Trump becomes a “lame duck” and Vance dumps him: what it means and what he can do now

In America it is the day after: the midterm elections were a collapse for President Trump, who lost control over Congress. Now we must draw a line and start again: we have another two years …

Jack Williams

Written by: Jack Williams

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Trump becomes a "lame duck" and Vance dumps him: what it means and what he can do now

In America it is the day after: the midterm elections were a collapse for President Trump, who lost control over Congress. Now we must draw a line and start again: we have another two years of government ahead of us. But how? Trump flaunts calm, far from making mea culpas, the White House social networks become more than before a sounding board for his ego with a barrage of more or less threatening posts, but Vice President Vance’s attempt to free himself from his leader is making noise and on balance the tycoon is now a “lame duck” to use an all-American expression. However, he has other things to play.

“Focus, patriots”

Trump, we have learned, has a passion for social media. He uses them a lot, always. Truth is now regularly used for proclamations, announcements, threats, it is the tycoon’s public diary. But the White House account has also become more personal than institutional. In the last few hours the posts are all along the same line: confirming that Trump is firmly in charge of the country.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re playing for the United States of America. Concentrate, patriots. We’re just getting started,” read one of the latest posts.

First there was the reassurance: “President Trump will always be committed to the fight against state-led tyranny. America will never, ever be a communist country.” And again “Never surrender”.

Trump “lame duck”

For the president, the heavy defeat was a punch in the stomach. Now he is a “lame duck”. This is the translation of the expression “lame duck”, it is used to indicate a political leader who is still in office but now has very limited power, generally because his mandate is about to expire and he cannot be re-elected, or because he has lost his majority in Parliament.

And what will he do now? “Whenever Trump finds himself with his back against the wall, he raises his tone and goes on the counterattack,” according to Peter Loge, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.

Trump, with one of his typical twists and turns, opened up dialogue with the Democrats but at the same time claimed his veto power over any legislative initiative of the opposing party.

According to several news outlets, the Trump administration is planning to use executive orders to impose hard-line immigration policies, similar to what it did during the first 100 days of its second term.

Vance breaks away

Despite the ostentatious security, the first repositionings in the Trumpian universe begin. “The real reason why we lost is evident to almost everyone, it is the war” (in Iran) said JD Vance, distancing himself from Trump and from a conflict which he has always opposed, and which now seems to be able to sprout his wings for a presidential candidacy in 2028.

Agreeing with Vance is Don Jr, the tycoon’s son, who was also skeptical of the operation in Iran from the beginning. The tycoon, however, does not intend to back down, claiming on the contrary that the war against the Islamic Republic was “the right thing to do” and that, indeed, he would do it again. “I know how Vance feels, I knew it,” he cuts short in a bizarre press conference from the White House construction site, after an endless dissertation on the construction of the “ballroom” and other renovations.

Jack Williams

Jack Williams

Jack Williams established himself as the editor-in-chief of The Vermilion with rigorous journalistic traits and an incessant quest for truth. His career began as an investigative reporter, where he quickly gained a reputation for his in-depth research and insightful articles. Williams takes his role at The Vermilion very seriously. Since he became editor-in-chief, he has set an editorial line based on impartiality, factual accuracy, and context relevance; this has established The Vermilion as a reference for political, economic, and global news. Under his leadership, the media continues its mission of reporting news with accuracy and equanimity, giving a voice to those who are often overlooked by large-scale media. Jack dedicates himself to fulfilling this mandate with passion, rigour, and unwavering determination.

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