The Trumpification of America

Many Americans I meet in Europe are embarrassed by Trump and say that he doesn’t represent the real America. When you consider that he has always had negative approval ratings, including throughout his entire first term and during the 2024 election campaign, they may have had a point. Gerrymandering, voter suppression,  and the preponderance of smaller states with Republican majorities have enabled Republicans to gain control of the Presidency for his first term, and Congress, the Senate, and consequently the Supreme Court despite being behind in the popular vote.

But something changed in the last few weeks of the last Presential election campaign. Having been behind Kamala Harris in the opinion polls ever since she replaced President Biden on the Democratic ticket, Trump gradually caught up and eventually won the Presidential election by 1.5% of the popular vote (49.8% to 48.3%). This is not quite the landslide he likes to portray it as, but it is still a considerable improvement on his 2016 win against Hillary Clinton, where he won the Electoral College 304 to 227 despite losing the popular vote by over 2% (46.1% to 48.2%). (seven faithless electors – five Democratic and two Republican – had reduced the electoral college from 538 to 531)

And now even the opinion polls have turned in his favour, with his Real Clear Politics net favourability rating in marginally positive territory at +0.2% (48.1 approve, 47.9% disapprove) and with small majorities approving his cabinet nominations and much larger majorities approving his policy of arresting and deporting millions of illegal immigrants (53% – 38%) and funding a border wall (50% – 39%). Even his Executive Order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in schools and government has 45% approval to 40% opposition and has now been followed by big companies like Facebook ending their equality and diversity programmes. Apparently, what the world needs, is more masculine energy.

The winners of Presidential elections almost always get a post-election bounce which dies once the reality of day to day governance kicks in – many Americans seem to idolize winners – but here we are seeing significant majorities even for some of his most controversial cabinet picks and policies. It can also be asserted that such favourability ratings are often essentially meaningless. For instance, Congress currently has a net unfavourability rating of -40% even just after the elections. So why the hell didn’t they elect a different a different Congress more to their liking?

Perhaps many Americans are libertarians and anarchists on principle and regard all government as a conspiracy against the people. But they sure seem to like what they are getting from Trump right now and the image he is portraying of an all action President. He has even signed an Executive Order denying the right to citizenship of those born in the USA – something explicitly protected by the constitution. No doubt his Supreme Court nominees will find a way to “reinterpret” the constitution to make this legal.

Of course, having the USA elite supporting you also helps. Elon Musk, who spent $250 million on Trump’s election campaign has been joined by a veritable queue of billionaires paying millions for a place at Trump’s inauguration and falling over each other, to promote initiatives that will presumably attract billions in Federal funding in due course. Trump’s promise to reduce Corporation and income taxes and introduce tariffs on competing foreign imports is no doubt music to their ears.

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta (Mark Zuckerberg) is joining Musk’s X in getting rid of moderation and fact checking teams and Trump has signed an Executive Order giving Tik Tok a reprieve despite the fact he does not have the power to overturn legislation passed by Congress and approved by the Supreme Court. Perhaps Tik Tok made a substantial contribution to his campaign or inauguration funds as well.

But the larger point is perhaps that none of this really matters in Trumpworld. Big money trumps all. The law, and even the Constitution can be bent to his will, and serious law breakers pardoned at his whim. His own Supreme Court has ruled that all actions committed by a President in office are effectively above the law. The USA, which grew out of a massive immigration of citizens escaping the tyranny of Kings, despotic rulers, and religious persecution, now has a King of its own.

I drew some flak from Trump apologists in the comments for arguing that Trump 2.0 will be nothing like Trump 1.0. So far, I don’t think I have been proved too far wrong. Those Americans who claim he doesn’t represent the real USA have some work to do if he is not to remake the USA in his own image. Hopefully, they can do so before he does a lot of damage to the real world outside the USA as well. Dictatorial regimes have a tendency to end in tears.

Frank Schnittger is the author of Sovereignty 2040, a future history of how Irish re-unification might work out. He has worked in business in Dublin and London and, on a voluntary basis, for charities in community development, education, restorative justice and addiction services.