What Will Trump 2.0 Look Like?

Prior to and following Donald Trump’s reelection on 5 November, much discourse has revolved around what a second Trump term would look like. His campaign involved the bullish nature he would take towards illegal immigration, a return to a stronger economy with more jobs, increased take-home pay for workers, ending the war in Ukraine and a top-to-bottom clean out of America’s health industry. Essentially trying to ‘Make America Great Again’. Unfortunately for Mr Trump, the odds are stacked against him; as I wrote a few weeks back, the problems that America faces seem irredeemable. If Trump really can ‘Make America Great Again’, he will have to deliver on his promises. 

Trump has promised to improve the economy. What voters can expect, as far as his policy goes on this issue, is large tax-breaks. This has been and will be, one of the cornerstones of his policy, as it was for him in his first term. Subsequently, families should have more disposable income allowing for more injections into the economy. Unfortunately, this may coincide with large government spending and borrowing which he also demonstrated during his four years as President. This severely propped up the US’ publicly-held debt, increasing inflation. Despite this, Trump still brands his economy from 2017-2021 as ‘the greatest economy in the history of our country’. He may have been led to this conclusion because of the improved number of jobs during his leadership, an annual average growth of 2.5% or maybe something else. Whatever it was, Trump will be keen to employ fairly similar tactics - which could lead to mixed results, as we saw under the first Trump term.

There’s a chance though, that frivolous spending could be less potent this time round with the conception of the new Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramasway, two incredibly successful entrepreneurs within their own right. With this should come the cutting of inefficient and wasteful government departments that add to the tax burden on working Americans, leading to a sufficient allocation of resources towards the things that the government actually needs to spend money on.

As for the border, illegal immigration will almost certainly decrease under a Trump administration. Under his administration, by November 2020, he reduced the number of green cards issued to people abroad by at least 418,453 and the number of non-immigrant visas by at least 11,178,668. Illegal border crossings have been a key criticism of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris from Trump: it even saved his life. At the first attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, he turned his head to observe a chart that was on his right-hand side, inadvertently changing the angle at which an assault rifle’s bullet hit his head. Significantly, the chart detailed the unprecedented number of illegal immigrants entering the United States under the Biden-Harris administration. This highlights his commitment to reducing the number of border crossings under his leadership.

This rhetoric has been further emphasised by the hiring of staunch ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan. During an appearance on News Max, Homan stated, “They don’t have to help us, but they need to get the hell out of the way cuz we’re comin’, we’re gonna do it. Which means if I gotta send twice as many resources to that sanctuary city, twice as many agents, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” when referring to illegal immigrants. With this appointment, Trump is sending a clear message of no-mercy and wishes to put America first by reducing immigration.

Trump campaigned tirelessly, highlighting the importance of health in America, which became particularly significant when Robert F. Kennedy Jr gave him his full endorsement, with which came the adoption of the motto ‘Make America Healthy Again’. Kennedy has been a key advocate for decreasing unhealthy toxins in Americans food, improving water quality and wishes to completely change America’s dirty habits. Trump has appointed Kennedy to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services which he hopes will result in an improvement in US citizens’ eating habits and improved living standards. This may mean more regulatory bodies for companies based in the USA that directly impact people’s physical wellbeing.

Reforms in these departments will be bolstered by the fact that Trump will have full majorities in both the House and the Senate. Because of this, his ability to bring changes into law becomes far easier. With complete control of Congress, Trump could do anything and his alterations know no bounds. He has the capability to enact mass change at the federal and state level. This does, of course, come with obvious drawbacks. 

What could be encouraging for the American citizens though, is that he has been out of office for four years. During that time he has unquestionably been mulling over his time in it. Being voted out in 2020 may have been the best thing that could have happened to him. Both his strengths and weaknesses as leader will have all come to the forefront of his mind and although he may not want to share those thoughts publicly, he will almost definitely have more clarity going into this second term. And, although on the outside he may show all the characteristics of a self-obsessed, narcissistic egotist, the president-elect almost definitely will have reflected on his own leadership. Self-reflection is something all humans do, if we like it or not. Trump certainly is no exception. After all, you can’t be a billionaire without improving on past failures. 

Ultimately, it is likely that Trump’s second term will be something similar to what the first term was like. His ideology has remained the exact same and so have his morals. What is different this time round is his approach. In 2016 he didn’t have the support of the world’s richest, and possibly most influential man, Elon Musk. He didn’t win both the House and the Senate in 2016. And, perhaps most importantly, he hadn’t been President before in 2016. This time, he has. He has the experience, he has the team around him and he has the support. The question is - can he deliver?