America is entering the second age of Trump

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world

Donald Trump’s inaugural speech eight years ago became known as the “killing of America” ​​speech for his appeal to a dystopia of bankrupt factories, poverty and crime. His second hit, in parts, the sound of the day was marked, promising “a new golden age of America”. But much of the rhetoric remained, laced with a sense of self-righteousness and personal mission born of his unusual return to politics. For his supporters and critics alike, the conclusion must be that Trump’s second year promises to be more consequential and disruptive than the first.

There were moments of high speeches, when Trump raised the success of American pioneers, from those who opened the US west to those who took mankind to the stars. He insisted that America would find “its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful and most respected country on Earth”.

But he checked at the same time against “a powerful and corrupt institution” that took power and wealth from the citizens, and a government that could not control “even a simple problem”. Opponents will fear his commitment to end the “weapon” of the justice system that he believes has been rigged against him would be tantamount to using the US justice system to. correct the details and his enemies. Although there was no mention of including Canada either conquering Greenlandhis announcement that America will return the Panama Canal will confuse allies and opponents.

From Trump’s return, such warnings have gained momentum. Although he was hindered in his first term by not knowing the politics of Washington and the “big people in the room” that he chose as advisers, he became the president of the result. He changed the West’s attitude towards China, accelerated its withdrawal from many countries, and strengthened the right-wing parties around the world.

The man who took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday – where opponents four years ago tried to block the transfer of power to President Joe Biden – is very powerful this time. He orders that there should be a majority of the people in the Republican party which has a majority in both houses of Congress. His cabinet choices are defined by their loyalty to him. And not only Silicon Valley billionaires but many business leaders are quick to bend the knee to Trump. A narrow victory in the popular vote is now seen as a change in the political climate.

Trump 2.0, moreover, has a detailed agenda to bring about a sea change in the way America is governed, and how it deals with the rest of the world. He made it clear that among the 100 or so executive orders he has begun signing are national emergency declarations on issues including immigration and energy, giving him the power to quickly take new measures. .

Trump is holding off short, for now, of imposing long-anticipated tariffs despite his campaign pledge to introduce global tariffs on imports and higher tariffs on of Canada, Mexico and China. But Trump’s assurances that he will end Biden’s Green New Deal and that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord are sanctions on climate action. Some of his orders are set as unprecedented, drastic, and legally questionable.

There are many reasons, too, for Americans outside the Maga establishment to fear their democracy. Biden rightly warned in his farewell speech that the marriage of vast wealth and political influence in Trump’s new platform was “oligarchy. . . it still exists in America”. That Trump and his wife launched memecoins to take advantage of the world’s most speculative market in the first days of his inauguration is a sign of this self-centered revolution. The legal world , watchdogs and press corps must take note. Trump’s first term, and its end, was tumultuous enough. But the checks and balances on American power are about to be tested more than ever first.