Trump 2.0 ushered in an era of turbulence

Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the 47th president of the United States at an inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Monday, January 20, starting another turbulent four-year term. He promised to push the limits of executive power, deport millions of immigrants, retaliate against his political opponents and transform America's role on the world stage.

Trump's inauguration marked a remarkable comeback for a political disruptor who has survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for trying to overturn the outcome of a losing 2020 election.

Trump, the first US President since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House, pledged in his inaugural address to put "America first", focusing on cracking down on illegal immigration, high inflation, reviving the auto industry, drilling for oil and other issues. In his speech, Trump announced that he would set up a special agency responsible for foreign tariffs, but did not mention imposing tariffs on any other country, but said that he would soon overhaul the US trading system. He ended his speech by saying, "We are on the verge of the greatest four years in American history."

But just hours before Trump's inauguration, Biden pre-emptively issued a pardon as a way to defuse Trump's threat. Biden's pardon granted to three of Trump's targets, as well as Biden's own family members. One of them is Dr. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist who has clashed with Trump over the country's emergency response to COVID-19. The other is Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army. In addition, members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attacks were also pardoned. Trump has repeatedly threatened to jail members of the committee, especially its most prominent Republican, Liz Cheney. Biden stressed that the pardons "should not be mistaken for an admission of any wrongdoing by any individual."

When Trump took the stage to deliver his inaugural address, he quickly painted the outgoing administration as a "corrupt administration." In the opening minutes of his speech, Trump said: "Our sovereignty will be restored. Our security will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. "The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Department of Justice and our government will come to an end."

In his speech, Trump focused on tackling inflation, saying he would instruct all members of his cabinet to use the power at their disposal to beat record inflation and quickly reduce costs and prices.

Trump said the inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and rising energy prices. