US Midterms: How will Trump manage working with Democrats?

Well, in the United States, the different branches of government, of course, have to work together to pass new legislation that they hope will improve the lives of Americans. Now that Democrats do control the House and the Senate, they're faced with the so-called divided government. So for more on the consequences of that, France 24's Ophelie Jacobson joins me again on set. Hi again, Ophelie. So how will this affect what Donald Trump is able to get done then in his last two years in office? Well, this will certainly put a strain on his political ambitions and it will no doubt frustrate Trump. This will be the first time. that he will have to deal with a Congress that is both governed by Democrats in both the House and the Senate. In his first term, Democrats did control the House for two years of those four years. But this is the first time, again, where Congress will be controlled both in the Senate and in the House by Democrats. He will likely have to negotiate with Democrats on things like raising or lowering the debt ceiling, funding packages to avoid a government shutdown. And Democrats, in return, will inevitably try to block his agenda. But ultimately, Trump still has veto power. What that means is in the United States, in order for a bill to become a law, it first has to pass through the House and the Senate, and then it lands on the president's desk, and the president can choose whether or not he wants to sign it into law. And Trump himself has said that he will become Mr. Veto if Democrats take control of Congress. Take a listen to what he said to Fox News last night. It's been done before, as you know, numerous times. It's the power of veto. It's one of One of the stronger powers than a president. has, and they'll send over things that are insane, and I'll veto them. And after a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, how do we get this stuff done? And we'll work together. I have a lot of friends that are Democrats, believe it or not. And we also know that Trump likes to govern with what we call executive authority. So in the United States, the president can pass what we call executive orders, essentially bypassing Congress to get his priorities through. And we know historically Trump likes to pass executive orders. Take a look at these numbers on this graphic here. Trump has signed more executive orders in his second term so far than he did in total the first time he was in office. So 292 in the last two years compared Compared to 220 in his first four years in office in total, that makes 500. Now, you talk about pushback from Congress and how that might frustrate Trump. So with that in mind, I mean, will they be able to accomplish anything? And do we know what their priorities are for the first months now that they have a majority rule? Yeah, so Congress isn't completely powerless. Thank you. that they can do. And keep in mind, these senators and representatives won't be sworn in until January, so it's still a couple of weeks, two months until we'll know exactly what they want to do. But let's break down the numbers for what is needed to pass legislation in the United States. For a bill to pass in the House, the House of Representatives needs 218 votes. In the Senate, it's a little more complicated, so 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and end debate on a bill, and then 51 to pass. So getting bills through the Senate will be a little more difficult for Democrats. Democrats, unless some Republicans choose to side with them on some of those pieces of legislation. And even if a bill makes it through, again, Trump can still veto it. There is a way to override a presidential veto, and that would be getting two-thirds majority in both the House and in the Senate. As to what they have planned, what they want to do with this power over the next two years, Democratic leadership. Has laid out a plan for the first 100 hours of their rule and also the first 100 days. They've said that they want to reinstate the Affordable Care Act, reverse some of those Medicaid cuts, try to end that war in Iran and maybe bring back some congressional authority over tariffs. Now, Congress holds what we call power of the purse. Now, think all things money. So funding packages, they can restrict or put more money towards funding. departments and initiatives that they see as really important. And when we're talking about conflict overseas as well, that could mean increased funding for Ukraine and maybe pulling back on funding for the war in Iran. So when it comes to funding packages, again, Democrats will try to pack that with priorities. And given those results from yesterday, some Republicans may indeed have a vested interest in siding with Democrats on some of those issues. Now, hopefully, aside from trying to pass legislation, what other powers do the Senate and House hold and how will they exercise that in order to send a message not only to Americans but perhaps elsewhere in the world. Well, the Senate is in charge of confirming presidential appointees for cabinet positions and also heads of departments like the Department of Defense and the Department of Treasury. And also, if a seat in the Supreme Court were to become vacant, the Senate would be in charge of confirming that Supreme Court justice. So there is talks of if a seat were to become vacant on the Supreme Court, they may wait until 2028 to want to fill that seat. Democrats have also said that they want to open investigations into Trump's circle, into into his administration, maybe some of his policies surrounding immigration. Um, certainly with the Epstein files as well, take a listen to house minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who is slated to become speaker of the house. Now that Democrats have control. We also understand that in addition to fighting to make this country affordable, we're going to bring accountability to those who have visited unprecedented corruption on this country. Because if you have people in high office who are so focused on Enriching themselves, their family members, their friends or their donors, then they're not focused on making life better for the American people. And there are also talks from more of those progressive Democrats of a third impeachment for President Donald Trump, maybe an impeachment for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. And even if these investigations don't necessarily result in removing anyone from office, the public hearings, the documents that will be released, the testimonies that we'll hear, I think will certainly provide a lot of transparency for Americans and for the rest of the world as well. After the euphoria wanes, then it's going to be intense for Democrats to get now to the hard work involved in governing. Ophelia Jacobson, thank you very much.