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Trump 2.0 – Take America Down Again

J Boima Rogers – February 2025

In my last paper I noted how the prosecutors had failed miserably in convincing the jury to reject the most unqualified candidate for the most powerful job in the US and the world.  The prosecutors being the political parties, judiciary and media and the jury being the voters. Alas my fears have been borne out by the election result.  A man impeached twice in his first term, found guilty of multiple civil and felony activities, including 34 felony counts by a New York court, featured on TV at a rally exhorting supporters to disrupt the election process (in the counting of votes by congress), heard on tape asking Georgia state officials to “find votes” to win that state, accused of “illegally removing official documents” from the White House that belonged to the US government and presiding over the worst (Covid) health calamity in the world. To compound this monumental failure, he is proposing policies that could have devastating effects in America and around the world. 

The election of Trump in his first term was a serious mistake, doing so again is absolutely bizarre. While the country has to respect the will of voters, something that Trump failed to adhere to when he refused to accept the fact that he lost to Joe Biden in 2020,  America and the world will pay the price as they did the last time round.  We need to remember that Hitler won an election, with devastating consequences for Germany and the world. The Trump doctrine if it can be labelled as such is based on, racism, misogynism, narcissism  greed and prejudice.  He lacks the experience,  intellectual depth and curiosity necessary for the position and his antipathy to expert opinion based on rigorous analysis means that the decision-making process under Trump relies on prejudice and trusted “advisers” who, given his abysmal choice of senior officials this time,  are grossly unqualified, equally prejudiced and/or have ulterior corrupt motives.  And there is the mercurial element, which means that Trump’s decisions are often based on the last person he spoke to at some social event or phone call.

A key plank of the Trump 2024 election campaign, his competence in managing the economy, is false.   The last data (prior to Biden’s exit from office) from the World Bank showed that the US economic growth rate at 2.8% in 2024 and projected  at 2.3% in 2025 was more than double the rate for the European Union. During and at the close of Trump’s first term, Americans were very divided, hate groups thrived, environmental abuse had intensified, the country’s allies had very negative views of Trump’s America and its enemies were emboldened.  The fact that voters were not willing to apportion blame on Trump for the economic malaise by his mishandling of Covid, commend Biden/Harris for the improved economic situation and factor in other issues is part of the plethora of failures of Democrats. The Republican victory could however be due to a darker trend in politics. A recent study by University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Free University indicates how Trump was successful with all the handicaps listed.  The research found out that ”radical right populists are using misinformation as a tool to destabilise democracies and gain political advantage”. They concluded that far right populists are significantly more likely to spread fake news on social media than politicians from mainstream or far left parties. This factor and the fact that a large and increasing proportion of the electorate get their “news” from social media rather that more objective traditional “legacy” media gave Trump an advantage.

The Trump administration’s opening salvo, in the form of his flurry of Executive Orders, pronouncements and cabinet nominations is very much in line with his “doctrine”, with racism in the forefront. The mass deportation drive, ridding America of all those black and brown folks, is part of his effort to make America white again – it has been noted that no action has been taken on Irish or Ukrainian illegal immigrants. At the same time that Trump is seeking mass deportation of black and brown immigrants, he has signed an order and invited white South Africans to come to America because he claims they are being oppressed; a ludicrous proposition as they are still much wealthier by a huge margin than their alleged black “oppressors”, their political freedoms have not been curtailed and they continue to play an active role in all aspects of society.

The other prominent activity is the combination of the top two  elements of his “doctrine”, racism and misogynism.  He has issued Executive Orders  to dismantle Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), a process by the government and private sector to minimise/ameliorate systemic impediments to the full participation of women, non-whites and other minorities in America.

