his tariff war on the world, Trump supplanted his reputation for economic credibility with a record of economic instability. He threw his support behind too many flawed candidates, he accepted rife corruption, and he adopted a campaign strategy without narrative. Trump’s decision to focus his concluding election speech on improvements to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and not, say, inflation, encapsulates these failures. Recommended Stories Still, Trump’s antics have also emphasized his growing political indiscipline and obsession with personal interests. We should expect more impulsiveness from the president going forward. An analogy for Trump’s likely postelection mentality might be that of Commander Worf in the movie Star Trek: First Contact. Fighting a powerful enemy, Worf’s ship is battered and nearly broken. Rather than submit, however, Worf prepares to turn himself into a wrecking ball. Worf orders his crew, “Maybe today is a good day to die. Prepare for ramming speed!” Trump may similarly decide that he has nothing left to lose. Anything but the appearance of being a lame duck, something the president’s ego surely could not withstand.The most obvious area for Trump to roll the dice is on foreign policy. The United States retains a massive military buildup around Iran, for example. These forces are designed to give Trump flexibility should he order a resumption of military action against that country. In the short term, the war’s unpopularity with voters is no longer a concern for Trump as it was prior to the midterm elections. But given that the new Congress will likely cut off funding for the war, if Trump is to act, he will want to do so aggressively and in short order.CAN EUROPE STOP RUSSIAN SUBMARINES FROM EXPLOITING BROKEN UK NAVY?On domestic policy, also, Trump is sure to test the limits of presidential power. Expect new executive orders and diversions of appropriated funding. Trump will certainly want his ballroom secured before the new Congress takes office. The Supreme Court may have to weigh in on numerous matters before the year is out.The top line?Trump will be stung by what he will regard, though never admit, as a humiliating rebuke. His character and record suggest he will now make every effort to ensure that Americans and the world know he retains a very great and personal power. Even if that power is not used wisely.