Bad feelings are digested, more or less quickly, and reality sets in, implacable. Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their followers defined the elections a week ago as the most important in history. According to the entire American political spectrum, all was hanging by a thread. “We are not going to have a country,” said the Republican about the outlook for the future if his opponent won. “Democracy is at stake,” Democrats consistently warned before and after Joe Biden withdrew from the race. In a battle of hypotheticals, the versions of the apocalypses faced each other: “World War III”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “The Woke Dictatorship”, “The Dictatorship of Donald Trump”… After the resounding victory of the former president , the hyperbole of the campaign is seen in a different light. And with the first news about the transition that will shape Trump’s second term, the oracle produces somewhat more grounded images, but no less alarming.
The first mystery to dissipate was who would be his chief of staff. In an announcement Thursday, the position was given to stalwart Susie Wiles, who was in charge of his turbulent but ultimately successful campaign. The one who will be the first woman to hold that title supposedly had always had her eye on him, one of the highest-ranking in the US Administration. The appointment has been interpreted as a reward and also a testament to his effectiveness in interpreting and executing Donald Trump’s orders. In the face of the boss’s madness, Wiles is a pragmatist: she does not usually say no—something that at this point everyone knows is not highly recommended—but, according to the numerous reports that have chronicled the interior of the Republican campaign, yes. He manages to qualify and reduce his impulses.
In the days that followed, the president-elect ruled out including relative moderates Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley in his direct team and instead began assigning positions to hardliners on different issues. On Sunday night he appointed Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the UN, a woman who considers the international organization to be anti-Semitic. And Tom Homan “border czar,” leaving the ideologue of the “zero tolerance” policy, which was implemented during his first term and which separated families and put undocumented children in freezing cages, in charge of the new border policy. immigration. Managing the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, one of those apocalyptic hypotheticals that dominated the campaign, will be the top priority. For now, Homan has ruled out neighborhood raids and concentration camps, but not workplace searches. Even so, there is still much to know about how a promise will be implemented, which if fully fulfilled, can collapse the economy and push the American social fabric to the limit.
On Monday, Lee Zeldin was announced as the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The future head of this federal agency has, in an Orwellian paradox, the task of eliminating environmental regulations. In this case, the greatest weight has been his loyalty to Trump, since Zeldin barely has experience in this area, beyond having promoted some legislative initiative in this regard. Instead, he supported the country withdrawing from the Paris Accords and, perhaps more importantly, voted against certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Barely a week has passed since the Americans re-elected who has been, and will probably be, the most controversial president in the history (here we also give in to his taste for superlatives) of the country, but the brainstorming for the next four years has begun to give way to final sketches. We can imagine with more confidence what Trump will do on his first day back in the White House and also what his presidency 2.0 will be like.
However, just because versions of the future suddenly become realistic doesn’t mean they don’t look dangerously dystopia-like. With absolute power—Executive, Legislative, with both chambers of Congress, and Judicial, with a Supreme Court so faithful that it has named him immune as president—the possibilities are broad. There are still big unknowns, of course. Elon Musk’s role, for example, is still unclear; Nor is Trump’s strategy to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, another of the electoral promises that his voters have believed in and that he will have to fulfill, or at least try to. On Monday night, two other big clues occurred: Marco Rubio is emerging as Secretary of State, in charge of American diplomacy, and Mike Waltz, a hardline congressman, has been offered the position of national security advisor. In the coming days and weeks, more and more pieces of the puzzle will fall.
More news on the days after the US elections
After this small summary of how the near horizon is crystallizing after Donald Trump’s victory at the polls, here is a selection of articles, opinions and reflections to keep you up to date on the new American reality:
- The Democrats of the United States, a party in search of an author. A new generation of leaders knocks on the door after an electoral defeat much more resounding than they expected.
- The most Latino county in the United States, where naming Reagan was a sin, gets on the Trump train. After more than a century of tight Democratic control, Starr County, Texas, elects a Republican as president due to economic discontent and the immigration crisis.
- Trump’s victory gives wings to the 4B feminist movement in the United States: “Divorce your husbands, leave your boyfriends!” On social media, many Americans disappointed by Kamala Harris’ defeat are turning to this trend born in South Korea that advocates for women to refuse to date, marry or have sex with men
- The judge puts the case against Trump on hold for trying to steal the 2020 election. Justice Department policy is against prosecuting a sitting president.
- Analysis | Six facts about Trump’s victory: polls, false surprises and crypto millionaires. Kiko Llaneras collects clues and curious stories about the result and the attempts to predict it.
- Tribune | Autopsy of democratic optimism, by Pablo Beramendi, Professor of Political Science at Duke University.
- Analysis | The economic consequences of Mr. Trump, by Claudi Pérez. The president-elect of the United States appeals to the impoverished middle classes since the Great Crisis, with an economic model that shows difficulties in offering well-being and security to large majorities. Economic Trumpism will pivot on trade wars, deregulation and tax cuts.
- Column | The dark heart of the United States: Donald Trump beat Atticus Finch, by Guillermo Altares. The cultural power has made us often forget the dark side of the country.
