New York University Professor Aizenberg comments on situation in United States

He said this on Espreso TV. 

Commenting on Trump's rhetoric about ending the war in Ukraine, Aizenberg noted that he said several times that he would make a deal with Putin.

“He also said what he had agreed on, because he said that there were 'Russian-speaking territories in Ukraine' that might need to be given to Russia to end the war, to make everything okay, and to have peace. He said this several times,” the professor added.

In particular, he also noted that all of Trump's rhetoric is not aimed at specific actions, but at pleasing his voters.

“But what he could really do if he becomes president again is to cut off aid to Ukraine, and we can all imagine what would happen in that case. And the fact that he says he would agree on something with Putin... I'm sure he would meet with him and talk to him, and the same things would happen, like joint press conferences like in 2018, when Trump publicly agreed with Putin, denying that his US intelligence had concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election,” he commented.

Regarding the threat of a US default, Aizenberg noted that the country's legislation has the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which contains a number of clauses that relate to various things, including the fact that the US government should be responsible for the country's debts.

“That is, it (the government - ed.) has to pay everything related to debt repayment and servicing in a timely manner. But on the other hand, the same constitution states that the adoption of the budget, approval of any expenditures, filling the budget with money is exclusively the responsibility of Congress, meaning that the executive branch cannot take money from the sky,” he added.

In particular, Aizenberg noted that if there is not enough money coming from taxes or customs duties, the Congress can tell the executive branch that the country must borrow.

“Then the Congress passes a law, which always consists of one sentence, saying that it (the Congress - ed.) raises the debt ceiling so that the executive branch, the Treasury Department, can borrow money. After that, the Treasury Department issues sovereign bonds, which it sells, and the thing is that these bonds have always been the best, most valuable securities in the world because they always pay good interest on time, so they are very profitable. The fact is that, as a rule, Congress passes such a law to raise the debt ceiling, it happens literally in every administration,” he said, noting that during the administration of former President Trump, the debt grew by almost 40%, and Congress raised the debt ceiling three times.

“Now we have another situation where there is a current budget, but it is deficit, which means that the Treasury Department has to borrow money. And the Republicans are using this as a significant lever of influence on the Joe Biden administration,” Aizenberg added.

• On April 25, former President Donald Trump said that if Joe Biden is re-elected as president of the United States, the threat of World War III will increase.