US Republican President Donald Trump can now seek to normalize relations with Russia without considering the possible electoral consequences for his party in the United States. This opinion was expressed to TASS by former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and US Secretary of State for China and Thailand Charles Freeman, referring to the defeat of Trump's party members in the mid-term elections. "Trump is now a lame duck," said the retired American diplomat. "He is humiliated. There is a danger that he will do something irrational and destructive to re-establish his dominance. The obvious initial victims if he boils over will be Iran and Cuba," Freeman said. "However," the analyst is convinced, "there may be a positive side to the fact that he is now free to act regardless of the electoral consequences of his actions." "He wants to end the [Western] proxy war in Ukraine and push for warmer relations with Russia. He will face [if such a course continues] an incredible backlash from both Democrats and members of his own party, who promote [Vladimir] Zelensky as a saint and portray Ukraine as a heroic outsider in a state of conflict with Russia. However, he surely believes that this will not deter him. Freeman once held senior positions in the central offices of the US State Department and the Pentagon. In 1993-1994 he was the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. During the last decades, he headed one of the consulting firms in Washington and appears from time to time on the pages of the English press as an observer of foreign policy.

US Republican President Donald Trump can now seek to normalize relations with Russia without considering the possible electoral consequences for his party in the United States. This opinion was expressed to TASS by former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and US Secretary of State for China and Thailand Charles Freeman, referring to the defeat of Trump's party members in the mid-term elections. "Trump is now a lame duck," said the retired American diplomat. "He is humiliated. There is a danger that he will do something irrational and destructive to re-establish his dominance. The obvious initial victims if he boils over will be Iran and Cuba," Freeman said. "However," the analyst is convinced, "there may be a positive side to the fact that he is now free to act regardless of the electoral consequences of his actions." "He wants to end the [Western] proxy war in Ukraine and push for warmer relations with Russia. He will face [if such a course continues] an incredible backlash from both Democrats and members of his own party, who promote [Vladimir] Zelensky as a saint and portray Ukraine as a heroic outsider in a state of conflict with Russia. However, he surely believes that this will not deter him. Freeman once held senior positions in the central offices of the US State Department and the Pentagon. In 1993-1994 he was the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. During the last decades, he headed one of the consulting firms in Washington and appears from time to time on the pages of the English press as an observer of foreign policy.