Is Trump a man of peace or consequential president?

J Boima Rogers – October 2025

Trump’s major focus and the drumbeat from his cult followers is that he deserves a Nobel Peace prize.  It has also been  noted that he is a consequential president.  Those two positions are at variance with everything Trump has done and stands for. Decades before formally entering politics, his racist rants and calls for the heads of Black and Hispanic teenagers wrongly accused of raping a woman in New York gave a good insight into Trump’s violent character as his statement at that time demonstrates. 

“Maybe hate is what we need…I want to hate these muggers and murderers…They should be forced to suffer…Yes Mayor Koch I want to hate these murderers and always will”. 

In his campaigns for his first term, he used violent rhetoric and exhorted his supporters to take violent actions against his enemies, namely people who were critical of him.  In addition to this violent rhetoric and actions on the domestic front, his statements and actions on  international arena are not those of a man of peace.

Trump can only be called a consequential president if we use the same term for authoritarian or wannabe authoritarian leaders.  Yes, Trump is not in the same league  as some of the most notorious authoritarian leaders when it comes to the number of deaths although 1.2 million Americans died from Covid19 largely because of his actions and/or inaction and he is following in their footsteps in his assault on US democracy and post second world war global infrastructure. A major factor in Trump not getting into the category of “consequential president” is the fact that he lacks the intellect, coherence, drive and sustained effort needed to attain that status – a point noted by John Bolton, his National Security Advisor in his first term.  Many of the policies enacted  are the work of the Heritage Foundations who developed policies aligned to his rants. Trump is not a policy wonk and does not read policy briefs neither does he strategize although he has feral instincts that are common to other dictators.

In his first term, the treatment of immigrants, notably the separation of children from their parents and  statements about how protesters should be treated – he allegedly suggested that Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters should be shot – demonstrated that he is definitely not a man of peace. During his first term, after a report that the governor of Nebraska’s had assaulted a journalist, body slamming him, Trump noted the governor was “my kind of guy”.  In April 2024 he said “if I don’t get elected it’s going to be a bloodbath”.

A review of Trump 2.0 certainly confirms his violent posture. His first act was to free and pardon 1500 January 6 rioters, over a third of whom had violently assaulted officers, in their bid to disrupt the counting of votes of the presidential election.  He had exhorted his followers to “fight like hell” in a speech he made before the start of that process by congress – his supporters stormed the capitol soon after the speech.  In July 2025 Trump posted an AI generated video of former president Obama being arrested and manhandled in the White house.  The Trump administration has also arrested and manhandled a US Senator, Alex Padilla, a Californian Senator who was investigating the activities of Trump’s immigration (ICE) agents, a legitimate function of a senator in his state.  The senator had grounds for his query because of numerous incidents, many recorded, of violent altercations in Trump’s mass deportation drive. Trump has also sanctioned armed intervention resulting in the killing of several people in the Caribbean – note that even though they were suspected of trying to smuggle drugs into the US they were not afforded the option of surrendering for investigation. He has also authorised the CIA to operate in Venezuela, which looks like the US reverting to the regime change policy. This follows US bombing of Iran and its support for its surrogate Israel’s attack on that country and other countries in that region.

Trump demonstrated his violent posture in his statements and actions relating to the  murder of Charlie Kirk the right-wing firebrand. He ordered the lowering of the flag, gave Kirk the highest award and took punitive actions against critics of a man who spewed hate against Blacks, Jews,  immigrants and the LGTB community; Trump is eulogising Kirk as a saintly figure.  While the murder of Kirk was a horrible action, as most Democrats acknowledged and sent condolences to his family, it should be noted that Trump totally ignored the murder of the Minnesota lawmaker (Democrat speaker of the state house of representative) and her husband three  months before Kirk’s assassination saying about the lawmaker “I could be nice and call but why waste time”.  This is an outrageous position  from the president of the USA who should be much more engaged with the murder of a lawmaker than Kirk, a private citizen.  Kirk, a divisive man opposed the civil rights act of 1965 that gave African Americans the same legal rights enjoyed by Whites – he said Martin Luther King “was awful. not a good person”.   Unlike his predecessors who tried to bring the nation together after tragedies – Clinton after the Oklahoma bombing, George W Bush after 9/11 and Obama after Connecticut mass shooting – at Kirk’s funeral event Trump stated “I hate my opponents”.  

The Trump “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) budget passed recently was the largest military allocation in history for the US and worldwide. His defence secretary Hegseth preaches “warrior ethos”.   Trump has changed the name of the Defence Department to the War Department echoing his belligerent posture.  Trump’s budget includes huge sums for ICE, the immigration bureau that has embarked on his brutal campaign against illegal immigrants; including establishing the notorious Alligator Alcatraz in Florida. 

