Washington D.C may seem very far away from the sleepy coffee shops of Cotham or the soggy benches of The White Bear. Yet, it isn’t as far as you think.
The decisions of “POTUS” have far-reaching consequences, particularly in a world built on American security guarantees. The USA plays an extremely pivotal part in global trade and has an exceptional cultural reach. Most importantly perhaps, it has the largest military in the world.
Donald Trump has arrived back in the Oval Office on the back of convincing an enormous number of people that they have it rough. That their family, community or group is being marginalised, replaced, or otherwise done down. He has supercharged division and hatred, and he has used it to conquer America through social media and nationalistic propaganda.
Having been held in check in his first term by a rigorous status quo in Washington that he constantly railed against, he is now surrounded by ideologically charged hard-right cronies.
He has swatted aside the American system, defying the courts and the constitution and he has begun dismantling the global security order. An order which was constructed and enshrined by his predecessors, and which has made America the richest and most powerful country on earth.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Trump favours a different system. He sees the world as divided into “spheres of influence” each controlled by “strongman” leaders and dictators. To put it plainly, he thinks like a mob boss. John Gotti was clearly inspirational to him, and he spends much of his time poorly imitating the famous mafiosos’ mannerisms and style. He even thinks of international economic sanctions and tariffs like “protection” money.
The ideas of a Republican America from the 1960’s and the early 1970’s have fundamentally shaped both Trump and his MAGA movement. They believe in strong traditional gender roles and norms, the primacy of white Americans, and in a small state that does not have the power to intervene and interfere in the free market system. This ideology has been coupled with a disturbing belief in the dominance of the “strong” leading to some of their most extreme ideas. Most recently, Trump himself recklessly proposed the full- scale ethnic cleansing of the Gaza strip.
But here’s what it all means for us in Bristol.
Firstly, life is going to get more expensive. Between international tariffs, a need to increase European defence spending and crashing consumer confidence, your bills, taxes, and the price of your favourite pints and snacks may well be increasing significantly over the next four years. DOGE is also busy dismantling US consumer protection laws, so watch out for that.
Secondly, Trump, Putin and their propaganda machines are going to be doing their level best to erode and undermine progressive values. They want to subvert and obstruct fifty years of progress in fields like women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and family planning laws.
MAGA’s perspective on racial equality is thinly veiled at the very best, and viciously racist at worst. They will be putting White America first, every time. Religious freedom will also be threatened. Although the concept has been seen as part of the bedrock that America was founded on, MAGA clearly does not believe in it. Islamophobia is now clearly a crucial part of their values. Crucially, they want to convince people here and in Europe to vote for that. Expect progressive ideas and values to be under increasing threat all around the world.
Lastly, and probably the most existentially important, all the progress made in the face of climate change will be thrown aside. MAGA does not believe in climate change and is openly and tacitly supported by the fossil fuels industry. Whilst climate activism seems to have taken a backseat in recent years, Trump has supercharged the oil and gas industry. Energy companies globally are being pushed and pushed by their American investors to divest from renewables and pump more funding into good old “black gold”. Alongside this, Trump has issued thousands of new drilling licences under the slogan ‘drill, baby, drill’. As terrible as everything else I have talked about is, this is probably the worst problem MAGA has created. It allows the rest of the world to make excuses and continue to cut fundingfor the renewables transition, especially in the face of increasing defence costs.
It’s important to recognise that the world is still a good place. In the last 40 years we have made incredible progress. We have made great strides towards equality and peace worldwide, we have recognised and agreed on an international plan to combat climate change, and democracy is a core global value. Now MAGA threatens all that progress, in its attempt to drag the world’s great guarantor back into the 1960s. I think it’s time we all pulled our heads out of the sand, or more accurately our media feeds, and started talking about it.
How do you feel about the impact Trump's policies are going to have over here?
