Hegseth Fires Back; Dhillon Resigns; Vance’s 2028 Path Changes; Markets Sink In AI Future Under Dems

Hello all you freedom-loving people, Mike Johnson is stepping aside from House Republican leadership and Jim Jordan is making his move, J.D. Vance is taking heat after the midterms, President Trump is standing up for Pete Hegseth, and a top DOJ official is resigning. Meanwhile, global markets rallied after the vote, then U.S. tech stocks reversed sharply. Okay, let's get into it. Now that the midterm elections are over and the balance of power in Congress has shifted, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is being overhauled. Current Speaker Mike Johnson made it clear yesterday that he will not run for minority leader in the next Congress. Over the past few months, he has spent most of his time traveling across the country to campaign for Republican candidates, but these efforts were not enough to turn the tide. On election night, he admitted that it would be extremely difficult for the ruling party to retain its majority in the midterm elections. This has only happened twice in the past 90 years. He did win another term representing Louisiana's 4th congressional district, but he will not be the top House Republican anymore. Johnson said that it has been an honor serving as the 56th House Speaker. And he later added that he is optimistic about the future. He said, we will continue pressing forward with our agenda of common sense and our vision to make America great again. And come 2028, we will take back the House and we will finish this job. And as Johnson stepped down, Representative Jim Jordan told GOP colleagues yesterday that he will run for the top Republican post. Jordan is the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee. He noted that Democrats have pledged to investigate administration officials and he said, I am battle tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats playbook. I know what it will take to lead our conference in the minority to stay unified and to coordinate and collaborate our responses to the Democrats' tactics. We need a leadership team that is active and engaged, forward-thinking and straight-shooting. To restore our majority, we must restore voters' faith in our ability to deliver on these principles. Three years ago, Jordan also ran for Speaker of the House, but he failed to secure the majority of votes required. It's relatively easy to become the leader of the minority party. All one needs is a majority of votes within one's own party. Analysts generally agree that the new minority leader will be responsible for defending the Trump administration in response to the various investigations and agendas led by the Democrats in the coming period. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is also expected to run for minority leader, while Majority Whip Tom Emmer is prepared to run for a minority whip. President Trump said yesterday that he is staying out of the race for House Minority Leader. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan both are close allies of President Trump. And President Trump told reporters that he's not choosing sides. He said that we'll stay out of it. But the Speaker was fantastic. The people under him were fantastic. All good people. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to become the next House Speaker in January. He said Democrats plan to work to make. Life more affordable for Americans of all walks of life. The Republicans' defeat in the midterm elections has also cast doubt over the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. The race between Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are both seen as potential successors to President Trump, is no longer a close contest. Newsweek believes that Vance faces a more challenging situation, while Rubio has not been significantly affected and he may emerge as the ultimate winner. An analysis piece in Newsweek yesterday noted that while many had expected the Democrats to win, few had anticipated such a defeat for the Republicans. When Vance and Rubio woke up yesterday, they suddenly found that the political landscape had become somewhat unfavorable for their 2028 presidential campaigns. According to the report, Vance held a slight lead over Rubio ahead of the midterm elections. A New York Times-Siena poll of Republican primary voters that was conducted October 12th to the 19th found that 33% would most likely back Vance in the 2028 primary to 23% for Rubio. However, in this Republican defeat, Vance's home state Ohio was particularly hard hit. Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated incumbent Republican Senator John Husted. And in the gubernatorial election, Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Vance had strongly endorsed, was defeated by the Democratic candidate Amy Acton. Yesterday, Vance blamed the Republican Party's election defeat on the war in Iran. He said that voters wanted an end to the war and lower living costs. In stark contrast to Vance, Rubio largely kept a low profile during the midterm elections and he was less involved in the controversy over the war with Iran. While the Republicans suffered a major setback in Vance's home state, Rubio's home state emerged as one of the few bright spots for the evening. In Florida, Rubio's home state, Republican Byron Donalds narrowly defeated Democrat David Jolly 50% to 49% to win the governorship. And Republican Senator Ashley Moody also successfully retained her seat. Moreover, his background has become one of his strengths. According to an NBC News exit poll, Hispanic voters nationwide supported Democrat House candidates by a margin of 60% to 35%. However, Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and he speaks fluent Spanish, so this could work to his advantage. Karen Beckwith, a professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University said, He has no need to interpret the results to anyone, and as Secretary of State, he has a meaningful job to do. He can draw that line between himself and Vance. Most of the blame from some people for the Iran war has fallen on War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vance, while Rubio has consistently focused his foreign policy efforts on the Western Hemisphere and Latin America. So, the controversy over the war has nothing to do with him. Beckwith also said Rubio is as distant as is appropriate for a secretary of state and as useful to his aspirations as a future presidential nominee. Henry Brady, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, believes that Rubio. Has the upper hand because Vance must balance loyalty to President Trump with avoiding the appearance of self-interest. Rubio, meanwhile, will likely keep a low profile and remain part of the administration without fully tying himself to it until the right moment comes to