Donald Trump’s return to power has sparked an unprecedented upheaval in the US and global political landscapes, reshaping the domestic scene and leaving an indelible mark on the international stage.
Upon assuming office, President Trump signed an unprecedented number of executive orders, establishing a firm grip on various aspects of the federal government’s operations.
Since then, he has seemingly been everywhere, doing everything all at once to further impose his will — and his conservative, nationalist version of a “golden age” — on the country.
Promises kept
The theme has been “promises made, promises kept”: starting with his mass pardons for the 2021 US Capitol rioters and a slew of executive orders from immigration to gender.
From Trump and his supporters, the theme has been one of regal, even divine, power.
The 78-year-old claimed he was “saved by God” from an assassination attempt to make America great again — and danced with a sword at an inaugural ball.
His ally Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, simply hailed the “return of the king.”
Trump’s influence on the world stage is outsized too, as he flaunts mass tariffs and threats of American territorial expansion.
“Early in his new term, emboldened by his astonishing resurrection, Trump appears to be Godzilla domestically and abroad,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told AFP.
We are so back’ –
If Trump’s supporters — and critics — had any doubts about what his second coming would bring, they were dispelled with a few squeaky strokes of a black marker in the Oval Office on Monday.
Hours after his inauguration at the US Capitol, Trump signed a pardon of 1,500 rioters who had stormed the same building four years earlier to try to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden.
But it was just the start of an avalanche of dizzying changes.
The Republican’s orders launched a long-promised immigration crackdown, eliminated birthright citizenship, and said the US government would only recognize two genders.
He purged the government of diversity efforts and employees — and then got rid of the internal watchdogs who might challenge his rulings.
He yanked the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization.
“We are so back,” was the repeated refrain heard in the corridors of the White House.
His spokeswoman insisted Trump had delivered “more in 100 hours than any president in 100 days.”
And the contrast with Trump’s own first term could not have been greater.
Instead of chaos and fights, the first days of Trump 2.0 have been marked by what appears to be careful planning, steely discipline and intense messaging.
Internationally, Trump appeared at the Davos forum on a huge screen where he towered over the gathered global elite.
Trump has told other countries to either make products in America or face tariffs.
All week, he has repeated his territorial threats against Greenland and Panama — calling their sovereignty into question even as he asserted America’s.
“Trump is saying: I’m in control,” said Peter Loge, the director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
‘Imperial presidency’ –
But the return of the Trump show has also brought back some old habits — and challenges.
Trump still can’t resist rehashing grievances against opponents — including a bishop at his inaugural service who urged him to show “mercy” — and continues to deploy falsehoods and exaggerations.
Nor can the former reality TV star resist a microphone, holding a series of freewheeling encounters with the press since his return. At one point Trump asked reporters: “Does Biden ever do news conferences like this?”
Key promises remain unfulfilled: US grocery prices remain high despite Trump’s pledge that they would come down, and the war in Ukraine that he vowed to end within 24 hours of his return grinds on.
But as billionaire Trump promises a golden age, his critics fear it will come with a dark side.
For instance, the freed leader of one far-right militia toured the Capitol two days after the January 6 pardons.
And a neo-Nazi group paraded at an anti-abortion march in Washington that Trump himself addressed by video message.
Trump’s message praised “every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our Creator” — the same God from whom Trump had claimed a divine mandate in his inaugural address on Monday.
“Trump would love to restore the so-called imperial presidency” that existed from Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s until Richard Nixon’s fall in 1974, said Sabato.
However, Sabato added that “era was long gone and Trump lacks the strong public support necessary to sustain the tough image he’s projecting.”
While Democrats and the anti-Trump “resistance” that opposed his 2016 victory have largely fallen silent for now, there is already legal action against key parts of his agenda.
“We all know Trump. He can’t change and won’t change, so over time much of the public will tire of his antics, just as they did in his first term,” said Sabato.
