Trump: You’re Fired

Before the election, President Donald Trump urged American voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.” Unfortunately for him, they did, and the rejection was resounding.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. So was the anxiety felt around the world, as some countries now face a Congress that is essentially up for grabs. The Grand Old Party squandered its mandate to govern by picking an incompetent, corrupt leader. He was also exhausting, imprudent, and reckless, and Americans became sick and tired of being sick and tired. Naturally, Trump responded to his defeat with a delusional tweet: “I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”…Of course, he wasn’t; the post was stupid, and the world collectively breathed a sigh of relief because more seasons of “Apprentice” have been canceled. While a welcome development, everyone loathes a power vacuum, and the relationship between a Democratic Congress and a Republican President may yield no winner. However, the election points out that some tech bros are not all that smart. Trump will be swamped by investigations into his presidency and profiteering, as will Elon Musk and other tech bros who jumped on the Trump gravy train. Their presence in the White House has also bothered Americans, who are already worried about AI joblessness, an explosion of data centers, and government run by a technocracy.However, the election points out that some tech bros are not all that smart. Other Topics of Interest ‘We Will Not Implement It’: Kallas Rejects US-Russia Security Deal Negotiated Without Europe Kallas warns that sanctions, frozen Russian assets and Ukraine’s EU accession cannot be decided without Europe, demanding pressure on Moscow. Musk, a trillionaire, blew an unprecedented $400 million supporting Republican midterm candidates, and plenty more was squandered by the Silicon Valley tycoons who flanked Trump at his inauguration.Of the defeat, Musk simply joked and said: “I guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.” But he won’t be so flippant when Democrats commission probes begin, dragging him and others to appear under oath and explain why so much of the People’s Money has been handed over to him and the world’s biggest, most profitable tech companies. Unfortunately, Democrats did not win a veto-proof majority. Post-election diplomacy will be interesting. Given the size of their victory, the Democrats could and should pass legislation to provide Patriot missiles to Ukraine immediately, as well as to push Trump to impose the sledgehammer bill of sanctions on Russia formulated by the late Senator Lindsey Graham.Trump signed the bill but opted to do the opposite by purchasing tons of Russian diesel to finance Putin’s slaughter in Ukraine in a vain attempt to lower prices caused by his Iran War. It didn’t help. “The reason we lost [the election] is the [Iran] war,” posted Vice President JD Vance. “The president himself said so last night.”Unfortunately, Democrats did not win a veto-proof majority, and the President can veto anything they pass. Overriding him would require two-thirds of the votes in each chamber, which they did not acquire.But, on the other hand, Trump has limits too.He can veto Congressional edicts that punish Putin, but he will alienate his own party base. Concessions to Russia are opposed by both parties. The Democratic Party, and many Republicans, support giving Ukraine permanent military and financial support. Democrats also reject White House pressure to force Ukraine to make territorial concessions or to lift current sanctions on Russian energy. Putin is loathed, and it also helps that the Pope and Melania Trump were involved in negotiating a ceasefire to rescue starving Ukrainians. And it’s important to note that the large-scale turnout of Democrats was enhanced by a Russian disinformation campaign during the election, which backfired against their candidates. They won’t pander to Putin.The first geopolitical test is next week when Trump’s mediators meet with delegates from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi to try and end the war. Ukraine has strong support among all Americans; Putin is loathed, and it also helps that the Pope and Melania Trump were involved in negotiating a ceasefire to rescue starving Ukrainians from a destroyed city still held by Russians.For this and other good deeds, Zelensky just gave the First Lady the Order of Princess Olga, First Class. A smart move, and well-deserved.But Putin also proposed a three-way summit with Trump and Xi in late November in China to elevate his sagging stature. This is far from certain, but the midterm results somewhat undermine Trump’s bargaining position in any summit in the future.The US and China will definitely meet soon alone and discuss tariff relief and cooperation on international conflicts (i.e., Beijing would help curb Iran and Russia) to enhance Trump’s bruised status. In return, Xi would seek trade concessions and access to oil escorted through the Strait of Hormuz, thanks to the US Navy. This week’s rebuke by voters was the worst since 1974, after the Nixon debacle. Stateside, the Democrats will pass a bill ending stock trading for Congress, the president, and Supreme Court judges, corrupt or not. They will also subpoena records and compel individuals to testify concerning stock trades, crypto, the Epstein files, Elon Musk, the Iran war, and any Trump projects involving foreign investors or governments.Evidence gathered may lead to House impeachment proceedings, which the Senate adjudicates, and the fact that Democrats have flipped seats in both gives them more power. But in the end, Trump can veto any initiative, which can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote in the House as well as in the Senate.This week’s rebuke by voters was the worst since 1974, after the Nixon debacle. Newly minted Congressional power broker – House Representative Hakeem Jeffries – explained the vote wasn’t right or left but was about the people versus the president.“They [voters] are saying to their president, ‘vote for the people’ or ‘vote for stupid’,” he said, adding that affordability measures are “for the people,” but the Iran war is “for stupid.” Of all the dreadful, wanna-be-Trump tech losers, Vivek Ramaswamy stood out as the worst. This election is also a rejection of the culture of toxic masculinity spearheaded and personified by Donald Trump.Of all the dreadful, wanna-be-Trump tech losers, Vivek Ramaswamy stood out as the worst. He’s a slick, shamelessly ambitious biotech billionaire who spent $100 million to become Governor of Ohio and was totally humiliated at the ballot box by a physician, Amy Acton.During the campaign, Ramaswamy ran an attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, who claimed Acton lied about her upbringing and urged residents not to vote for her daughter. His nasty assault shocked the country after it was revealed that Acton’s mother lost custody of Amy and her brother decades before because her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Amy as a child.Both Trump and J.D. Vance actually defended the ad; Acton won handily then Ohio plus the nation turned blue.This wasn’t just a slip-up; it was no different from the misogyny and cruelty that characterize Trump and his retinue. There are insults toward women, shocking mass deportation methods, as well as the verbal gang-up in 2025 by Trump and Vance toward Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, without any justification.Such bullyboy posturing underpins Trump’s admiration for authoritarians such as Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and China’s President Xi Jinping.Trump even celebrated the 250th anniversary of the United States (and Trump’s 80th birthday) in June by staging an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match in a makeshift arena built on White House grounds.It featured, as always, male fighters with immigrant or refugee backgrounds who bloody and pummel one another mercilessly in an attempt to crawl out of poverty. For these and millions more reasons, the majority of Americans voted him and his ilk offstage.Reprinted with permission. Read the original here. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.