Trump’s domestic policies can be summed up as a violent attack not only on illegal immigrants but also on non-Trump America, that is cities/states/constituents run by  Democrats and/or with non-white majorities/leadership, starting with Los Angeles, Washington DC, Nashville, Portland and has his sights on Chicago, New York and Baltimore. In Trump’s America, hate crimes, particularly racially motivated crimes are no longer a priority even though analysts have cited them as America’s most toxic problem.  Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) is the natural home for perpetrators of such hate crimes egged on by Trump who in both terms has welcomed White supremacists, employed them and given them a pass on their statements and actions – notably in his first term when he referred to racist neo-Nazis as “fine people” even as one of them bludgeoned an anti-racist protester to death in Charlottesville. He had a meeting with a prominent racist at his home in Florida and reinstated a racist member who had been sacked from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – it has been rumoured that the crackdown in Washington DC was largely because that DOGE member had been attacked in the city. The Trump effect was evident recently when Politico unearthed a trove of racist and anti-Semitic conversations by Young Republican leaders, referred to by his vice president as “kid’s talk”,  even though they are in their twenties and thirties.

Trump and His “Secretary of War”, Hegseth demonstrated their violent posture when they met with senior military personnel.  Among the most violent rhetoric. Hegseth stated that he wants the military to ignore the Geneva convention on military engagement.  Trump stated that the enemy was “within” the US and that US citizens (his political enemies) would be used as target practice by the military, 

While Trump claims to have  resolved seven conflicts (Israel/Iran, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC)/Rwanda, Cambodia/Thailand, India/Pakistan, Serbia/Kosovo, Egypt/Ethiopia), the seventh or eighth conflict is a mystery or more likely one of Trump’s fibs, his involvement in the peace process was minimal, false or disputed by one or both parties.  In the case of Egypt/Ethiopia there was no conflict although the two countries have exchanged strong antagonistic sentiments over Ethiopia’s dam on river Nile, the lifeline for Egypt and Sudan.  In the DRC/Rwanda case, fighting continues. While there had been some skirmishes between Cambodia and Thailand, they were not engaged in full scale war but both parties promised to reduced tensions when Trump threatened trade restrictions. Azerbaijan and Armenia had entered a deal five months before the White House photo incident with no apparent Trump involvement.  Serbia had made threats against Kosovo but had not actually initiated action and so Trump did not actually stop any conflict.  India has categorically denied any involvement by Trump in its dispute with Pakistan which is rooted in the systemic friction that the two countries have had over the last eighty years since their independence from the UK

Trump’s actions or inaction are particularly flawed  in the most devastating conflicts, namely, Gaza, Rusia/Ukraine and Sudan.  In Gaza, while peace has finally been declared and yes Trump played a significant role in the process, there are a number of issues which demonstrates that Trump is not a man of peace. Trump’s eventual intervention in Gaza was  because of global political developments.  A United Nations panel concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and the overwhelming majority of countries, including major US allies  such as the UK and France had recognized Palestine as an independent state.  The other factor is Trump’s desperate desire for the Nobel Peace prize which was just about to be announced after he came up with his peace plan. Trump also wanted to curry favour with Gulf Arab states where his family is developing significant commercial projects.

If Trump was truly a man of peace, why did he not exert  pressure on Netanyahu for nearly ten months even as America has considerable leverage over Israel?  America is Israel’s primary weapon’s supplier, military ally and supporter at international fora – tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians,  died because of that delay. Trump and his officials had been supportive of the Israeli government’s tough stance in Gaza (and the West Bank) even though there were calls from Israeli civil society, relatives of hostages and current and former military officials in Israel and the international community for the Israeli government  to withdraw from Gaza as the death toll mounted. After a mild rebuke of Israel when it bombed Qatar, Trump finally decided to put the screws on Israel, partly to avoid a rupture in his relationship with Gulf allies who he has nurtured political and (national and personal) commercial relationships with.

As we go to press, Trump’s peace plan for Gaza is being implemented. While it is a welcomed positive move ending that conflict and a move away from his earlier pronouncement of turning Gaza into a riviera denuded of Gazans, it does not in any meaningful way address the key driver of the conflict, namely Israel’s refusal to countenance a two-state solution of Israel and (a sovereign) Palestine – Trump’s plan has only a vague note on the issue.  It is therefore a cease fire not a peace plan because of this flaw. Trump as the narcissistic man he is, takes centre stage as head of the transition team overseeing the Gaza recovery plan, a significant flaw because Trump is mercurial and highly biased and there is minimal participation of the people (Gazans) with the most vested interest in the (Gaza) project. 

 In the Russian/Ukraine conflict Trump has for most of the time adopted the position of  Putin’s lackey, failing to fully support Ukraine or take strong actions against Putin. Perversely rather than being critical of Putin the aggressor who initiated the conflict, Trump was critical of the Ukrainian leader because of his deference to Putin but also because he and his vice president took issue with the fact that the Ukrainian president Zelensky had not always demonstrated “respect” for Trump, the wannabe authoritarian leader; it should be noted that Trump was impeached in his first term for trying to get Zelensky to make critical statements about Biden before Trump would release military support that Congress had allocated to Ukraine.  Trump and his vice president echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda that Ukraine should be blamed for initiating the conflict even though the whole world, including virtually all of America’s NATO allies, know that Putin initiated the war. As we go to press while Trump has taken a slightly tougher stance against Rusia, he is again wavering in his support for Ukraine by failing to provide the critical Tomahawk missiles requested, no doubt because of his deference to Putin who is taking a very hard line on territorial demands; Trump has not provided any military aid to Ukraine but has allowed purchases of American arms by European allies; the only American military aid has been what was approved by the Biden administration. He has paid no attention to Sudan, not even to  utilize his “special relationship” with Gulf Arab states who have fuelled that conflict through their support for  both protagonists. 

