Trump’s Golden Promises
Trump’s Golden Promises
A New Golden Era
Donald Trump congratulates the beginning of a golden era for the United States and signs a series of executive orders. Von der Leyen declares we have entered a new phase of geo-strategic competition.
There is an image from Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States that captures the essence of the new presidency more than any other.
This image shows the CEOs of the largest tech companies, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and Mark Zuckerberg, smiling and applauding the return of this major investor, alongside the many children and grandchildren of the Trump family.
Never before in a public ceremony has there been such a gathering of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful entrepreneurs, made more evident by the smaller space they were forced to occupy due to the ceremony’s relocation inside Capitol Hill because of the cold weather.
Trump declared that America’s golden era begins today, a return that took place in the same hall that was vandalized four years ago by his supporters and was endorsed by former President Joe Biden, who had previously described it as a new oligarchy threatening American democracy.
The fact that Trump and his wife launched their personal digital currencies in the days leading up to the inauguration to capitalize on the world’s most volatile market symbolizes a new path.
If Trump’s first term and its end were tumultuous, he promises that his second term will be even more radical and destructive than the first.
From Carnage to a Golden Era
Eight years after his first inaugural speech about American carnage, Trump returned with a promise of a new golden era for the United States.
However, much of that vengeful rhetoric still lingered, tinged with bitterness and an almost messianic zeal for his extraordinary political comeback. The tycoon, referring to an assassination attempt he survived last summer, said, ‘God saved me to make America great again.’
In a speech with an imperial tone, Trump announced that he would restore the tallest peak in America, Mount Denali, to its former name, Mount McKinley, in honor of the Republican president assassinated in 1901. He also emphasized his intention to pursue manifest destiny into the depths of space, promising to plant the American flag on Mars, rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and reclaim the Panama Canal. The president vowed to end all forms of government censorship, restore free speech to America, and create a merit-based society indifferent to skin color. He also announced that henceforth, the United States would recognize only two genders: male and female.
Is Change Here Now?
After the inauguration ceremony, which showed his intent to use all his power in the Oval Office to fundamentally change America’s face, Trump signed 26 executive orders, 12 memos, and 4 proclamations—a record-breaking feat. If these documents, as is customary, indicate the direction of his administration, it will be a revolutionary agenda. These orders include pardoning nearly all over 1,600 supporters arrested in the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, temporarily lifting the TikTok ban, and withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
He also declared a national emergency at the border with Mexico and instructed his administration to reinterpret the constitutional amendment to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants.
Continuing on the topic of immigration, Trump has begun the pursuit of illegal aliens in the country and issued orders for mass deportations. He also threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada starting February 1. The president also signed symbolic orders to end the politicization of the judicial system, which he believes has been manipulated to target him. He then directed his administration to address the problem of rising living costs.
Is Europe Preparing for the Worst?
As expected, Trump’s entry into the White House signals tough days ahead for Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the world is changing, so we must change too.
Von der Leyen further added that the global cooperative order we envisioned 26 years ago has not become a reality; instead, we have entered a new era of intense geo-strategic competition.
The world’s major economies are competing for access to natural resources, new technologies, and global trade routes.
From artificial intelligence to clean technology, from quantum physics to space, from the Arctic to the South China Sea, the competition has begun. But European Commission President von der Leyen warns that despite understanding these issues, we must work together to prevent a global race to the bottom. Her remarks came just hours after the start of Trump’s second term.
Von der Leyen explains that because cutting ties in the global economy benefits no one, Europe has relied on increasing global trade to drive its growth over the past 25 years. She added that it has relied on cheap energy from Russia and often outsourced its security, but those days are over.
The rules of engagement between global powers are changing. We should not take anything for granted, and while some in Europe may not like this new reality, we are ready to face it.
It seems that during Trump’s second term, we will witness much more instability and change compared to the first term. When he came to power in 2017, Trump was seen as an odd exception, a non-political figure who surprisingly managed to win the Electoral College. He was surrounded by officials and advisors who rejected his worldview and for a long time tried to divert his political instincts and change his course.
The president who took the oath of office yesterday under the Capitol dome and promised America a new golden era knows he has much more power than back then. He enjoys almost complete loyalty from the Republican Party, which holds the majority in both the House of Representatives and Congress. His cabinet choices are based on loyalty to him.
And the presence of Silicon Valley billionaires and many others ready to stand by him shows that Trump is no longer an exception but the new norm. In the next four years of his presence in the White House, he will test the American democratic system.