Trump’s assault on DEI initiatives is very rich given his lack of relevant qualification, abysmal track record in his first term making him a very unqualified candidate for his job which makes DEI the perfect antidote to the nepotism that gives people like him unfair advantages.  The people he has appointed as cabinet secretaries and senior officials fit in with the elements of his “doctrine”, namely like him, primarily white men with racist and misogynistic tendencies and fit in with his narcistic  doctrine, yes men whose primary attribute, is that they will do whatever Trump wants them to do or what they believe will please the boss. Trump the wannabe (narcissistic) dictator expects and has largely been successful in getting his team and Republican politicians to demonstrate total fealty to their dear leader; several officials and Republican members, including Trump’s current vice president, have at some point noted how unfit he is for the job but have subsequently retracted those comments. While in his first administration cabinet members and senior officials  had relevant qualifications and experience,  this time the man who wants to ensure that only the “best man” gets the job has appointed a cabinet which, with the exception of a handful, like Trump himself, lack the qualification, relevant experience and moral compass for the jobs that that they have been selected for. 

This applies even to his “co-president” Elon Musk, who has been appointed to make the government “more efficient”.  Musk has no experience in government, he is currently embroiled in several court cases (accused of contravening multiple regulations) with the government and is racist, as validated in (several) court cases of his companies and the huge increase in racist posts in X since he bought the company. Musk, the white South African, gave a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration. His appointment  and that of at least one member of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who had posted racist statements on social media contravenes the Federal Advisory Committee Act which stipulates that “employees must be fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented”.  Finally, Musk with billions of government contracts cannot be an independent arbiter on government waste; none of the cuts announced so far have included Musk’s contracts.

His defence secretary Pete Hegseth,  demonstrated his ineptitude by his mismanagement of tiny (compared to the massive defence budget he now controls) veteran organisations, antipathy towards women and non-whites who constitute over half of the military; he has been accused of sexual assault and has a sealed account in one of those cases and he has a tattoo associated with white supremacists.  He has stated that his major focus is dismantling DEI initiatives and getting rid of soldiers he believes have benefited from that initiative. As we go to press, he has sacked several senior officers along those lines, including general C Q Brown, the Black chairman of the joint chiefs, the highest military rank and the heads of the navy and coast guard, a black man and the two highest ranking women in the military; no reasons were provided for their termination although we can reasonably assume it was because they were of the wrong race and gender. The heads of the judiciary in the army, navy and air force were also sacked suggesting that Hegseth and his boss do not want to be lumbered with legal hurdles Trump faced in his first term in his attempts  to take illegal military actions. Trump’s director of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who has no experience of that sector, has demonstrated an affinity to Russia and former president Assad of Syria and like her boss Trump, is not trusted by America’s allies because of her Russian links. 

His  Federal Bureau of Intelligence  (FBI) director, Patel, who lacks the relevant experience and has an enemy list (published in his book), has stated that he will drive a huge hole in the heart of the FBI.  Senior officials in the first Trump administration, including Barr, his Justice secretary categorically rejected the appointment of Patel to that position, citing his lack of qualification for the role. In hearings before his appointment, it has been revealed that Patel has been involved in the purge at the FBI of career (as distinct from political) officials that Trump has been implementing. Dan Bongino, the new deputy FBI Director, a rabble-rousing podcaster and like his boss supported the actions and pardoning of January 6 criminals (rioters). Bongino’s appointment goes against the promise Patel made to the FBI union that his deputy would be a career official.  Security analysts are alarmed that in a break from the 117 year history of the FBI the deputy director is a political appointee and both he and his boss, Patel lack FBI experience and there are moves to identify and presumably sack officers involved in work on the prosecution of Trump and the January 6 rioters; analysts have noted that the reason for the removal of the career FBI official who would have been assigned the deputy director role was because of his refusal to provide the names of agents involved in those prosecutions. It should be noted that officials in the Justice department (not the FBI which is an autonomous unit within the Justice department) involved in those prosecutions had been sacked even though as career officials they were simply assigned those tasks. Analysts are concerned that the sackings and the apparent subservience of senior Justice and FBI officials to Trump makes that organisation an arm of the presidency rather than its traditional role as the nation’s advocate.

Trump’s secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy, is an anti-vaccine crackpot, with no medical or scientific credentials. Trump’s head of the National Institute of Health, the organisation that is pivotal in preventing disease and improving the nation’s health Dr Bhattacharya is another crackpot who believes that mRNA (which includes the main Covid19 ) vaccines need to be paused and retested, a position that is at odds with the overwhelming majority of reputable scientists.