resign. Brady said Rubio, especially if he resigned, could try to emphasize his reputation as an intelligent, thoughtful and relatively principled politician. Mark Hetherington, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, called Tuesday a terrible night for J.D. Vance, and he warned that nominating him in 2028 runs the risk of a replay of 2026. As for J.D. Vance's political prospects, experts are divided. John Rogowski, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said that Vance is less of a known quantity despite serving as VP. And Beckwith said, I suspect that Vance's political career is over. He no longer has a base of support in Ohio. And as vice president, he has no policy accomplishments on which he can campaign. But Douglas Kreiner, a professor of American institutions at Cornell University, disagreed, saying the vice president is far from finished. He still has a strong argument to make as the leader in waiting of the MAGA base, which is still a major force in Republican Party politics. And regarding 2028, President Trump said that he did not know who would run, including his vice president. He said maybe he won't run. As for Rubio, experts are generally optimistic about him. In May, CNN's Harry Enten called Rubio the most popular Republican in the Trump administration, besides the president himself. His tenure at the State Department has won over President Trump. As the Gaza ceasefire deal came together in October of 2025, President Trump said, Marco will go down as the greatest Secretary of State in the history of the United States. And Rogowski said that Rubio has benefited thus far from being perceived, fairly or not, as a normie Republican. For Beckwith, the midterms changed little for Rubio, with the exception that the result ...has placed Vance in a poor position, damaging Rubio's closest competitor. Her advice to Rubio is, congratulate the winners, especially in Florida. Do your job as Secretary of State and position yourself as a mainstream conservative Republican, of whom there are few left. John Cain, a political associate professor at New York's University Center for Global Affairs, said, On foreign policy, Rubio more resembles the Bush-era Republican Party than the MAGA America first version of the party. Kreiner said that Rubio's job gives him room to talk about the economy on his own terms. As Secretary of State, he can offer his own plans for Americans' economic anxieties while maintaining some plausible deniability that he is responsible for are ultimately tied to the administration's unpopular economic policies. But the primary electorate still leans toward President Trump. The Times-Siena poll found that 63% of Republicans want continuation of President Trump's policies while more than 80% of independents want the party to move away from him. Following their defeat in the midterm elections, some Republicans have begun calling on President Trump to make changes to his administration, including shuffling the White House staff, tightening discipline, and repealing policies that they believe led to the election loss, among them the war with Iran and tariff policies. But so far, President Trump has shown no sign of backing down. Talking about the war against Iran, he said, if I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Even though the Democratic Party will control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, President Trump still retains considerable power. President Trump is also showing no signs of distancing himself from War Secretary Pete Hegseth after praising him yesterday. President Trump's support for Hegseth comes as some Democrats and one anti-war Republican in Congress are discussing a vote on articles of impeachment against Hegseth when lawmakers return on November 9th. Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on September 15th. Also, Massey said yesterday that he plans to reintroduce them when Congress returns next week if Hegseth does not resign. His articles allege that Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution by engaging in hostilities in Iran beyond the 90-day window without congressional authorization. Massey also accuses Hegseth of abusing the power of the Department of Defense in the January 3rd operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia and Caracas. But when asked whether President Trump was considering replacing Hegseth, President Trump said, no, I think he's doing a very good job. Also earlier on October 29th, President Trump warned Democrats against trying to impeach Hegseth. President Trump praised Hegseth as a great warrior, and he said that Hegseth is the best at his job in many ways. And you can see that in the way that Hegseth responded today to Massey's impeachment filing against him. You see, because regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. We need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military. That requires funding. And the Department of War must be funded to meet the moment right now. That includes a generational investment, a reconciliation bill of at least $350 billion to keep this department, our country, way ahead in a dangerous world. We need every vote from every patriotic member of Congress. You see, they attack me. They attack us because we are effective. It's not going to work. We will not back down. We put America and the warfighter first, always and without apology. And that fight continues in the lame duck Congress, especially our historic and vitally important budget. You see, Joe Biden and Lloyd Austin left our country and this department in a terrible place, And we have had to fight every single day to restore it. We ended the weird and the woke and elevated patriots and strength. And we've done so, as I said, without hesitation. Peace through strength is once again American military policy. Our commander-in-chief demands it, and so we deliver it. This is not about me, but of course the other side, in case you've noticed, they're obsessed. A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly. Just like they tried against President Trump twice. You see, their policies don't work, so their obsession with political theater disguised as power drives them to try to destroy their opponents. It's all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn't work against President Trump, and it won't work with me. You can rest assured of that. To the troops, don't blink, ignore the noise, never hesitate. You see, all this is politics. You do real things. So stay the course. And as always. President Trump leads the way. But beyond the disagreement over Hegseth, President Trump expressed his willingness to work with the Democrats. When asked about bipartisan cooperation, President Trump made it clear that he is willing to work with Democrats on many issues. But he's very firm on his red lines regarding three specific