When Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025, he came as a man on a mission — a self-proclaimed saviour who promised to restore America’s greatness by reversing what he called decades of “plunder” by foreign nations and betrayal by domestic elites. His message was sharp, emotional, and divisive: America had been looted by others, invaded by outsiders, and weakened by globalists. His rallying cry — “Stop the plunder, make America win again” — became the cornerstone of his campaign and the moral justification for his economic, immigration, and security agenda.
But ten months into his presidency, that crusade appears to have collapsed under its own contradictions. His main policy weapon, tariffs, has crippled rather than strengthened the US economy. His promise to expel immigrants and Chinese students has triggered outrage, legal challenges, and civil unrest.
His use of National Guards to quell protests and enforce federal directives has been condemned by constitutional scholars as authoritarian overreach. And his deliberate targeting of Democratic-governed states with funding cuts, while rewarding Republican ones, has deepened America’s internal divide.
The second Trump presidency, which began with boasts of discipline and destiny, now stands mired in disorder and disbelief. Trump’s signature economic doctrine rested on tariffs — sweeping, unilateral duties imposed on nearly every country trading with the United States. On April 5, 2025, he invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose a 10 percent baseline tariff on virtually all imports, rising to punitive levels against countries with trade surpluses. His justification was moral as much as economic: America, he said, had been “robbed blind,” and now it was time to make offenders pay.
(Qamar Bashir)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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