Damian Paletta

So far, the business community has gotten out of his way and they've felt like it's worth giving up some equity or a pound of flesh in order to get his blessing.

But the question is, is there a point when the White House goes too far, where it becomes actually problematic for the White House to be having this much of a grip over whether it's industrial policy or tech policy or just corporate America?

And we're clearly not there yet.

But

There's going to be a point when corporate America might push back and that's what we're going to be watching for really closely in 2026.

He was very effective in his first year of the second term in sealing off the southern border.

And there has been a real focus in the past few months, as you mentioned, about increasing deportations in the United States.

Mostly, he's been unapologetic, and they've doubled down even in the face of pushback from Democratic mayors and governors saying that these tactics are necessary.

to deport illegal immigrants to the United States.

But there have been incidents, including the one you just mentioned, where there has been quite a lot of public outcry.

And so we're still waiting to see how this is going to play out.

I think in particular, we need to watch Congress to see if Congress might attach some new restrictions on funding for ICE operations or for deportations, because that might be a sign that they're starting to feel the heat from constituents about the White House's tactics.

Sure.

Obviously, a lot of immigrants to the United States have come from Venezuela because of the horrible economic situation that was there for many years.

What happens to Venezuela next, I think, will depend on what happens in the next few months.

If there's a lot of chaos there, and because there's not really an existing government, so to speak, there could be more people, more immigrants from Venezuela trying to get in the United States.

However, if what President Trump has done stabilizes the country, creates a better economy, it might make a much more attractive place for Venezuelans to build businesses and invest.

Obviously, there's going to be a lot of debate in Washington and around the world about what President Trump has done in Venezuela and what should happen with oil money and oil resources.

It's going to be a huge focus of his agenda in 2026.

This is going to be a controversial opinion.