matters. I think I can work with everything. A lot of people say, what about immigration? You know, I closed the border. There was an open sieve with 25 million people coming into our country and killing a lot of people, killing a lot of people, a lot of bad ones coming in. And they came out of jails and they came out of mental institutions and they were drug dealers and they were murderers. I always say 11,888. Think of it. 11,888 murderers came into our country. Through an open border. Now, could I work with them on an open border? I don't think so. Could I work with them on certain other things? Could I work with them on men playing on, you know, in women's sports? No, I don't think so. I mean, I don't think men should be playing. I view that as an issue. I don't think I could work with them on, but I could work with them on many, many things. Could I work with them on transgender mutilization of children? No, I don't think so. But I can work with him on many things. Meanwhile, the first publicly confirmed departure from the top of the Justice Department since the midterm elections came today. Harmony Dillon, the Assistant Attorney General who headed the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said that she is resigning from her position. Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he accepted her resignation and he praised her for defending the civil liberties of every American and for enforcing the law without fear or favor. And Dillon told Fox News that she was not asked to resign. She said that she actually resigned three weeks before the elections, but White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles asked her to wait until after the elections to step down. According to Dillon, she had accomplished everything she had set out to do and she wants to return to her private law practice. During her tenure, Dillon... sought to refocus the civil rights division on protecting the rights of gun owners and ending diversity equity and inclusion or DEI programs at universities and other organizations. She also prioritized election integrity by suing 29 states plus DC for their voter rolls. She identified hundreds of thousands of dead voters and potential non-citizens. The results of the midterm elections quickly sent ripples through global financial markets. As traders assess the impact of the election results on President Trump's policy agenda, global stock markets and US Treasury prices rose yesterday while the dollar fell amid concerns that stricter regulatory scrutiny could hinder the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence industry. With the Democratic Party controlling both the House of Representatives and Senate, President Trump will face greater resistance in advancing his policy agenda compared to the first two years of his second term when the Republicans controlled Congress and the constraints on presidential power were relatively limited. As Federated Hermes executive Deborah Cunningham explained, a divided government typically creates a blockade against new legislation, an environment which broad financial markets traditionally view favorably as variables decrease. Consequently, as most of the midterm election results were announced one after another during the early trading session in Europe, Global stock markets began to turn higher. The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.13% and the S&P 500 Index futures also reversed their early session losses, rising 0.7%. U.S. stock futures also edged into positive territory, having fallen by as much as 2% overnight. And opinion polls have shown that Democratic voters favor more control over AI, and investors expect the Democratic-controlled Congress to apply more scrutiny to the sector. AI stocks in Asia initially led the decline in equity markets, while bonds and safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc gained. And Europe's Stoxx 600, which has acted as a hedge against AI-related risks, also was up 0.5%. While shares in Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX were down around 4.5% to 5% on Europe's TradeGate platform. And this is compared with declines of around 0.3% to 0.9% for other big tech stocks. XTB Research Director Kathleen Brooks said, This is bad news for Tesla and SpaceX yesterday, but the semiconductor names the backbone of the AI trade could brush off concerns about AI regulation and continue to move higher after Tuesday's stunning rally for the sector. The AI boom has helped propel global markets in recent years, driven by heavy spending from tech giants who are racing to build data centers and to expand computing capacity. That has made investors acutely sensitive to anything that could derail the technology's rapid expansion. Investors initially believed that a landslide victory by Democrats in the election might have a negative impact on the stock market. However, as U.S. Treasury yields fell and market confidence in the continued strength of the U.S. economic fundamentals grew, the stock market subsequently found support. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its best day since April of 2024 yesterday, soaring more than 1,500 points as investors welcomed political certainty and a divided government. Treasuries rallied as investors expect gridlock in Washington to cut government spending. With AI regulation also possibly slowing growth and reducing the need for rate hikes. Prashant Nunnaha, a senior rates strategist at TD Securities in Singapore said, bonds are coming out as the clear winner as markets put the AI trade on the chopping block and embrace the higher possibility that further tax cuts are put on ice and government spending slows. But that post-election rally reversed today as a sharp sell-off in tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq into correction territory, more than 10% below its record high from last month. The Dow lost about 1,200 points while the S&P 500 fell nearly 3%. Much of the sell-off was driven by stocks that are tied to artificial intelligence since investors may be concerned that the blue wave could bring more regulation to the AI industry. Some lawmakers have even called for a moratorium on data center construction. Looking ahead, Wall Street will be watching tomorrow's October jobs report with economics expecting 65,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2%. And that's a wrap for this episode. Thank you so much for your support of Front Page. Please remember to leave a comment below the video or just an American flag emoji. This is really helping us to be seen all around the world. The more people who watch Front Page, the more freedom loving people the world will have. And please hit the like button and hit the notification bell after subscribing. And please share this video with your friends and family because everybody deserves to know the truth.