Democrats Break Trump’s Game: $15B for Kyiv and Inevitable Impeachment in the Pentagon? — Interview with Dan Rice

10.11.2026, 08:17 uatv.ua

Will the Democratic victory in the US midterm elections accelerate Patriot missile deliveries to Ukraine? In an interview with UATV, American University Kyiv President Dan Rice evaluates the chances of Congress approving a $15 billion aid package to protect Ukrainian cities and support energy infrastructure this winter. He explains how Kyiv could receive interceptors from partners’ stockpiles even before manufacturers fulfill orders for 500 new missiles. Ahead of talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia in Abu Dhabi, Rice also shares why he considers territorial concessions dangerous for Ukraine’s defense and how new sanctions could increase pressure on the Kremlin.

— I’m joined once again by a dear friend, Dan Rice, president of American University Kyiv. Welcome back, Dan. Question: Is Louisiana coming back from the Gulf of America to the Gulf of Mexico?

— I mean, there will be changes. The Department of War may change back to the Department of Defense, things like that.

— Yeah. At least, I’ve seen the carpets, and the carpet still says Department of Defense, but that’s security information anyway, because there’s too much to change, right? Including the maps and medals.

— It’s very expensive.

— Yeah. And in terms of expenses, two days after President Trump’s party lost both houses of Congress — the question I want to talk about is this: Ukraine’s fate is where the decision is made right now, in the Oval Office, right? Why do you think this defeat makes Trump more eager to shred a deal, any deal, on any terms, because that’s what is happening — or am I mistaken?

— I always try to see the silver lining in anything. This was probably the first non-presidential election — the president gets elected every four years and Congress every two, so every other election — that I’ve seen that was really a referendum on international affairs. It was really a vote on two wars. The American people want to support Ukraine, and the American people do not want an elective war in Iran. Both of those are the opposite of this party’s positions. So this was really a referendum against President Trump, and I think it had less to do with the Democratic candidates than with a complete referendum on him.

The biggest thing is voter turnout. Typically, if the Democrats are in power, the Republicans show up in force. In this case, the hatred of Donald Trump among Democrats was so great that the turnout was a record, and with record turnout they won so many seats that it was really a landslide. I don’t think anybody’s optimistic forecast on the Democratic side would have expected them to gain 54 Senate seats out of 100 and 260 House seats. That is incredible. So they’re getting to the point where, if Donald Trump overrules any legislation — he can veto anything, and to overcome a veto you need two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate — they’re almost there on their own. They only need to pull in a few Republicans to override a veto. That is very possible, especially when it comes to Ukraine.

I think the $15 billion that’s about to be submitted during the lame-duck period is likely to go through. There’s going to be a lot of horse trading. Anytime you have this 78-day period, you have some senators and members of Congress who are going out, and they don’t owe anybody any obligation; they can vote however they want. So I think you’re going to see legislation that overrules the president and gets $15 billion, and also legislation that will force through the Lindsey Graham sanctions on Russia. They’re going to pull it away from President Trump and say, “Congress is making this decision,” and we will get what’s called a supermajority. So I’m optimistic that between now and January 20th we will have legislation to do those two things, and that would be very positive, certainly to help the great tailwind that Ukraine has going, both on the battlefield and with the attacks deep in Russia. But the biggest thing is this $15 billion. A lot of it would be for energy infrastructure and for Patriots and other interceptors.

— Music to my ears, for someone who lives in Kyiv, just as you do. We absolutely need them.

— And there are a lot of things going on, just to help explain. We recently had approval for Patriot missiles to be produced — 500.

Now, those won’t be produced until 2029 or 2030. But what it does is give basically a receipt to Ukraine, to President Zelensky, that he can now take to, say, Turkey and Greece and tell them: “Look, we have our Patriots coming. You give us yours now, and we’ll give you ours, the newer ones, as soon as they arrive.” So there’s horse trading that can be done to get Patriots here now, where they’re needed.

— You were very cautious about any optimism before, so it’s really “amen” to what you just said. We need that, and hopefully that happens. Can you explain what is going to happen with this new Congress in Abu Dhabi? Because who’s coming? I mean, he’s just a yes-man. Someone calls him a hardliner; I’m not so sure. He has no voice of his own. But with this Congress, should we expect anything other than just talk in Abu Dhabi?

