Bloomberg Talks
00:00:51 · Leslie Vinjamuri
[00:00:51] S0: I mean, look, this is, you know, he's in the rear view at the moment. But this is, you know, to my mind, these midterm results were certainly about the Iran war, but it was only because they impacted so deeply Iran. on people's everyday lives. I don't see this as a huge foreign policy election. We know it was about driving your car across the Midwest is much more expensive now than it used to be. We know that corruption mattered and people I think generally haven't been pleased with foreign policy because it's been disruptive and it's affected them. But Marco Rubio, he might just glide right through this because he hasn't really been the face of the Iran war. And I don't think that the election was so much focused on the Western hemisphere and the policies there, regardless of what people might feel. But, you know, you ask a super interesting question, Tom, as you always do. Leslie, as it relates to Iran, should we expect any differing policy in the short term as it relates to Iran here now, what's happening in Congress? Yeah, I mean, here, you know, we've been hovering over this. Will there be a new round of decisive strikes? And even before last night's results, there were several kind of signs that maybe Trump wasn't so sure, pushing down on those negotiations, scheduling talks even about Russia and Ukraine to take place in the Middle East not long from now. Not a location you would choose if you were planning to bomb hard That surprise announcement yesterday that funding for Israel, military assistance for Israel would be stopped. And this is a president that we know isn't so keen, despite his actions. He doesn't love war, doesn't love disruption, but he is still facing a super hard moment. Congress is going to work hard when they come back, when that new Congress is sworn in, which isn't for some time, but it's looming large now. to restrict appropriations, hold money back, make it harder to do things, create more noise. But the president still has tremendous executive authority. I mean, one thing that I'm curious about is whether President Trump uses this moment to do things that maybe he actually would otherwise like to do, which is to dial down some of that kinetic action in the Middle East, because it's not really clear what it's going to achieve for him.
00:03:30 · Tom Keene
[00:03:30] S1: In breaking news, Leslie, we're going to have to go, but thank you so much. Too short a visit. We look forward to seeing you again. Love to get Leslie Vinjamuri into our New York studios here.