Trump’s anti-peace posture on the international front is evident in his bombing of Iran and support for Israel’s military campaigns in Lebanon, Syria and Iran.  In his first term he pulled out of the agreement that Obama and America’s allies had negotiated with Iran to prevent that country acquiring a nuclear bomb, which invariably led to Iran pursuing that goal leading to the bombing. So rather than stick to or build on the peace initiative that Obama negotiated, he embarked on a policy that engendered an Iranian response which inevitably resulted in  America  bombing the country. It should also be noted that Trump’s Whitehouse spokesperson made a threat that military force could be used against Brazil if that country’s supreme court rendered negative judgement against the  former president who had instigated an attempted violent insurrection/coup similar to the January 6 insurrection in America – the threat was not carried through when the ex-president was convicted and jailed but Trump imposed very high (50%) tariffs on imports from that country as punishment.

Trump is a consequential president but with a negative twist that America and the world could do without.  In addition to his non peace posture noted, he is bad news for America and the world in key areas that determine a president’s legacy, namely, his administration’s impact on  the democratic infrastructure, health, economy, environment,  foreign relations and the beauty and resilience of America’s diversity. 

Trump’s record on the democratic infrastructure is appalling, and a huge blot on his “legacy” for a country that is one of the leaders of modern democracy. Trump was notorious in his first term for having been impeached twice,  while two other previous presidents had been impeached, he is the only one to have been impeached twice.  In both cases  there was glaring evidence but Republican Senators failed to provide enough support for his conviction.  In the first case (audio) evidence was produced showing Trump requesting support from the Ukrainian president.  In the second impeachment among the various incriminating evidences was a recorded phone conversation in which Trump asked a Georgia state official to manufacture electoral votes. Trump went on to galvanize his supporters to attack the capitol as congress was counting the electoral votes to confirm the victory of Joe Biden –  no action was taken by Trump for several hours when the mob  went on the rampage, an implicit support for a violent/criminal attempt by a mob to prevent the lawful transfer of power. Trump pardoned the mob, again an implicit acceptance of a violent coup attempt in one of the oldest democracies in the world.

He has attacked, dismantled and coerced the democratic infrastructure, namely the legislature, civil service, media, judiciary, universities, corporations and organisations established by congress as independent autonomous units such as the Federal Reserve (Bank) and whistle blowers. His attempt at developing an authoritarian state has had the acquiescence and/or support of his party,  congress (controlled by his Republican party) and the judiciary – majority of the supreme court’s members were appointed by Republican presidents who have declared that Trump (effectively) has the powers of a monarch. He has ignored directions by congress (notably refused to spend funds allocated by congress which is constitutionally mandated to control the budget) and made other decisions that are the prerogative of that body. This has happened as that body is cowed by the MAGA base that Trump uses or threatens to use on  Republican senators and representatives who dare deviate from their “master’s” path. The owners and CEOs of corporations and media, seduced by juicy tax cuts, other give aways and cowed by threats and punitive (or threats) actions have fallen in line.

Trump’s assault on the democratic infrastructure started as soon as he came into office.  After releasing the January 5 rioters, he fired investigators at the FBI and Justice Department lawyers who were involved in their prosecution, career civil servants who were merely performing their duties. He also sacked FBI agents who took the Knee in the Black Lives Matter demonstration.  He announced that he wanted the Justice department to go after perceived enemies, namely officials who made statements and/or took actions against him and  no surprise, that Justice department, which had in previous administrations maintained its independence from presidents, has lamely followed through with his demands.  John Bolton, Trump’s National Security Adviser in his first administration, James Comey, the former CIA Director and Letticia James the New York Attorney General who had prosecuted and won a case against Trump have been charged; after a prosecutor had declared that he could not find cause for prosecution he was sacked.  Other officials, including Adam Schiff, the congressman who led Trump’s impeachment are on the list  that Trump has publicly announced.      

Trump who cannot take a joke has even gone against comedians in his attempt at coercing comedian Jimmy Kemmel, who was briefly sacked (but reinstated) for his comments about Charlie Kirk  – a move made by the broadcaster employing the comedian, undoubtedly because of statements by Trump and his administrator responsible for broadcast licenses about Kimmel’s jokes on Kirk after his murder.   

Trump has been successful because many institutions/companies have folded with little or no resistance. Many organisations have made massive financial settlements in conflicts that many observers believe those organisations could have legally won against Trump in court cases if they had the backbone to resist Trump; notable exceptions include Havard University which has stood up to Trump’s bullying and has been successful in court cases so far. Trump, the wannabe dictator has used the classic authoritarian tools to create the exact opposite of what the original congress thought they were creating, namely, a robust democratic entity impervious to the whims of an authoritative president.

