How harsh democracy can be; it pledges the destiny of the most powerful man in the most powerful country in the world to the will of the voters. One voter wants to punish the president for the rise in fuel prices, another for the threat to healthcare, and a third for his intolerance toward immigrants. The voter is preoccupied with their livelihoods, salary, and job opportunities far more than with the slogan "Make America Great Again."
It is the habit of democracies to punish the powerful man, sidelining him or curbing his ambitions and excesses. This is America; it is not Russia, where the czar knows the election results in advance, nor is it China, which possesses its own mechanism to perpetuate the reign of the emperor sitting on the throne of Mao Zedong.
The court of the ballot box is brutally harsh, and its final verdicts are difficult to overturn. It has surprised many and betrayed many. Donald Trump previously attempted to question its integrity and failed.
Whenever America heads to the ballot box, the world goes with it, even if it is a midterm election.
The global village is entirely consumed by the power of the master of the White House, his aura, and his decision-making capacity. Maps near and far feel as though they are close to the American giant, which resides either on their lands, in their opposing waters, or within their airspace. America is a political, economic, and media locomotive whose fate leaves its marks on the destinies of others.
It is as if the entire world will participate in the ballot, for a simple reason: it concerns the most sensational man on the planet.
This is a man who has broken records for upending norms, as if he is re-founding his country and its relationship with the world. Many believed the billionaire newcomer from the real estate industry could not clinch the Republican nomination. When he did, they assumed the gates of the White House would never open to a man without a political track record. When the tempestuous man stormed the Oval Office, they wrongly imagined he would not last long. When the voters unseated him, they breathed a sigh of relief and presumed he would retreat into retirement to welcome his eighties on golf courses. He did not retire; instead, his actions burned with a desire for vengeance, and he launched a comeback matched by only one other man in his nation's history.
The master of reversals. Having utilized the screen back when it turned people into stars, he fully grasped the magic and dominance of the media.
He bypassed traditional institutions to address Americans directly, defying the bastions of legacy media to bombard both his country and the world with tweets. It was as though he had appointed himself editor-in-chief of the global news cycle. Upon waking, he would dictate headlines and soundbites to world capitals, leaving them entirely consumed by his words. He willfully combated the journalists who detested him and confronted their organizations, appearing to take genuine delight in swimming against a sea of hostility.
The master of reversals. Never before has an American president reprimanded the NATO alliance the way he did. No American president has mocked old Europe as much as he has. It is no small matter for the master of the White House to stoop to reminding the resident of the Elysee Palace of the slap he received from his wife. No American president would have subjected a visitor named Zelenskyy to such a degree of humiliation. Nor would anyone have dared demand that a man defending his country's territory vanish from the stage simply because he refused to accept the slimming down of the Ukrainian map. He has practically conceded Putin's right to establish a "security zone" within Ukrainian territory - a precedent that alarms many, yet delights a man named Benjamin Netanyahu.
He appears hesitant, then he appears baffling. A maker of crises and an improviser of mediations.
A man from outside the box; he breaks rules, norms, and traditions. Nicolas Maduro did not expect the general of the White House to send his soldiers to bring him bound to stand trial before an American court, while bringing Venezuelan oil into submission. Meanwhile, he still promises the Cubans that he will enable them to dig up the tomb of Fidel Castro and end the rule of his heirs.
Trump's arsenal is diverse, encompassing tweets, tariffs, economic sanctions, and the ability to deploy fleets whenever he feels the need. Throughout all of this, he never forgets that he is the promoter of "The Art of the Deal."
In the Middle East, Trump took steps that his predecessors never did.
During his first term, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the American embassy there, while also recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. In that same term, Trump was the driving force behind the Abraham Accords between a number of Arab countries and Israel.
It was also during this period that Trump ordered the assassination of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad airport - a move his predecessors never even contemplated. The Iranian leadership failed to grasp the message: that someone who orders the killing of Soleimani could go even further. It is clear that Netanyahu would not have dared send his warplanes to occupy Tehran's airspace without the green light provided by Trump as a sponsor and a partner.
The race between negotiations and a military strike has entered a delicate and critical juncture. Netanyahu, who previously persuaded Trump to withdraw from the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, continues his efforts to convince the US president of the need to "complete the mission." Meanwhile, Trump is sending mixed signals, just as Tehran is issuing contradictory signs of its own; Trump threatens swift targeting of nuclear facilities, while Iranian officials speak of popular pressure advocating for a change in the country's "nuclear doctrine."
Trump's days will not be easy if his opponents gain control of Congress. They will attempt to put a spoke in his wheels through obstruction and accountability, and they may even harbor dreams of impeaching the president. However, a defeat for Trump's party - should it occur - will not deter him from making tough decisions, even if it forces him to pay closer attention to the traps that will be set for him and his administration.
The big question remains: Will he respond to a loss by completing the mission in Iran, so that his legacy is tied to a victory in war rather than a defeat at the ballot box?
