So, Donald Trump is back in power and the entire world is looking on agog. We’re all obsessed with what he’s doing and with what he’ll do next. It’s too big a deal not to acknowledge that he’s now seemingly taken up the role of Nefarious Dictator and it’s all slightly terrifying. As a convicted felon and someone who has managed to weather 90 or so felony indictments with convictions on 34 of those, who knows what he might unleash. Will he seek retribution against his enemies now? Yesterday he even issued a veiled threat to Joe Biden, darkly saying that it was a mistake not to pardon himself at the same time that he pardoned his son (and who can blame him for pardoning his son, given Trump is threatening to execute drug dealers) and that he had clearly been given very bad advice by his lawyers.
No doubt he will take credit for the current strong economy, even though Biden will have played a bigger role in bringing it about. I’m worried about what will happen to Stormy Daniel’s. She was brave enough to take him on but she must now be terrified about what he might do next.
He now wields extraordinary power. He’s got the ability to revive emergency powers he introduced during the pandemic, so he doesn’t need Congress for some of his costly and legally questionable plans. I understand – given that he only sees two types of people in the world – men and women, that he’s already got rid of anyone working in DEI in the government (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) – what will that mean for the future? This could be a disaster for women in the workplace and the LGBTQ community.
The sequel is usually worse and I’m sure there’s going to be fire and fury in his wake as he dismantles and rebuilds everything. Are his threats of high tariffs merely a bargaining tool? What will his foreign policies look like? Will he disengage with the rest of the world? How will he deal with China and Russia? How far will his showy effort of mass deportation of illegal immigrants go? When he kicks them all out he will strip the economy of workers and when he raises tariffs he will drive up the price of imports which will ultimately weigh down growth and fuel inflation.
Elon Musk will be in charge of increasing the adoption of biotech and AI – and after his questionable Nazi salute on stage should we all be worried? Or was it merely an awkward gesture made by an over-excited human being? I wonder how long they will be remain as besties….
Time will tell.