Republican governors and state legislatures, to please Trump and prevent voters from fully participating  in the democratic process are being corralled into gerrymandered voting districts to secure Republican victories in the next election – this is redrawing electoral constituencies to favour Republican in the House of Representatives. Normally electoral (constituency) maps are amended after the census every ten years (at the beginning of the decade) whereas these amendments are being made halfway through that norm. Republicans currently control the presidency, Senate and House of Representative and Trump and state Republicans are trying to change the electoral maps to prevent voters from changing that dominance.  While governors from states controlled by Democrats have promised to use the same trick, this gimmick is an assault on the democratic process, furthermore, there are more Republican controlled states and often (usually in Democratic controlled states) legislation prevents this measure.  In short, Trump and his state Republican minions are employing anti-democratic methods to stifle legitimate opposition to Trump.

Trump’s record on health has been the worst among developed countries;  !.2 million people died from Covid19 largely because of his mismanagement of the pandemic.  While some pundits have lauded him for America’s lead in developing a vaccine, its scientific community performed that feat in spite of Trump’s actions or inaction as was fully on display on TV.  In his second term he has appointed an unqualified Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy (who has no medical or science qualification), who has embarked on a chaotic path, questioning and/or reversing long established health policies and will place the country in a very precarious position were another pandemic to occur again. Among the numerous  significant missteps made so far, he has sacked all members of the Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP), board that decides which vaccines should be included in the national immunisation program.  That body was made up of qualified scientists, leaders in the relevant disciplines, replaced by unqualified flunkies who share the anti-vaccine views of their boss. Kennedy also sacked the eminently qualified head of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to facilitate the implementation of crackpot policies that are at variance with established scientific practices. The leadership team at CDC has been decimated through firings and resignations, hence the leading world organisation on disease issues has been decapitated. 

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) that the Republican congress has passed includes major cuts in funding for health research and subsidies for health insurance increasing the vulnerability of low and middle-income Americans As we go to press the US government is going through a shutdown because  Democrats want to protect healthcare benefits for ( 40+) million Americans that are threatened by Trump’s BBB; this includes the elderly, low and  middle income and rural Americans. These cuts would occur while at the same time Trump’s BBB is awarding huge tax benefits to rich Americans. Interestingly, Trump’s administration is providing $40 billion aid to Argentina to support his buddy, that country’s right-wing president.   Interestingly it is estimated that restoring those health subsidies will cost $35 billion (per year), less than the amount Trump has promised his Argentinian pal.

Trump’s track record on the economy in his first and current term is not a plus for his legacy. In his first term, unnecessary gigantic tax cuts (after inheriting an economy that was growing faster than other similar economies) benefiting primarily the rich (83% going to the top 1%) resulted in huge budget deficits -increasing the national debt by a quarter in just one term – and increased income inequality. The economy took a nosedive  as a result of his mismanagement of the pandemic with millions losing their jobs.  In Trump 2.0 he has imposed very high tariffs for three main objectives, namely, to protect/facilitate domestic manufacturing, generate government revenue and as a punitive measure against countries/leaders that Trump does not like.  The result of these tariffs which are still yet to be fully evaluated has generating inflation even though he campaigned to reduce inflation. It should be noted that inflationary pressures are also been ignited because of Trump’s immigration crackdown which has seen  reduction in staffing on farms, food processing and other sectors that rely on significant number of “illegal immigrants”; latest report is that inflation has increased to 3%, higher than the 2% (or less) Federal Reserve target and economists are predicting  that it is likely to get much higher as businesses pass on the cost of the tariffs.  Industrial production has declined contrary to Trump’s plan, partly because of higher (imported) input costs.   The Federal Reserve reported that US manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remained below 50 for the fifth consecutive month in July 2025, which indicates an overall contraction in the sector.  Employment in the sector has also fallen, so Trump’s policies have failed in both the agricultural and industrial sectors. The modest increase in government revenue from tariffs is likely to be redirected to farmers who have lost markets as importers, notably China, the US largest importer of agricultural products, have taken reciprocal actions and curtailed their demand for US produce. 

 

Estimates for revenues from tariffs for the next ten years range from $1.7 (Tax Foundation dynamic scoring) to $4 Trillion by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  The revenue from Trump’s tariffs will cover only half of  Trump’s  BBB tax cuts.  It is estimated that tariffs will reduce GDP by .8%, nullifying most of the economic growth according to stimulation by CBO. Tax cuts for the rich, excessive budget outlays for the military and immigration crackdown take up the bulk of that revenue. As in his first term, the budget deficit will continue to balloon to what most economist believe to be unsustainable levels, the modest tariff revenues will be significantly below the loss of revenue from the tax cuts, further worsened by the administration’s low priority for lax implementation and enforcement of the codes as a matter of policy as well as significant reduction in staffing levels; the message is clear under Trump paying your tax and pursuing tax cheats are not a priority..