The very sad irony verging on the perverse is that Trump’s flurry of executive actions on DEI which he claims will ensure meritocracy and “make America great” actually justifies DEI because the election of Trump and his cabinet picks demonstrates system failure, which DEI can resolve because there are many women, African American and underrepresented groups who are far better qualified than Trump and his team.  There are also much better qualified Republicans, including many from his first term than his new team but have been ignored because they do not fit in with his “doctrine”, the rational “adult in the room” Republicans have been sidelined in favour of misfits.

It should be noted that Trump’s diatribe about DEI ignores the fact that white hegemony is embedded in the American political landscape.  Trump was elected by an electoral college system skewed towards small (with regards to population) states, comprising predominantly white voters.  A similar dynamic applies with the senate which has high political leverage; each state has two senators which means that states with large populations (namely California, New York, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania) that are more racially diverse are vastly underrepresented.  A similar situation is the case in the house of representative because of  gerrymandering, a system that allows state governments to draw boundaries for seats in the house of representatives: Republican control of state governments has ensured favourable boundaries for their (predominantly white male) candidates. The system is therefore  skewed towards Republicans, hence their current control of the presidency,  house and senate, a party that is far less diverse than the Democratic party and country, a White man’s party.

This political dominance is replicated in business, academia and other aspects of American society, something that the civil right act tried to remedy only sixty years ago and subsequently augmented by DEI that Trump wants to dismantle. Trump, despite his false claims won because of white American support and his statements and actions before and subsequent to his victory have confirmed that  he believes his mandate is to make American white again even if this brings America down with unqualified cabinet members and dumb policies.  This time round he is being aided aggressively by a white South African group that were not around in his first term; even though all three have issues as far as die hard MAGA fans are concerned namely, a manufacturer of environmentally friendly (EV) cars, a homosexual and a Jew.  Rather perverse that Trump is being propped up by key personalities whose backgrounds/lifestyles are anathema to very significant segments of the MAGA base.

Trump’s narcissism “doctrine”, has been amply displayed in every aspect of his life, namely that he knows best on every single issue, often using  a third person approach when referring to himself in his pronouncements, usually devoid of factual evidence.  His business “success” that he touts which played a key role in his  election both times, is based on a huge inheritance from his father, six bankruptcies and numerous instances of him short changing people he dealt with and manipulating the tax codes as demonstrated in his conviction in New York.  Despite these shortcomings and indeed because of them, Trump is always lauding himself as a genius who is the only man capable of solving all America’s and the world’s problems.  His gripe against Obamacare was a combination of racism and narcissism, because in his view, a Black man could not achieve such a feat and he is the only one capable of creating a “perfect” healthcare system – he has yet to come up with such a scheme after a decade griping about Obamacare.  His major beef in his first term was his officials holding independent views, hence his pick of docile yes men this time.  He knew best how to deal with Covid, which meant he paraded every week in front of TV making stupid prognosis.

In line with another element of the Trump “doctrine”, greed, the Musk Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project rather than make government more efficient is a precursor to Trump’s plans to make fat cats get fatter. Trump’s greed “doctrine”, displayed in his first term when his tax reform gave immense tax benefits to the rich (83%of tax cuts went to the richest 1% of Americans) will be repeated by the extension of those huge tax cuts, making Trump and his rich pals even wealthier and the US government lumbered with more debt. As we go to press the house of representative, prodded by Trump,  has passed a bill extending Trump’s tax cuts which will increase the federal deficit by $4.5 trillion. This aspect of the Trump “doctrine” was on full display at his inauguration when owners/CEOs of tech giants and other business tycoons had a more prominent seating arrangement than politicians, including his (proposed) cabinet; his cabinet has more billionaires than ever before.  Meanwhile he is taking actions to reduce or eliminate measures aimed at ensuring fair taxation and accountability of wealthy individuals and corporate backers. He is drastically reducing the size of the team that investigates tax fraud just at the time when they are most active. He has shut down all work by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), presumably, with the objective of closing that vital organisation which protects Americans from predatory actions of banks and credit agencies: Musk who in the last few days stated that CFPB is doomed is planning to start a credit system in his social media company, X.

