Chaos in Washington!

What happened in Washington last week was utter chaos. At the “Hanukkah Reception” held at the White House for Jews, Fox News host Mark Levin referred to Trump as “the first Jewish president of the United States elected in two nonconsecutive terms.” The image of Levin, a seasoned Zionist, placing his hands on Trump’s shoulders as he spoke was particularly strange. Carried away by the applause of the surrounding crowd, Trump was saying that during his first presidential term he had ensured the transfer of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to Israel. Trump also said that before making this decision, he had asked US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to explain in five minutes why the Golan Heights were important for Israel. Trump claimed that after Friedman’s supposed five-minute briefing, he had signed the executive order.

Yet Trump had repeatedly said that among the guests at the “Hanukkah Reception,” casino magnate Miriam Adelson and her husband Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021, had relentlessly pressured him to annex the Golan Heights and move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. The Adelson couple were the most generous donors to Trump’s campaigns. Trump was also announcing that if he were to run for a third term, Miriam Adelson would donate another “$250 million.”

Under the US Constitution, it is not possible for Trump to run for a third term. Trump himself had said that this was not possible and that there were many figures who could succeed him, with Vice President JD Vance foremost among them. At the “Hanukkah Reception,” Miriam Adelson claimed that she had discussed the matter with renowned constitutional law scholar Prof. Alan Dershowitz, and that according to him there was no obstacle to Trump’s third-term candidacy. Dershowitz had also discussed this with Trump and, during the meeting, presented him with a copy of his forthcoming book titled “Can President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?”, scheduled to be published next year.

In a statement published in the Wall Street Journal on December 17, Dershowitz said that there was no definitive barrier that categorically blocked Trump’s third-term candidacy, but that he did not believe Trump would pursue this path. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, in an interview with Vanity Fair, said that Trump knew he could not run, but that he enjoyed seeing how the idea drove people crazy.

Dershowitz had been part of the defense team of famed film producer Harvey Weinstein, who was sentenced to lengthy prison terms for sexual assault convictions. Dershowitz had also been one of Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyers during Epstein’s first arrest in the mid-2000s.Dershowitz played an important role in Epstein’s ability to escape with a light sentence through a plea deal with the court. Known to have a closeness with Epstein that went beyond a lawyer-client relationship, Dershowitz had fallen from grace.

Meanwhile, Wiles’s interviews with Vanity Fair were making headlines. According to Wiles, although Trump does not drink alcohol, he has an alcoholic personality, while Vice President JD Vance was a “conspiracy theorist.” Wiles said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was principled, but described Vance as someone who changes his views “politically.”Because Vance and Rubio are two prominent names expected to run for president in 2028, Wiles’s remarks were particularly striking.

According to Wiles, the US blockade of Venezuela and the targeting of fishing boats on the grounds that they were carrying drugs were aimed at achieving “regime change. ”Wiles said that Trump wanted to keep blowing up the boats until Maduro gave in, adding, “If he authorizes a ground operation, that means war, and then Congressional approval would be required.” Trump, on one occasion, had said, “We don’t need to get Congress’s approval. But I think it would be good to inform them.”

Likewise, according to Wiles, US Attorney General Pam Bondi had been a complete failure in her handling of the “Jeffrey Epstein files.” Bondi had initially said that Epstein’s client list was on her desk, while Wiles stated, “There is no client list, and it was definitely not on her desk.”

However, in a subsequent statement, Wiles argued that Vanity Fair had presented the issues out of context. Trump, Vance, and Bondi all said that Susie Wiles was an excellent chief of staff. It appears that further debate over the interviews is not desired.

With a background in lobbying, Susie Wiles is known not only for her experience in campaign strategy but also for her prudence, discretion, meticulousness, and discipline. Why Wiles gave these wide-ranging interviews, which are clearly set to be discussed extensively, seems likely to remain a topic of debate for some time.