Double challenge: Trump's credibility under pressure

Double challenge: Trump's credibility under pressure

This week, Donald Trump faces two challenges - one at home and one abroad. These events will test his self-created mythology as a master negotiator and his ability to effect real and lasting change.

Challenges for Trump at home

The president is pushing the fragile Republican majority in the House of Representatives to overcome internal divisions and pass the "big, beautiful bill" that contains his key domestic policy goals. Trump's previously failed attempt to bring peace to Ukraine will reach a new turning point during a phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has rejected Trump's initiative despite the administration's submissive treatment.

Trump's budget is his best chance to transform the country - at least through conventional and constitutional means - because changes to laws will last longer than his barrage of executive orders. He plans to cut taxes, fund his mass deportation plans and add tens of billions of dollars to the Defense spending.

Challenges abroad

Peace in Ukraine is in jeopardy, with one Peace plan, who promised everything but has so far delivered little. Trump himself has considered whether Putin wants to stall him in a peace process that consists largely of the U.S. pressuring the victim of the war - Ukraine - and rewarding the aggressor.

After Putin's rejection of one proposed summit in Turkey, to which Trump had urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US president said there would be no progress until he personally sat down with the Russian leader who launched an unprovoked and illegal invasion three years ago.

Internal tensions in the Republican camp

The US is facing a pivotal moment when it comes to Trump's major law, which aims to enshrine sharp changes in the direction of government policy. It includes at least $1.5 trillion in savings to extend tax breaks from his first term and expand on promises he made on the campaign trail. The bill would initiate a shipbuilding program and provide a down payment on a space-based " Golden Dome "-defense system. In addition, the ailing air traffic control system would receive billions for improvements.

The political landscape before the 2026 elections

But the legislation will come at a steep cost - a price that could complicate the outlook even if the bill passes its full bill in the House of Representatives this week. It leads to cuts and new restrictions on Medicaid and federal food security. Some analysts warn that most taxpayers may have already lost what they gained from tax breaks to price increases resulting from Trump's tariff wars.

The legislation's implications strained Speaker Mike Johnson's small majority in the House and led to emotional confrontations in committees. Johnson managed to find a compromise to appease the hardliners and pushed the bill through the Budget Committee on Sunday evening. However, the bill must overcome other key hurdles before it comes to a vote in the full House. Any step taken to ease the passage in the House could make it harder to pass in the Senate.

Trump's pressure on Republican MPs

Trump has largely trusted Johnson to implement his agenda, but he will increase pressure on detractors from both wings of the party as he aims to sign major legislation by Independence Day - an extremely ambitious time frame. Trump's patience is limited: "We don't need 'GRANDSTANDERS' in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING AND DO IT!" he warned on Truth Social last week.

The internal dynamics of the Washington GOP are complex, but they pale in comparison to the task Trump faces with Putin — who, unlike Republican lawmakers, has no real incentive to make the president look good.

The challenges ahead for Trump, both domestic and international, will be critical to whether he can realize his vision for the future of the United States.