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Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world
Donald Trump’s inaugural speech eight years ago became known as the “American carnage” speech because of its invocation of a dystopia of rusting factories, poverty and crime. His second adopted, in part, the sunnier tone that had been abandoned, promising a new “Golden Age of America.” But much of the retributive rhetoric was still there, imbued with a sense of vengeance and personal mission born of his extraordinary political comeback. For both his supporters and his critics, the conclusion must be that Trump’s second era promises to be even more consequential and disruptive than the first.
There were moments of lofty rhetoric, where Trump spoke of the achievements of America’s pioneers, from those who opened the American West to those who took humanity to the stars. He insisted that America would return “to its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful and most respected nation on Earth.”
But at the same time he denounced a “radical and corrupt establishment” which had taken power and wealth from citizens, and a government incapable of managing “even a simple crisis”. Opponents will fear that his promise to end the “militarization” of a justice system that he says has been manipulated to target him actually amounts to using the tools of American justice to settle accounts with his enemies. And although there is no mention of the annexation of Canada or take over Greenlandhis declaration that America would retake the Panama Canal will destabilize both allies and adversaries.
From a returning Trump, such warnings added force. Although he was constrained during his first term by his ignorance of Washington politics and the “adults in the room” he appointed as advisors, he became an important president. It has reshaped Western attitudes toward China, accelerated the retreat from multilateralism, and empowered right-wing populist parties around the world.
The man who was sworn in Monday in the Capitol rotunda — where rioters tried four years ago to block the transfer of power to President Joe Biden — is much more powerful this time. He enjoys almost total loyalty within a Republican Party which has a majority in both houses of Congress. His ministerial choices are defined by their loyalty to him. And not just Silicon Valley billionaires, but also many business leaders were quick to bend the knee to Trump. A narrow victory in the popular vote is now seen as a change in the political climate.
Additionally, Trump 2.0 has a detailed agenda aimed at bringing about radical change in the way America is governed and how it relates to the rest of the world. He clarified that among the hundred executive orders he has already begun to sign, there are declarations of national emergency on issues such as immigration and energy, giving him the power to rush the adoption of new measures.
Trump is, for now, refraining from imposing long-awaited tariffs, despite his election promises to introduce a universal levy on global imports and higher rates for Canada, Mexico and China. But Trump’s confirmation that he would end Biden’s Green New Deal and that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord is a major blow to climate action. Some of his other orders promise to be unprecedented, sweeping and legally dubious.
Americans beyond Maga’s base also have plenty of reasons to fear for their democracy. Biden rightly warned in his farewell speech that the marriage of great wealth and political influence in the new Trump circle was a “oligarchy. . . takes shape in America. The fact that Trump and his wife launched memecoins to take advantage of the world’s most speculative market in the days before his inauguration is emblematic of this shift in self-interest. The legal world, watchdogs and media groups must pay particular attention to this. Trump’s first term and its end were quite eventful. But the checks and balances of American power are about to be tested like never before.
