jollibet Trump 2.0: Expansionist Or Negotiating America?

US President-elect Donald Trump | Photo: AP US President-elect Donald Trump | Photo: AP

As Donald Trump takes the oath as president a couple of hours from now, the US and the world are preparing for another roller-coaster ride, with no one quite sure what to expect in the next four years. 

On the one hand, Trump claims to be a man of peace ready to end major wars now going on across the world. Till a few months ago, he seemed to be an isolationist, not willing to get involved in foreign wars or send US troops out to police the world. In fact, it was during his first term as president that the agreement to get the US troops out of Afghanistan was signed with the Taliban. Yet he sent shock waves around the world recently at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago when he spoke of annexing Greenland, reclaiming the US-built Panama Canal, and threatening to integrate Canada into the US. While not ruling out military intervention in Greenland and Panama, he said economic integration with Canada would be good for Canadians. 

Trump has kept the world guessing with these bombastic observations. Does he want to grab land in these countries, or is it a first salvo of negotiating tactics? During his first term too, Trump had eyed Greenland. Denmark controls Greenland and is a NATO ally of the US. The US already has a military presence there, and many experts believe that it is of strategic importance to Washington and eyeing the critical minerals found in abundance in Greenland. He also wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name,” Trump said at the same news conference. 

Yet he has begun his term on a positive note by getting the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in place. Trump had wanted Israel’s war on Gaza to end before he took office and managed to do just that. This is no mean achievement, considering that the Biden administration was unable to get exactly the same deal passed last year. Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, who joined the Biden negotiating team, was able to arm-twist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to sign the ceasefire agreement. Trump publicly praised Witkoff at a victory rally in Washington, ahead of his swearing-in for getting the deal done. 

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Whether the peace deal will hold remains to be seen, but for now the going is good. The first exchange of prisoners is on; the guns are silent, and aid is expected to flow into Gaza, giving the long-suffering people of the enclave some respite. 

“The United States has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” Trump had said in an interview with NBC a few days back. “If they respect us, it will hold. If they don’t respect us, all hell will break out,” he warned not just Hamas but also Israel’s leaders. Obviously he is keen to ensure that the deal goes through. 

Earlier Trump had claimed he would end the Ukraine war within twenty-four hours of coming to power. So far not much has moved in that direction, but he would possibly take a shot at enforcing a deal between Russia and Ukraine at a future date. 

Tariff War

As in his first term, Trump is ready to start a trade war with China and the rest of the world by slapping huge import tariffs on goods to encourage American manufacturing. He has threatened to impose between a 10 and 20 percent across-the-board tariff on all $3 trillion worth of U.S. goods imports and a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods. During his last term, tens of billions of dollars' worth of steel and aluminium imports from China were taxed to the tune of nearly $300 billion. 

Indian imports will also face the same problem, though thankfully, as his competition is with China, New Delhi can work around the 10 to 20 percent raise. 

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Executive Orders 

During his first term in office, Trump had little experience of government and was an outsider. He had defeated Hillary Clinton but was unable to get the popular vote. That had irked him. This time, however, he has won not just the electoral colleges but the popular vote too. He believes that people have voted for change and there will be a flurry of executive orders on his first day in office. Trump won the US elections on a domestic agenda. With migration across the southern border a major concern for voters, he will start his term by deporting thousands of illegal immigrants. Trump has promised the largest deportation of immigrants in American history. “It’ll begin very early, very quickly,” he told NBC News. “I can’t say which cities because things are evolving,” and added, “We have to get the criminals out of our country.” 

He has also promised to pardon his loyalists involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, when he lost the elections to Joe Biden but refused to accept the verdict. He is also committed to dismantling Biden’s climate-friendly energy policies, slashing regulations and oversight for fossil fuel and mining projects. There is excitement in the US oil and mining sector with Trump’s catchy slogan of  “Drill, baby, drill,” as they see an opportunity to rake in huge profits. Big business is delighted with the Trump victory, and even the earlier reticent tech moguls are cosying up to Trump, including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Tim Cook, as well as TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew. 

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Billionaires Club 

Unlike his first term, Trump is better prepared to take on what he and his followers dub as the Washington swamp. He is packing the administration with his loyalists who are eager to carry out his every wish. 

Among them are many of his billionaire friends. Trump himselfjollibet, a billionaire, is packing his administration with several rich friends. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is his right-hand man. Musk and his young son were called out for praise by Trump at yesterday’s Washington rally. American-Indian entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Musk are in an advisory role in the new administration and are not part of the cabinet. They are looking to reduce federal spending, and Musk has said in a previous interview that he would cut down expenses to the tune of nearly $2 trillion. Trump himself claims to replace some 50,000 civil servants with political appointees. His cabinet choices (yet to be confirmed) include billionaires Linda McMahon, Howard Lutnick, Doug Burgum, Scott Bessent, Jared Isaacman, Steven Witkoff, and Warren Stephens.