As Trump was about to take office in 2025, he and his wife launched a crypto currency project that appears to be making them a bundle; all indications are that Trump will take actions conducive to his investment in crypto currency. In his first term. contrary to established norms, Trump did not extricate himself from his business interests and it is very much the same this time as well, indeed by all indications it would be much worse as demonstrated in his crypto venture and the flurry of activities announced by his son on the eve of him taking office.  Those activities and business tycoons cozying up to him, including folding and awarding him wins and financial awards in court cases that appear totally illogical, means that the pork will be flowing just as Trump likes and we should expect reciprocity in government policy.

A key component of the Trump “doctrine” is his prejudice, not just relating to his racism but also to other issues where he displays “preconceived ideas and notions and, an antipathy to logic and intellectual rigour”.  The fact that Trump does not do logic or science has huge negative implications for America and the world.  While this has been amply displayed in his racist and misogynistic statements and actions, it is his more comprehensive world view that is particularly damaging for a man in his position.  This prejudice was evident in his statements and actions relating to Covid19 and numerous other issues in his first term when he ignored science and expert advice and a rational decision-making process to the detriment of America and the world.  This “doctrine” has been demonstrated in his view and policies on global warming and his strong support for fossil fuels. One of his first acts was to take America out of the World Health Organisation and the global effort to combat climate change. His co-president, Musk has made huge cuts to staffing at America’s research institutions like the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the  Canter for Disease Control (CDC). His prejudice on health issues will be bolstered by his health secretary who was opposed by 15,000 doctors who signed a letter opposing his nomination.

Since his inauguration America has been subjected to a barrage of activities that suggests the Trump doctrines will cause a far worse damage than his first term – the train wreck has happened just as the train leaves the station.

The danger for America and the world is that the Trump doctrines, his ineptitude and lack of strategic vision are bad news for America and the world.  The major factor is that in his first term he had “adults in the room”, mainstream Republicans who tried, with some success in restraining him from implementing his dystopian urges.  This time round he has learned some lessons, picked up support in the form of a “policy framework” (Heritage Foundation’s project 2025), a Republican party that has totally acquiesced to their dear leader, majorities in the house of representative and the senate and a supreme court that has reinstated the monarchy that Americans revolted against when the USA was established.  The ultimate irony is that Mitch McConnel, the former Republican speaker of the senate who unfairly denied Obama the opportunity to select a supreme court justice but facilitated the appointment of three justices for Trump and prevented the conviction of Trump in both impeachments even though he recognised Trump’s devastating faults, has been (and sometimes the only) one of the opponents to Trump’s cabinet nominations; McConnel declined to put Obama’s supreme court nominee to a vote saying it was too close to the end of Obama’s  term even though it was months away but allowed the vote on a Trump’s nominee just weeks before the end of the latter’s term in office .  Indications are that there are other senators opposed to Trump’s policies and cabinet nominations but are scared of being primaried by Trump’s goons,  Musk and other billionaires.

As we go to press the surreal and Orwellian scenario is frightening, on the domestic and world stage. Musk continues with his rampage  with his army of young unvetted team, arbitrarily shutting departments, firing staff with no or  insufficient from Trump, members of congress and judges. The issues include: what are the short and long term damages they are causing to America’s governing infrastructure; can Musk’s team be bought or blackmailed by third parties, including hostile actors; can members of the team try to profit from information obtained; can Musk use the information to leverage government contracts and/or gain competitive advantage over his competitors; what criteria is being used to sack staff and/or close units or departments; what are the review mechanisms on decisions taken?   Concerns have been expressed on actions taken so far resulting in recalls of staff laid off, notably staff at the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), Nuclear Safety Authority and the CDC.  These recalls highlight the fact that the process was not clearly thought out, presumably there was no policy document to guide Musk’s actions. The recalls are taking into account multiple air crashes and the bird flu pandemic.

DOGE is very much a symptom of the haphazard Trump approach to governance which is the result of the Trump “doctrines”.  There is no actual credible plan, just the whims of a wannabe dictator, a point amply illustrated when Trump for no reason sacked the inspectors general that are supposed to initiate and/or manage efficiency measures that the unqualified DOGE is conducting.  Staff who had not completed the two-year probation period before tenure gives them relevant security have been sacked with statements that their performances were inadequate despite the fact that in many cases staff involved had been commended for their performances by their line managers. 