The latest S&B Global report concluded that Trump’s immigration crackdown will cost the US .5% in the GDP growth rate estimated at 1.9% in 2025 and 1.8% in 2026, significantly lower than the 2.8% growth in recent years. As the country grapples with the shutdown the non-partisan  Peter G Foundation is sounding alarm, saying that the increase in the country’s debt to $38 trillion, an increase of $1 trillion in two months is the fastest growth in such a short time outside the pandemic;  Its CEO, Michael Peterson, attributing the increase to interest payment and the cost of the shutdown  and noted that “adding trillion after trillion to the debt  and budgeting by crisis is no way for America to run its finances”. He estimated that interest payment on the debt which was $4 trillion over the last decade will balloon to $14 trillion in ten years’ time. A recent Yale Budget Lab report noted that “ballooning federal debt exerts upward pressure on both inflation and interest, potentially constraining growth  and lifting borrowing costs for households and businesses”.

An anecdote on the economic front is how Trump is shaping America along the lines of a Banana Republic. He is the first commuter president,  spending weekdays in Washington DC and weekends in Florida or one of his golf retreats, including a trip to his golf course in Scotland; the cost of this unusual working arrangement must be significant and like monarchs as he has been characterised by the supreme court, his courtiers rearrange their working arrangements as demanded by King Trump.  It is no surprise that he arranged a military parade fit for a king and is remodelling the Whitehouse to incorporate a ballroom both of which  cost a few hundred million dollars. Plus, there is the nearly $1 billion refurbishment of the presidential plane gifted Trump by Qatar which it has been noted will be kept by him after he leaves office.  There have been several reports that Trump’s family wealth has increased significantly in the few months since he has been in office this term.  Much of this wealth has been earned from exotic bitcoin transactions.  Trump has recently pardoned the head of Binance a key player in the sector.

His loyal subjects would like America to believe he is hell bent on making the American government more efficient and frugal, but  in reality, it is regular low- and middle-income Americans who bear the pain of making America great. This process will proceed while the boss and obviously his rich buddies (the latter through generous tax give-aways and government contracts) make a killing for the well-placed individuals and corporations riding the revolution.  As Trump makes huge cuts to the budget for healthcare and “woke” programmes, applies tariffs that raise prices of imported items used by regular  Americans, cuts aid programmes (that made use of US farm produce), antagonizes China losing that vital outlet for America’s farmers, basically screwing wide swathes of regular Americans, he is allocating $40 billion bailout for his Argentinian pal.  Perversely, China is displacing American soybeans with Argentinian supplies and Trump has stated that Argentinian beef will be imported into the US – double blows for US farmers who solidly backed Trump in the election.  

Trump has embarked on two projects that will be consequential in the mould of Marie Antoinnette of “let them eat cake” fame.  He is knocking down part of the Whitehouse to build a ballroom which will cost $300 million; the ballroom at 90,000 sq. ft will be almost double the size of the current Whitehouse at 55,000 sq. ft. The people’s house is going to be turned into a showpiece for grandiose events.  He has also made a request to be paid $230 million for court cases brought against him by the government after he left office in his first term.  Trump wants taxpayers to pay him for justifiable actions by authorities as was plain view; in audio statements (soliciting votes from Georgia state officials); in a speech he made before his followers stormed the capitol, saying “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore…we are going to the capitol”, and; videos of boxes of classified materials at his residence.  These actions are being made in the middle of a shutdown which is causing pain to millions of people who are not being paid (federal workers)  or denied access to funds and services (general public).  The shutdown is because Democrats want to protect regular Americans from Trump’s plans to cut healthcare subsidies that would see healthcare insurance costs increase by double to quadruple their current rates while the ballroom is built, Trump gets $230 million (Trump had already milked his supporters in fundraising for his legal fees to fight the court cases) and millionaires and billionaires see their incomes swell significantly. 

One of Trump’s worst legacies, given the dire global situation we face is the environment.  He is firmly opposed to the views of the overwhelming majority of scientists on the causes of global warming which he calls a hoax.  He openly courted financial support from the fossil fuel sector in his election campaign promising them favours and is now delivering as promised – reversing/eliminating legislation to mitigate/reverse global warming in the US.  He has taken the US out of international organisations aimed to combating global warming.  And he has pushed his party and a significant proportion of US public  to take his view.  In short, Trump, through executive actions and policies, has been devastating on land, air and water within the US and beyond, reversing legislation in the last fifty years aimed at protecting the environment more than any US president, Democrat or Republican, just when the world is desperately in need of action to mitigate environmental damage. 

Trump’s foreign relation debacle was on full display in his recent address of the UN assembly when he lectured members on how the UN and members were on the wrong path, reinforcing his disdain for multilateral organisations.  He has displayed his disdain for such institutions by his decision to withdraw US membership from a them as he did in his first term – a sad situation when the most powerful country withdraws from participation in organisations that aim to address global issues.  His withdrawal from global organisation, speech at the UN, tariffs and disbanding of USAID demonstrates that Trump’s America First agenda is far removed from most American leaders in the last eight plus decades. The closest alignment that one can go to is just after the first world war when America retreated to its shores leading to the great recession and then only fully coming back into the global scene starting with Frankin Rooseveldt during the second world war.

