Bad news for Mr. Trump’s re-election ambitions

FOA News – Mr. Trump is determined to return to the White House, but the results of the parliamentary election in New York and legal troubles are bad news that can threaten this desire.

Former President Donald Trump at Manhattan criminal court, New York, February 15. Photo: AFP

Former President Donald Trump is currently the leading candidate in the Republican nomination race. He had his first three primary victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, winning the support of a total of 60 delegates.

Mr. Trump is expected to defeat his final opponent Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, to become the candidate representing the Republican party. If this scenario comes true, he will have a rematch with President Joe Biden.

Many people have even thought about the scenario of Mr. Trump returning to the White House and leading the US for the next 4 years. However, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said there are signs that the weaknesses of Trump and the Republican Party are becoming more and more obvious on the racetrack.

The first is the convincing victory of the Democratic Party in the special vote to choose a replacement for Congressman George Santos of New York state’s 3rd electoral district. Former Democratic congressman Tom Suozzi surpassed Republican lawmaker Mazi Pilip with approval ratings of 53.9% and 46.1%, respectively.

Instead of pursuing economic debate, Suozzi focused on immigration and abortion issues. He turned the tables on Pilip by criticizing her opposition to a bipartisan border bill that the Senate supported.

The Democratic Party’s victory in an area controlled by the Republican Party is a warning to former President Trump’s party, according to Rubin.

With Suozzi’s victory, Republicans now control 219 seats and Democrats hold 213 seats in the House of Representatives. That leaves Republicans only allowed to lose 2 votes in votes to pass bills.

The US Senate’s approval of a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine despite Mr. Trump’s calls for opposition also underscores the decline in the former president’s influence with the Republican Party.

“Don’t be stupid! We need a separate immigration and border bill. That bill should not be tied to foreign aid in any form!”. Former President Trump sent a message to Republicans on February 5.

Mr. Trump mentioned the $118 billion budget bill developed by the US Senate. Of which, 20.23 billion USD is spent to tighten border security, 60 billion USD to aid Ukraine, 14.1 billion USD to support security for Israel, and other aid.

Despite having to cut the size of the aid package, US senators on February 13 still approved a package worth more than 95 billion USD. Including 60 billion USD for military support and other needs of Ukraine, with 70 votes in favor and 29 votes against. 22 Republican members and most Democrats in the US Senate support.

“The vote demonstrated that many Republican senators will turn their backs on Mr. Trump on a number of issues,” Rubin said.

If Republicans join hands with Democrats to pass the bill in the House of Representatives, Mr. Trump’s control will be further affected, according to observers.

In case Trump can still prevent the immigration bill from being passed. He had to accept the high price of humiliating Republican border security negotiators, damaging candidates like Pilip and giving Mr. Biden the opportunity to criticize himself, according to observers.

“The Democratic Party will be happy to see this as another proof of the accusation that Mr. Trump puts his own interests above the needs of the country,” Rubin warned.

The Senate’s decision was made when the former president faced harsh criticism for his threat to NATO. During an election campaign in South Carolina on February 10, former US President Donald Trump revealed the content of his meeting with “the leader of a major country” at a NATO conference when he was still in office.

“I won’t protect you. In fact, I will encourage Russia to do whatever they want. You have to pay up front.” Mr. Trump said his answer when asked if the US would protect the country if it did not contribute enough budget to the alliance and was attacked by Russia.

Mr. Trump’s threat to abandon NATO allies immediately faced strong criticism from the White House, President Biden and NATO leaders. “It was stupid, shameful and dangerous. How can you imagine a former US president saying such a thing? The whole world heard it. The worst thing is that he meant it.” Mr. Biden said on February 13.

President Biden’s election campaign is trying to portray Mr. Trump as a “threat to democracy”.

Another threat to Trump and the Republican party is that many lawmakers plan to leave the House of Representatives when they announce they will not run for re-election. It is estimated that no less than 21 lawmakers will leave, showing that some Republican members are not excited about the scenario of Mr. Trump returning to the White House.

In addition, the trials of Mr. Trump seem unlikely to take place after the November election. The New York judge on February 15 rejected the request to drop the prosecution of Mr. Trump’s payment to suppress information, deciding On March 25, the trial of the former president began.

Todd Blanche, the lawyer representing Mr. Trump, said that setting such a trial date is “very unfair” and an act of “election interference” because there are many primary elections taking place in March.

Spending money to suppress information in the 2016 election is one of four prosecutions that Mr. Trump faces. The former president is also accused of meddling in the Georgia state election, illegally keeping confidential documents after leaving the White House and plotting to overturn the 2020 election results, leading to the riot at Capitol Hill in 2021.

Mr. Trump on February 12 appealed to the Supreme Court after the Washington federal appeals court ruled that the former president did not enjoy immunity from prosecution in the 2020 election overturning case.

If the Supreme Court denies Mr. Trump’s request, the former president could face the most serious charges, including attacks on democracy, before the crucial election day in November.

 

Source: Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, AFP