donald trumpalready unpredictable, will begin his second term more uninhibited than ever, with the promise of carrying out mass deportations of migrants and persecuting his opponents.
The Republican millionaire has managed to come back politically by being faithful to his style: simple ideascrushed again and again, free of conventions.
“Trump’s character is fundamentally the same” as in his first term: “volatile, stubborn, contradictory,” summarizes David Greenberg, professor of history and journalism at Rutgers University.
“If you liked Trump 1, you’ll like Trump 2,” says Peter Loge, a professor at George Washington University.
But unlike his first stage as president, between 2017 and 2021, the obstacles in your way have been reduced and on January 20 Trump will arrive at the White House with several advantages.
The Republican Party has a majority in Congress and his influence on conservatives is enormous at a time when the media is going through an economic and identity crisis.
“Trump has reshaped the Republican Party in his image,” says Jon Rogowski, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.
“Erosion”
Almost 10 years after entering politics, the millionaire has managed to surround himself with loyal squires and quell dissident voices within the conservative camp.
Unlike 2016, “internal party disputes will not serve as containment,” predicts Jon Rogowski.
He is no longer the pariah he once was.
Now the owners of large technology companies and foreign executives flock to his luxurious Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida to curry favor with the president-elect.
His victory in November, compared to his failure in 2020, “made him more acceptable to a broader political spectrum,” according to Jon Rogowski.
Photo: Reuters
For David Greenberg, the United States has experienced in recent years “an erosion of trust in institutions.”
The professor is concerned about a possible weakening of the balance of power in the next four years, in the context of the “war on bureaucracy” that Donald Trump and his allies, such as Elon Musk, are waging.
Even before returning to the Oval Office, the president-elect revealed his intentions and they give chills to the more than 11 million migrants who live in an irregular situation in the country.
They also scare their neighbors, such as Mexico and Canada, or China, which they threaten with tariffs until they take action against fentanyl and illegal border crossings.
The Republican’s statements have caused a shock wave in some foreign ministries, such as when he stated that he wants to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland.
There is no guarantee that this program will be fulfilled. to the letter.
“I think people should take Trump very seriously,” Greenberg warns, although “it’s often difficult to separate what should be taken seriously and what not.”
Some statements are “clearly rhetorical provocations, while others point to his political thinking,” he adds.
“Unmask enemies”
In his sights are also those he considers his enemies and plans to take revenge on them.
The Republican has attacked some of his opponents saying that “they should go to prison”, but also against an “internal enemy”, which he does not define clearly. He says the army should take care of him.
He also has journalists and media outlets on his radar that he plans to take to court.
Because the former president has never digested his defeat at the polls in 2020 against Democrat Joe Biden and claims, without foundation, that those elections were stolen from him.
This Tuesday, a report from special prosecutor Jack Smith that assures that Trump, if he had not been re-elected, would have been convicted for his attempt to annul the result of the 2020 elections, provoked the fury of the future president who described him as “deranged.”
The Republican has been prosecuted in four criminal cases and convicted in one of them and now wants to use justice in his favor.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are individuals in your administration who are primarily tasked with unmasking enemies,” Jon Rogowski estimates, although he doesn’t expect it to be the new administration’s top priority.
At the moment, a second term is approaching, shrouded in uncertainty.
“We are in the middle of a preseason tour,” analyzes Peter Loge of George Washington University. “When the season really starts, the rules of the game will change.”
His mandate will be weighed by an issue that has weighed down the presidency of his successor and soon-to-be predecessor: age.
At 78 years oldDonald Trump will be the oldest president to be sworn in, surpassing Biden by a few months.
Republicans will have a hard time finding his successor once he completes his second term. The Constitution prohibits a third party.