As in his first term, he has a tumultuous  relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), even though he is not as abrasive as in this time. Since he has been rebuffed by his buddy Putin on his peace initiative, despite the red- carpet treatment Trump gave that leader in Alaska, he has signalled a more positive approach to the European position on Ukraine and NATO.  Even this apparent change is not fully in line with Ukraine and the European views. His tariffs have not spared traditional allies, major trading partners or struggling poor countries. The thin-skinned Trump recently got riled by Ontario, a Canadian province for posting statements made by Reagan, the Republican icon promoting free trade and disparaging tariffs;  for that he imposed additional tariffs and suspended trade negotiations with Canada.

A major focus of Trump 2.0 has been his assault on the country’s beauty and resilience, namely diversity.  America, the land of immigrants has benefited immensely from its multitude of races and culture which have shaped its arts, music, science and sports.  This diversity, on full display within the country and in international fora is what makes the country so interesting, strong and competitive.  Immigrants and their children from all races and ethnicities have started and/or managed major corporations; think of Google, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla which were started and/or are managed by first- or second-generation immigrants.  They have excelled in all areas of American society and are less likely to commit crime than native born Americans.  And yet, Trump, the son of an immigrant has declared war on them particularly if they are non-White. He loves White immigrants and has stated publicly that he wants more of them as validated in hi recent refugee policy which gives priority to White South Africans and perversely, Europeans who oppose immigration. This policy shift is indeed the key driver of Trump’s antiimmigrant push, namely , namely his racism, in particular his antipathy to non-White people, especially Black people. The focus of Trump’s immigration campaign has been non-White people who have been stopped and questioned even as Trump has welcomed White South African “refugees”.

The irony, verging on the perverse of Trump’s position is that diversity is strongly embedded in the American political process. This feature of the democratic process, notably the electoral college system, facilitated Trump’s victory in his first term even as he lost the popular vote to Hilary Clinton. This is because of the disproportionately high leverage of states with low (disproportionately White) populations; all states, irrespective of their population have two senators.  This has ensured the election of John Thune, a senator from  South Dakota, a state with a population of less than a million people (the fifth least populated state), as leader of the US senate – that state is 82% White, a much higher proportion than their share of the total  US population (62%).  While Trump has made his fight against diversity a keystone of his presidency, claiming to ensure that only the best man (invariably it is a man) gets the job, university place etc, he has ignored the disadvantages endured by sections of the population, the advantages of diversity and the fact that his administration is the least qualified by a host of metrics.

The perversity of Trump’s position on diversity starts with Trump himself, who is one of the least qualified men to hold the office.  Rather than being the successful business tycoon he likes to claim, after inheriting a huge fortune, with six bankruptcies, he was a nepo on welfare, making use of the “discharge process”.  That process allows bankrupt people to get rid of their debts – in six occasions therefore when Trump got rid of his debts legally, he was effectively on welfare supported by his creditors, with the help of  banks who as his trial in New York verified, provided him with funds on preferential terms (partly because of misleading/false statements made about his assets) and the government in levying minimal or no taxes on his operations. A review of Trump’s federal tax returns by the New York Times for eighteen years concluded that Trump paid very little tax, much lower than people in his  income category and for eleven years within that period he did not pay any tax.  He has loaded his cabinet with unqualified people, whose main attributes are loyalty to their boss even as they lack the relevant qualifications and  experience – one cabinet member has been accused of corruptly accepting $50,000 in a sting operation by the FBI.  The list of grossly unqualified cabinet members and officials is too long to specify in this paper but suffice to say that the actions of these cabinet secretaries and administrators have been very evident in the few months Trump has been in office.

The few non-White members in his cabinet are like their White colleagues grossly unqualified and do not reflect the share of their groups in the total US population. They are also from groups that have not  contributed as much or suffered the pain and disadvantages of America’s major  racial minority, African Americans (Hispanics are a cultural not racial group); a key reason for affirmative action is to redress the disadvantages, often still embedded through systemic racism, faced by African Americans. In his first  two hundred days in office only two of ninety-eight of Trump’s senate approved nominations were African Americans even though they form 14.4% of the US population.  

Trump is dismantling policies and institutions set up to protect African Americans (and other disadvantaged groups) from centuries of discrimination, adverse policies and attacks.  Since he took office over 370 lawyers in the civil rights division have left that department.  His political appointees have ignored or abandoned issues and cases of race, gender and sexual orientation discrimination. 

Trump’s approach  to diversity does not make America great, rather it weakens the country. A notable example relates to a key area where Trump failed miserably in his first term and is also failing in his current term, namely health policy.  Trump has appointed Robert Kennedy as Health Secretary when he could have appointed an African American supporter, Ben Carson, an eminently qualified (in medicine even though politically foolish for supporting a man who hates his race) doctor. 

He is constantly railing against Black women often questioning their intelligence and competence.  In addition to renaming military bases after confederate generals who fought to keep Blacks as slaves, Trump is trying to erase aspects of Black history that accurately describe their torture under slavery and achievements. Trump’s major gripe about Obamacare which he tried to destroy in his first term and is currently slashing funding for it in his BBB is largely because he cannot stand the fact that Obama developed a major programme even as Trump has failed to produce an alternative.   