On the international front Trump, the (narcissistic) wannabe dictator has proposed taking over countries, displacing Gazans and has sold out Ukrainians to the one man that Trump demonstrates fealty to, Putin. Meanwhile he has cast aside America’s allies, notably, Europe. As part of this new MAGA America on his trip to Europe, his vice president Vance stated in a speech that the biggest threats to that continent are immigration and (lack of) free speech, sidelined  mainstream German parties and instead embracing the neo-Nazi AFD party in that country.  There was no mention of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, something Europeans consider to be a much bigger threat. Trump’s unqualified defence secretary, Hegseth validated how unfit he is for that position by dismissing Ukraine’s claims on the territory seized by Russia and the possibility of Ukraine’s membership of NATO, the “perfect opening salvo” in negotiating the end of the conflict, laying the groundwork for Trump’s bombshell statement. His dear leader subsequently blamed Ukraine, not Russia for starting the war and labelling the Ukrainian president a dictator while heaping praise on Putin, an Orwellian tragedy unimaginable a few weeks ago.    

Elections have consequences and while the American electorate has the right to call for an overhaul of the political and economic landscape, it has chosen a charlatan to resolve issues that it has every right to be concerned about. The sad part of it all is that just when America needs big brains like Clinton or Obama it has a clown who believes he has what it takes to make America great but actually demonstrated in his first term, his campaign and at the start of his second term that he lacks what it takes for such action.  Clinton avoided the forever wars that George W Bush got embroiled in despite numerous temptations, successfully steered America through the birth of the digital (internet) revolution and handed over a budget surplus to his Republican successor.  Obama extricated America from the great recession bequeathed to him by his Republican predecessor, faster and stronger than all other major economies, took out the arch terrorist (bin Laden) mastermind of the September 11 disaster, the worst terrorist attack in America, pursued by Bush without success for most of his time in office, was winding down Bush’s forever wars, established an embryonic healthcare system and reestablished America’s leadership that had been frayed by Bush’s relentless, often misguided “war on terror”.

Although Trump does not have the big brains necessary for the major challenges, he has roped in someone presumably with such qualities, namely, his co-president Musk, often lauded as a genius because of his business success, that has made him the richest man in the world.  The problem is that Musk, apart from the fact that he has not been elected by voters, shares Trump’s doctrines which are antithetical to the democratic free market nation. These doctrines will fail to maximise the huge potential of the country by minimising systemic barriers that certain sections of society face in realising their full potentials. Their greed doctrine is likely to engender market imperfections as the business entities of Trump, his co-president and favoured oligarchs are given special treatment and Trump dismantles regulatory mechanisms in favour of crony capitalism.  Musk’s cost cutting efforts which will only scratch the surface, afflict severe damage on the government infrastructure and most vulnerable members of society will, as demonstrated in the new tax bill, fail to address the key issue, balancing the books by the only credible solution,  taxing corporations and the rich.  Their prejudice doctrine is likely to have a devastating effect on health, the environment and technology.  MAGA is hostile to vaccines and does not believe in global warming and consequently technological developments in those fields are likely to bypass America. 

Americans and the world should hope/pray that there is not another pandemic or great recession under Trump, even as he moves along those lines with his tariffs,  dismantles the governance and health infrastructure, implements policies and engages unqualified staff that are incapable, unwilling (because of crackpot views at variance with established science) or lack the gumption to stand up to their boss  who does not have the expertise in  addressing issues.  Indeed, to sum up, the difference between Trump and the other two presidents mentioned is their superior intellect, much higher work ethic, deference to experts, science and logic and the fact that they engaged and accepted the views of reputable experts.  Trump by contrast as demonstrated in his first term, most notably during the Covid pandemic and ensuing economic meltdown, must take centre stage, has promoted a culture that derides science, logic and truth and in his second term surrounded himself with people similar to him in (lack of) intellect, relevant experience and expertise.  Indeed, even the smart people have to play dumb to succeed in Trump world.     

J Boima Rogers is the Principal Consultant at Media and Event Management Oxford (MEMO) www.oxfordmemo.co.uk