The second coming of Trump

Unarguably, one of the most consequential elections in the United State (US)’s history took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 with 78-year-old Donald Trump winning the 60th quadrennial presidential election. He was the 45th president from 2017-2021.

Trump emerged the 47th president, returning to power despite two impeachments, four indictments and other sundry convictions.

His party also won control of Congress (Senate and House of Representatives), majority of state governors and state legislatures. This year, 34 of the 100 Senate seats were on the ballot including all the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as 13 gubernatorial races.

The election was a clear mandate. He is set to reshape the American political landscape with a conservative, working-class coalition, including a significant number of Black and Latino voters and this means he has a potential hold on the majority of voters for years to come. With a Republican-controlled Senate and House as well, and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, Trump has the platform and opportunity to significantly shift US public policy.

Largely, the elections are products of prevailing American public sentiment, reflecting the majority of what the voters believe, showcasing the policies and approaches that have been adopted by them.

Yet, what was not lost was the unprecedented invective-filled campaign that involved a dramatic substitution of Democratic Party’s standard-bearer (from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris) and assassination attempts on Trump. It was also an election riddled with racial and ethnic insults. Trump promised to prosecute his political enemies and send the military into the streets of democratic cities to target illegal immigrants.

He also pledged to eviscerate many of the agencies central to the federal government and the regulations they enforce while filling powerful posts with loyalists. He also pledged to escalate the trade war he began with China while helping to negotiate an end to a war in which Russia has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians.

His hardline stance on immigration was an important issue for US voters, and his pledge of mass deportation of all undocumented migrants has been criticised by both human rights organisations and economists. Trump also said he would impose between a 10 and 20 per cent tariff on all goods imported into the US and 60 per cent tariffs on all Chinese goods.

Sixty-year-old Democratic Party challenger, former US senator and prosecutor, Vice President Harris, ran on pro-abortion platform, railing against alleged price gouging while promising (like Trump) to urge Congress to reduce taxes and help with the cost of childcare.

Yet, the campaign was clearly wild and weird in the sense that it relegated good manners and taste and exhibited willful and puerile hatred and divisions. It showcased mundane democratic pretentions, falling from the trumpeted American democratic ideals.

It also had stories alien to the American electoral process, including ballot boxes being set on fire with incendiary devices. Also, racist and misogynistic comments were spewed while undocumented immigrants from Hispanic, Asian and Black American communities were demonised and painted as murderers, rapists and animals. They were labelled as imported criminals from the “dungeons of the third world”, including prisons and insane asylums – and resettling them in the country “to prey upon innocent American citizens.”

Trump vowed before his massive crowd of supporters to deliver a “strong, safe, and richer America.” We are going to secure our borders immediately. No illegal immigrants will be allowed to enter this country. We will cut taxes and bring prosperity to American families,” he affirmed, stressing financial relief for working and middle-class Americans.

Globally, Trump declared his intention to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas-Lebanon conflict, stating: “I would not start a war; I will end one.”

We at Daily Trust join in congratulating President Trump and his party for winning a clear mandate to redefine the direction of their country. There is no doubt that this is a new era for America’s 248-year-old democracy. And this will have multiple effects on Nigeria and the entire world, especially as Trump moves to put to work his agenda of “America First.”

We also implore the president-elect and his party to continue the very American tradition of diversity in the appreciation of the cultures, religions, languages, skin colours, races and gender. They must ensure that democracy in America is not rigged to benefit small, cruel, fantastically rich elites.

The US must find ways of removing deliberate disinformation and narratives alleging election fraud even when voting had not started. After all, with this just ended election cycle, there is so much to unlearn from the world’s leading democratic nation.

We also urge Americans to maintain the energy and resilience that has been part of their democratic identity and brand, and also ensure that in the next round of elections, the symptoms of electoral issues prevalent in developing countries are absent. America must strive to boost its democratic credentials in order to continue to stand as an example worthy of emulation and inspiration.