Trump’s antipathy towards African Americans is personified in Obama, his nemesis.  His call for the Nobel prize is mainly because Obama is a recipient of that award; he and his followers want the public to view Trump as a consequential president and that Obama is not, a position that necessitates destroying Obama’s initiatives, notably in health, environment and foreign affairs.

Alfred Nobel who established the prize expressed his belief in “fraternity between nations”.  While Trump and his supporters often note that Obama did not deserve the prize, which he was awarded only nine months into his presidency one needs to look at Obama’s record before he took office and his entire time as president.  He was one of the few politicians to forcefully oppose the Iraq war in 2002 saying it was “dumb, rash, based not on reason or principle but on politics without international support”.  In that statement long before he became president, he established his anti-war credential as well as the need for galvanizing international support.  Trump as usual has misrepresented his stance on that war,   On 11 September 2001 in an interview with Stern on whether he supported going to war with Iraq Trump said ”yeah I guess so”. Indicating his support for an invasion of Iraq.

Obama went on to end the war in Iraq. In Afghanistan he developed the infrastructure for peace with the Taliban establishing an office in Qatar.  After an initial surge, to negotiate from a position of strength, he delegated much of the fighting to the Afghanistan military as US forces pulled back. Obama therefore initiated the peace process that Trump further developed but Trump did not end that war, Biden did. Obama also demonstrated his reluctance to engage in war in other situations and always strove to mobilise the support of congress and allies, a position that was often criticised as weakness by hawkish politicians who proposed forceful unilateral US actions and/or leadership, notably, Crimea, Ukraine, Syria and Libya.  After inheriting two forever wars Obama was reluctant to initiate another one without strong support of NATO, the UN, and other multinational organisations, the exact opposite of Trump who has exhibited disregard/hostility very strongly to multilateralism on military and non-military issues.

 Trump and his nemesis Obama are also poles apart in terms of their legacies with the latter coming on top by a huge margin. Obama’s presentations are poetry versus Trump’s rants.  Obama was guided by logic, experts and national and international consensus.  Trump views and policies are shaped by prejudice,  narcissism, partisanship and unilateralism.  These guiding principles have been fully displayed in key policies which define their legacies. Obama’s approach to America’s trade (deficit) challenges was to develop the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) initiative which tried to develop a trading partnership that incorporates environmental, labourrights and other issues to level the playing field for American and foreign  producers, crucially excluding China the economic behemoth that has “crashed” the global sphere with so much success.  Trump’s remedy is blanket tariffs that unlike Obama’s approach of corralling allies, makes no distinction between allies and foes, and is taking the path that led to the 1929 crash when protectionism was a significant factor in the great recession. 

Obama got NATO members to agree to increase their military spending to 2% of GDP by persuasion, Trump has threatened them to get them to increase that target to 5%, an excessive and unsustainable level; he has also levied very high tariffs on the imports from those allies.  Obama deported record number of aliens but those were baddies, who committed crimes in America, so he was making America safer; he also took initiatives for illegal immigrants to become lawful citizens.  Trump’s deportations include masses of hard-working people, many  who have lived in America for decades, with families and no criminal record, living peacefully in communities which they have made significant contributions to.

In addition to his ground-breaking healthcare initiative, Obamacare, Obama’s professional approach to the Ebola epidemic in three West African countries was in stark contrast to Trump’s chaotic approach to the Covid pandemic.   Obama relied on experts, scientific procedures and not trying to take central stage unlike  Trump’s buffoonish actions on national TV during the Covid pandemic including his suggestion that people inject themselves with disinfectants  Obama appointed experts who were put in charge and followed strict scientific principles, working with locals.  Trump in contrast ignored initial reports of Covid, downplayed its significance, took little or no precautions until there was a massive spread of the disease.  After that he placed himself at the centre of efforts to fight the pandemic and through his mismanagement the US had probably the highest level of infections and deaths.  A classic case of Trump’s incompetence versus the sterling performance by his nemesis.

Obama raised the national debt significantly to rescue the country from a debilitating recession.  Trump added (in his first term) significantly to the national debt not to rescue the economy but to provide more money for  rich folks like him and his rich pals through hefty tax cuts (83% going to the top 1%),  Trump’s BBB which will significantly increase the national debt, is also designed to obliterate Obamacare.  Trump is not bothered by the fact that his action would negatively impact the health situation of up to 40 million (low, middle income, elderly and veterans) Americans severely.  In short, Trump’s gripe with regards to the Nobel prize and his legacy carry no weight. Obama is in his mind constantly but suffice to say that Trump was and will  never be the match of his nemesis. 

