After returning to the White House last month, United States President Donald Trump is not simply doing the same things he did during his first term or undoing the policies of his predecessor. He is setting out to remake the US and the world order.
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In the name of efficiency, he allows Elon Musk and his acolytes to attack the federal bureaucracy. In the name of “making America great again”, he wants to unilaterally redraw boundaries, grab Greenland, make Canada the 51st state, control the Panama Canal, take over Gaza and force out the Palestinians who live there.
Rules and diplomatic niceties are being blatantly upended. Even more stunning is that few seem able or prepared to stop him. The US Congress appears resigned and many public servants are afraid to openly speak out, leaving the judiciary branch as the only check on his power.
Trump is ironically behaving like an autocrat under a US Constitution designed to stall absolute power through checks and balances. Things are so far off the charts that some US academics warn of the advent of American authoritarianism.
Around the world, we are seeing the resurgence of US expansionism, and the willingness to weaponise anything – including tariffs and technology – to assert US supremacy.
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Many American and European politicians who tout a “rules-based order” whenever criticising China appear timid before Trump. His Western allies are afraid of incurring the wrath of the newly crowned emperor with a colossal economic and military machine at his disposal.