President Donald Trump may still get his White House ballroom, but the price could be a shipment of Patriot missiles for Ukraine.

In a column for The Washington Post, historian Max Boot examines how Congress can impose discipline on Trump's foreign policy in the wake of last week's midterm drubbing. His proposition for congressional leaders is direct: give the president the funds needed to complete the ballroom, and in exchange secure more Patriot missiles for Ukraine — the US-made air-defense system Ukraine has relied on to intercept Russian missile attacks.

Far-fetched as it may sound, Boot contends there is now bipartisan backing in Congress — perhaps even a veto-proof majority, meaning the two-thirds of both chambers needed to enact legislation over a president's veto — for standing up to Vladimir Putin and supporting Ukraine. Only 3 percent of the American public sides with Russia, he points out.

Boot outlines several options available to lawmakers that do not require Trump's approval, levers rooted in Congress's constitutional power of the purse. These include new aid for Ukraine and keeping Starlink — the satellite-internet service Ukrainian forces have depended on for battlefield connectivity — running. Lawmakers could also turn over Russian assets frozen in the United States since Moscow's 2022 invasion — a sum he estimates at between $5 billion and $50 billion — to Kyiv, and impose harsher sanctions on Moscow without any presidential waiver.

The plan, however, rests on Republicans acting on views they have so far expressed only behind closed doors. For much of Trump's time in office, many congressional Republicans complained privately about his moves abroad while staying publicly silent, deterred by his hold on their base. A poll conducted before the election put his approval among Republicans at 79 percent.

Boot also observes that Trump's tariffs were largely overlooked as a factor in the GOP's wipeout: 66 percent of respondents told an NBC News exit poll that the tariffs were bad for the economy. In his view, the midterms made plain to Republicans the price of following Trump over the cliff, and some of what remains of the party may now be willing to work with Democrats on a foreign policy that puts the country before the president.

Boot concedes that the president enjoys wide latitude in foreign affairs. Even so, Congress retains the power to end funding for the Iran war, the boat strikes — operations against vessels the administration has said were carrying drugs — and other actions carried out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leading Boot to conclude that Hegseth's "days are probably numbered."

Meanwhile, the ballroom project itself is in limbo. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed a 14-day stop on any construction work. With Democrats set to assume control of both houses of Congress on Jan. 3, and a full five-week lame-duck session ahead, the project's fate — and whether any ballroom-for-Patriots bargain materializes — remains uncertain.

In Boot's assessment, a bargain is available: Trump could get his dream ballroom in a deal that delivers the much-needed Patriot missiles to Ukraine.