— I would expect it will mostly be just talk. I think the real decision makers aren’t there. The three that we know are President Trump, President Zelensky, and Putin — I won’t give him the title of president. Those three decision makers are the ones who will decide. We all know the major issues: the security guarantees; the land issue, which is obviously a big one, and whether it’s permanent or temporary. But the real thing is that, up until now, as we all know, Russia has not made any concessions whatsoever, and they keep wanting to win through negotiations with President Trump. President Trump, I believe, wants to get a deal done within the 78-day period. That’s very positive for everybody, but the question is, on what terms?

I do believe there is now attention, and especially if you see the First Lady getting involved, like she did with Alleski (ph)… getting the First Lady involved I think is very symbolic, and I think that’s very positive. No matter how much effort she put into it, just having her name on it and supporting that ceasefire—

— I won’t disagree with that.

— Yeah, absolutely.

— In the end, people are freed. The result is what matters.

— Absolutely. I think she helped save lives.

— Yes. And I love the gesture and the wording of the medal for her, and everything. Let us talk about somebody you definitely know, Senator Blumenthal. He’s calling for new American negotiators on Ukraine. I would love that to happen, but Jared Kushner and Witkoff seem to like what they do. I don’t know if they know what they are doing, but at least they like it, and it’s written on their faces.

— What will happen is that over these 78 days the old Congress is still in charge, and the new Congress doesn’t take over until January 20th. The big benefit of having the Democrats take charge of both the House and the Senate is that each committee has a chair, and the chair gets to decide the agenda. If your party doesn’t have the majority, you don’t get to decide the agenda at all; it’s completely decided by whoever has the chair. So items like impeaching Pete Hegseth as Secretary of War — that is a hot-button issue for the Democrats, and they will likely impeach him. I do believe that.

And then Senator Blumenthal: what he’s trying to do is put congressional pressure on, to investigate how they were chosen and what they are doing. Ten trips to Moscow, one trip to Kyiv, and you come away repeating Russian talking points as if you’re Putin.

— Straightforward.

— Yeah. But frankly, I don’t think Witkoff is a negotiator. I think he’s a door opener, and he’s just keeping the door open until President Trump, President Zelenskyy, and Putin come to a decision. He’s just traveling back and forth, getting his frequent flyer points and tours of Moscow, but he’s not accomplishing anything, in my opinion. I think what’s going to happen is that these key decision makers, behind the scenes, will make the decisions, if at all.

— If Putin doesn’t make any concessions — that was my next question. What happens if there are decision makers, but they just won’t meet? The war will just drain resources from Ukraine, claiming lives.

— Yes. If Putin isn’t willing to make some realistically significant concessions from his maximalist objectives — and those objectives range from having input into the Russian Orthodox Church within Ukraine to having input into the Baltics; these are things they’re not going to get — if he keeps putting out these maximalist demands and refuses, then the war will continue.

My hope is this. I served during the Cold War, when we fought against the Kremlin, and we never saw the collapse coming the way it did. It happened so quickly. My hope is that this is a replay of 1989, and that Russia collapses. Russia is the largest country on Earth, with 89 regions. Those regions are all basically sending money and soldiers. They are donors.

They’re sending soldiers, and the soldiers are coming back in body bags. There’s no reason all 89 regions should be together. Hopefully the collapse of Russia will happen quickly. Chechnya fought wars in ’95 and ’99 for independence, and then Putin bought off the leader, who is currently dying of cancer. But if any of the satellites start to break off, hopefully it will have a ripple effect. All of these regions should be on their own. They’d be better off without Russia. They get nothing from Russia; they just lose people and resources. I’d love to see the EU and everybody start to echo that, start to talk about it, and request that.

— Isn’t that happening already? Russia is cutting what they’re paying their soldiers for recruitment. They’re cutting that, and they lack cannon fodder. They’re finally seeing fresh cracks, Dan. They’re financially hurting. I know Ukraine set the objective of 50,000 Russian casualties per month, and that Russia can only replace about 30,