What a difference a president makes. Now that America has sneezed the rest of the world is catching a cold. Below are some changes that have been seen in the United States since the inauguration of Donald Trump on Monday January 20th, 2025.
Immigration
Trump has declared a national emergency on the United States-Mexico border and has issued a ban on asylum for migrants. Trump has instructed the Defence Department to make it a priority to seal the border and to construct a border wall, create detention spaces and migrant transportation. 1,500 additional troops were deployed to the border.
Trump has also suspended the admission of refugees into the United States. All refugee travel has been cancelled. The ‘remain in Mexico’ policy has been reinstated which means non-Mexican asylum seekers have to wait in Mexico while their US cases are being resolved. Trump has instructed the attorney general to punish immigrants who do not have a legal status and commit crimes like murder (possibly by death). He has also shut down the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) One app which is what immigrants used to make appointments. Trump has also tried to scale back birth right citizenship.
Trump’s policies seem to be contrary to what the United States is meant to stand for in terms of immigration as the U.S. is supposed to be the land of the free and the original citizens of the country were native Americans and not immigrants, Europeans or slaves.
Foreign Aid
Trump has signed an executive order halting all development aid for at least 90 days to foreign countries. As part of the order Trump has stopped the distribution of funds from a programme that supplied most of the treatment for H.I.V (Human immunodeficiency virus) in Africa.
Trump seems to be opposed to providing foreign aid and wants to move towards providing loans, according to CNN. On Trump’s social media platform, he stated “we should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without “strings” attached”.
Trump attacked a $118 billion bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package that was blocked by senate Republicans.
Trump’s foreign aid policy will ultimately lead to loss of life around the world. This was seen in the recent earthquakes in Asia where the U.S. did not pledge support and consequently the rescue mission took longer.
As one of the richest countries in the World America can afford to pay for foreign aid.
Abortion
Trump has restored the United States participation in two international anti-abortion pacts. One of these pacts cuts off U.S. family planning funds for foreign organisations if they provide or promote abortions.
In the end of his first week in office Trump resurrected the Hyde Amendment which stops federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. The previous President Biden had reversed this policy after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.
Roe v Wade (1973) was the decision of the United States Supreme Court which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the U.S. generally protected a right to have an abortion.
An abortion should be an individual’s choice. It seems unfair that a government or a politician should decide whether a person should have or abort a child.
Oil and gas drilling
In his inaugural speech Trump brought back the phrase “drill, bay, drill”, showing his commitment to expanding oil and gas production.
“Drill, baby, drill” was a 2008 Republican campaign slogan. It was used to support increased oil and gas production in the U.S. then.
One of Donald Trump’s executive order was aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. Trump declared an ‘energy emergency’ and has claimed that power plants can be built quickly. Trump has also made moves to repeal the promotion of electric cars.
According to the BBC this is contrary to the Paris climate agreement (see below).
Fossil fuels are not endless, and they will eventually run out. It seems more practical to look at alternative methods of producing energy. In addition, climate change is affected by oil and gas drilling (like earthquakes with fracking). Surely reducing oil and gas drilling will reduce disasters which already cost the US $1 billion a year.
Tariffs and trade
Trump has threatened and imposed new tariffs in his second term in office. These include universal baseline tariffs and country-specific tariffs.
China, Canada and the European Union have announced or imposed tariffs on the US in response. This has led to speculation in the media that there would be a trade war.
Trump has released an executive order requesting reports on an extensive list of trade issues from different agencies by April 1st.
If the countries are opposed to each other in the west countries like China and Russia can manipulate this and may work closely together. This is dangerous because of the human rights abuses of these countries and the impact on people in the world.
Sexuality
Trump has created an executive order to protect women from ‘gender ideology extremism’. This orders the government to recognise only two sexes: male and female. This has meant in practical terms the State Department removed ‘unspecified or another gender identity’ category from passport applications. Single sex spaces such as prisons and shelters for women will deny access to transgender women under the policy.
Trump has been marred in controversy in regard to is treatment of women. There were 26 incidents of “unwanted sexual contact and 43 instances of inappropriate behaviour. These were revealed in the book ‘All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator’, by Monique El-Faizy and Barry Levine.
It seems as if Trump is above the law. There have even been reports in the recent press that he may seek a third term in office and attempt to change the constitution. So, it seems as if Trump can do what he likes to women, homosexual people and people of colour.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to dismiss the concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion from federal government policies, programmes and practices and targeted civil rights protections for government contractors.
This is a continuation of his policy when he was first in office according to USA Today.
America’s diversity seems to be what makes the country so successful. Once you reduce this surely the country will achieve less.
Climate
Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. The Paris climate agreement is an international climate change treaty that has been signed by 200 countries.
Trump dubbed the World Economic Forum in Davos as the “prophets of doom” hinting that climate change was overstated and perhaps not that big a deal.
Trump is a businessman. He clearly does not put the rights of humans or mankind at the forefront of his policies. Throughout his career he has prioritised financial gains over human welfare.
Artificial intelligence and technology
Trump also issued an executive order that his staff will create a plan to ‘sustain and enhance America’s global A.I. dominance.
Trump has told the Justice Department not to enforce the law banning TikTok (an application available on phones) for 75 days. Trump has instructed companies, like Apple, Google and the cloud computing provider Oracle that there should be ‘no liability’ related to their work to distribute and maintain the app.
Elon Musk, the owner of X and Tesla, has been Trump’s right-hand man showing the importance of technology to the president. He has boasted that car makers are returning to America, and he wants America to be great again, especially when it comes to manufacturing and technological development.
