JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
MR. Donald Trump will be inaugurated next week. He is back as President of the United States of America (US) after an impressive win against Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party in last November’s US election.
Trump’s return to the world’s most important political office was spectacular, as I argued in one of my YouTube videos.
Many Western pundits, including Hoover Institution’s Sir Niall Ferguson, had written Trump off in 2020. Trump’s return to the White House after January 6, 2020, was inconceivable. Yet Trump has returned, stunning pundits worldwide.
As Trump returns to the White House, some are concerned about how he will conduct himself as US President during his second term. In my opinion, these concerns are unnecessary. Trump has been US President before, and the US and the world did fine under his watch. The world imploded under Joe Biden.
We can expect the same during Trump’s second term – the world will do fine. Trump does not like wars as he believes many of the US wars over the past decades have been unjustified and have cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. That’s exactly one of the reasons why Trump has been at odds with the Republican establishment.
On Trump’s policies and Biden’s record in the White House
Some experts have argued that Trump’s policies will push up inflation. Trump’s response to these experts has been that there was no inflation problem during his first term. He’s not lying.
Inflation skyrocketed under Biden. It went from 1.4% in 2020 when Biden took office, to a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, thanks to bad policies under the Biden administration. Biden causing inflation, along with Democrats’ delusions on cultural matters, is why Trump is back at the White House.
On tariffs, I agree with Dr. Fareed Zakaria who, speaking on Foreign Policy Live last month, said that Trump uses tariffs as a bargaining method, “threats and bluffs.” Trump’s tariffs won’t cause a seismic structural shift on the global economy, Zakaria said.
By the way, Biden is also a supporter of tariffs. Last September, the Biden administration raised tariffson Chinese goods.
Expect Trump to keep his promises on tariffs, deregulation, tax cuts, and deportations. He’s a man who keeps his promises. Most of Trump’s ideas will be good for America, in my opinion.
According to the polls before the election, Trump was seen by Americans as the best person to handle the US economy. Democrats had lost trust from most Americans. They then committed suicide by fielding Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump has already prepared “executive orders aimed at boosting American fossil fuels and undoing his predecessor’s push for the US to adopt EVs.” That’s not surprising, given Trump’s opposition to the ‘green political agenda’. But then there is this question, “Will Elon Musk, the man who was instrumental in the election of Trump and the leading innovator in EVs, like that?” I’m not sure he will. Musk is a long-time believer in ‘green political agenda’.
Biden is leaving the White House with a record-low approval rating, according to the CNN poll. Only 36% of American adults approve of the way Biden handled his presidency. 61% of Americans say Biden’s presidency was a failure. That’s bad!
Elon talks too much
I worry about a fallout between Musk and Trump. Elon, whom I respect, talks too much on matters of public policy on social media. He should keep quiet and allow Trump to be the spokesperson of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda.
Musk should keep quiet and focus on the implementation of MAGA policies.
There are many sensitive things that Trump has to deal with on matters of foreign policy. From China to Ukraine, to the Middle East. On these sensitive things, Musk should keep quiet on social media.
The threat to America’s dominance is China
The United States’ role in the world should be to achieve stability and peace. Much of the process to achieve this peace must not be public. Work must be done behind closed doors. Hence, Musk should keep quiet.
The greatest threat to America’s dominance in the 21st century is China. China is challenging the US on many fronts. From AI to trade to economic productivity.
Both Democrats and Republicans know very well that the threat to US global hegemony is China. Which is why this week, the US government strengthened “restrictions on advanced computing semiconductors,” Reuters reported. The objective of these restrictions is to deny China access to advanced AI technologies. The US is concerned that these technologies “can be used to advance Beijing’s military systems and other tech capabilities,” Business Times reported.
China has become a real force on the global stage. This China force, with its totalitarian attitude, must be contained. Only the US is capable of containing the China force, not Europe.
Europe is weak and faces many economic problems. I hope that with Trump in office this time, Europe will get its act together. The European continent must up its game. The sooner the better.
It is not clear to me who is capable of leading Europe out of the economic stagnation mess it is in. Perhaps the biggest mistake Europe made was to try to become a one-government bureaucracy. Perhaps.
In his second term, Trump must focus on advancing democratic, pro-market values worldwide. With DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Trump has an opportunity to create a template for economic reform for other political leaders around the world, especially in the developing world. I hope DOGE succeeds in slashing government spending in America. The ever-increasing government spending has been destructive to prosperity and freedoms. PM
This article was first published on Politicsweb.co.za. Buy Phumlani’s book Lessons from Past Heroes here, and subscribe to his YouTube channel here.
© PHUMLANI M. MAJOZI