Does Trump deserve the Nobel Peace prize?  His rhetoric and policies at home and abroad which are full of hate, division and use of power to penalize individuals, groups, companies and countries he considers opponents suggests otherwise as he aptly put it at the Charlie Kirks funeral when he stated “I hate my opponents”.  That is not a peaceful posture for the leader of a country, who considers half of the electorate his opponents, as he does a large part of the (non-White) world. His administration’s domestic policies on immigration, political opponents and perceived enemies can definitely not be described as peaceful as vividly demonstrated when he put up an AI generated picture of him spreading what appears to be faeces on demonstrators at the  “No Kings Rally”.   

His claims  about resolution of conflicts abroad are like many of his statements fictitious. He has not resolved six, seven or eight conflicts (he keeps increasing the number).  The one major conflict which admittedly, he played a significant role in resolving is largely because of global moves in the recognition of Palestine, his desire to curry favour with Gulf Arab states where his family is developing significant commercial projects and it is a ceasefire not  real peace. His true record on those other conflicts is; that he has not resolved them; played a minor role and/or; allowed them to fester at huge human costs.  

Trump’s legacy from his first term but particularly so far in his second term is very negative with regard to the democratic infrastructure, economy, environment, international affairs, health and race. He has conducted major assaults on the democratic infrastructure, namely, the media, judiciary and legislature. This is evident in his record on convicted January 6 rioters, ”disloyal” officials merely performing their duties, critics exercising their first amendment rights, political opponents exercising their democratic rights and judges making decisions based on the constitution and legal precedents.

His policies on the economy are abysmal, resulting in significant falls in GDP growth and jobs (even in manufacturing that his policies are supposed to bolster) and continuing and even rising inflation that Trump, an issue that largely got him elected.  Markets for agricultural products have collapsed as a result of his policies (China and USAiD). The economy has also taken a hit from the immigration crackdown. For the average American the cost benefit issue is how much they will benefit or lose from Trump economics and a Yale University study has the answer.  The cost of Trump’s tariff to the average American family was calculated at $2300 whereas the benefits from the tax cuts in the BBB is $800 plus the cost of healthcare insurance premiums which will double or even quadruple for some of the most vulnerable households.

The effect on the environment has and will continue to be drastic for America and the globe as Trump rolls back legislation and rules to improve/protect the air, water and land.  He is taking a similar approach worldwide as he pulls out of international fora and agreements. He has labelled the concerns of the overwhelming majority of experts on global warming as a “con job”.  Indeed, not only should the US be concerned about the effect on the environment but also the fact that the US will lose out on the market in tools and technology aimed at fighting climate change.

The Trump effect on health is devastating, having appointed a grossly unqualified secretary who is wreaking havoc on staffing (of the department) and policies.  The new normal under Trump’s unqualified health policy makers are heightened vaccine scepticism and significantly reduced uptake which has resulted in  the return of diseases that had been eradicated decades ago. He is sharply reducing funding for health research and programmes, making America unhealthy and incapable of addressing another pandemic.

Trump’s role on the international front is atrocious and is being caused by a combination of factors, namely his ineptitude and inappropriate policies towards allies and protagonists.  As John Bolton, Trump’s National Security Adviser in his first term has noted, Trump does not understand international relations, largely because he makes no effort to read the material prepared by experts, so he is ignorant of the issues, history and positions of the countries and policy makers.  That is combined with his enormous ego and reliance on grossly unqualified and/or overburdened staff; Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff his foreign policy trouble shooter was a property developer with zero foreign policy experience and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is overburdened with a multitude of (4) international roles.  This flaw in Trump’s foreign policy posture and  infrastructure has a devastating impact on the effectiveness of the US foreign policy.  .

There are even more dramatic  events yet to follow.  Europe is adrift and will continue to be estranged from the American umbrella.  Trump’s nationalism, anti-immigrant and anti-intellectual posture is having a devastating effect on one of the country’s core strengths, attracting the best scientists, intellectuals and business executives as they stay away or move over to more hospitable pastures.  Many are moving to Europe, China has enticed some (heavyweight) intellectuals back home and India is encouraging its nationals to move back home.  If this trend continues  America could lose big time.

 The other Trump effect that could be devastating for the world is his worldview that might is right.  This together with his America First attitude, that he is moved only by developments that directly impact America may encourage China to take Taiwan and India to try to  gobble the whole of Kashmir, Russia to go for other former Soviet bloc countries and Israel to continue opposing the two-state solution – as Netanyahu’s right-wing partners recently demonstrated in a vote in that country’s parliament.  With the exception of Russia those countries are projected to see very significant economic and technological progress which will facilitate such scenarios. As we go to press Trump has posted that he has instructed the Pentagon to start testing nuclear weapons, obviously a move that will start the ball rolling for all the countries who possess that weapon.

Trump’s America is not good news for America and the world. If we go by what Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame said in evaluating the legacy of a worthwhile president, one that delivers “the greatest good for the greatest number of people” then up to now with no sign of a dramatic change Trump has failed miserably.  Instead, we should view his legacy as described by Adam Schiff as an “attempt to overthrow the 2020 election; inciting violent attack on the capitol, first since 1814; responding irresponsibly to covid19; dividing the country profoundly; creating political climate that fosters violence; dishonesty and corruption at its most dire and long-term consequence, Trump’s record as an environmental criminal”

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