What to Expect from Trump’s Second Term
Trump’s second term will be even worse than the first. Here’s how
Trump’s second term will be even worse than the first. Here’s how
For the last several days, I have tried to gather myself after the unfortunate results of the 2024 election. After several months of working for The Progressive Turnout Project, and by extension, the Sean Casten reelection campaign, it was quite frustrating to see that the convicted felon and civilly liable rapist Donald Trump will once again be President of the United States. The resulting failure by the Democrats to effectively challenge the former president on the campaign will inevitably lead to government mismanagement and immense suffering for millions of people.
What Can We Expect?
Previously, I noted that if elected, Mr. Trump would not only be incredibly authoritarian, but that he would also be incredibly corrupt. As I explained in my article A Second Trump Term Would be a Disaster (2024):
Throughout Trump’s time in office, he undermined the guard rails of our democracy and was notoriously corrupt. Before he assumed office, then-President-Elect Trump made it abundantly clear that he didn’t respect the guard rails on his financial dealings, refusing to put his business into a blind trust, as every President before him had done. Instead, he put his sons, Eric and Don Jr., in charge of a trust, effectively ensuring that he was not entirely separated from his business while President.
Despite claims by the former President that he could be trusted to separate himself from his finances, later reporting demonstrated otherwise. House Democrats on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a report titled “ White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers , and Premiers Paid Off President Trump,” which revealed that Trump received an estimated at least $7.8 million from foreign governments, including China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaysia, Albania and Kosovo.
Such payments were almost certainly a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits federal officials from taking gifts from foreign governments or officials without permission from Congress. Despite this, Trump was allowed to continue his blatant corruption, even as it violated the letter of the law.
If Trump wins in November, there is little reason to believe he will change his behavior or how he handles his business.
While this corruption and conflict of interest are not yet apparent, as Trump is still President-elect, the likelihood that he will willingly submit to guardrails on his powers remains incredibly low. To add to that, Trump will almost certainly not surround himself with people who will challenge him. Already, he has promised to nominate alleged sexual predator and former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his Attorney General.
This move by Trump inevitably means that Gaetz will never see the House ethics report on his alleged sexual misconduct and drug use published. Combine that with Gaetz’s slavish devotion to Trump, and it becomes increasingly clear that Trump will get whatever he wants from Gaetz. Whether other institutions, such as the Supreme Court, will check this behavior remains to be seen.
We can also expect further unqualified picks for higher office by Trump as his focus on loyalty will almost certainly be central in who he picks. For example, Fox News host Pete Hegseth was appointed as Secretary of Defense. Though a veteran, Hegseth is a blatantly political and partisan decision to lead one of the most critical institutions to American national security.
As The Washington Post notes, Hegseth is “contemptuous” of rules of war that he sees as restricting how to win in battle and left-wing politics. In particular, Hegseth opposes the Geneva Conventions, which “….he suggests are outdated against enemies who don’t abide by them.” It is also worth noting that Hegseth also has tattoos that are commonly used among the Christian far-right. This strongly suggests that Hegseth will pursue an agenda of Christian Nationalism, which, as I noted in my discussion with YouTuber NateTalksToYou, has no place in the highest echelons of American governance.
All of this is to say that Donald Trump is already showing two major characteristics in his upcoming administration:
Brown-Nosing administrators in government
A Far-Right agenda that rejects the rule of law.
What Trump’s Administration Could Mean for Immigrants
The resulting brown-nosing and unwillingness to call Trump out will almost certainly lead to more draconian and hostile action against the migrant community, regardless of their legal status. Already, Trump has tapped Stephen Miller, a xenophobic and anti-immigrant advocate to be his Deputy Chief of Staff. Miller, who previously was outed for using white supremacist material in emails released by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has promised to de-naturalize immigrants he deems improperly brought into the country.
It is worth reiterating that any sort of de-naturalization process would theoretically remove the legal status of people who, despite Miller’s absurd prognosis, are legally in the United States. Previously, the Trump administration in 2020 attempted to enact this process, but Miller has promised to go even further. In a post on Twitter, Miller promised that said process would be “turbocharged.”
This proposed process should not surprise anyone. Cruelty, authoritarianism, and control are all central points of Trumpism. To the figures surrounding Trump, cruelty is virtue and extremism is patriotism. Combine Miller’s appointment with the tapping of Tom Homan to be Trump’s border czar, and it becomes increasingly clear that this administration will be an anti-immigrant monstrosity.
It doesn’t matter if the person came into the country legally, either through asylum or through any other process, the upcoming Trump administration views these people as outsiders unworthy of the title they lawfully earned.
If we can expect anything from this upcoming administration, it is that there will be extreme and unqualified people pursuing abusive that they have no business implementing. If there is one thing we can hope for, it is that the individuals under Trump are so unqualified that they fail to enact their agenda. One can only hope.
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Originally published at https://theprogressiveamerican.com on November 14, 2024.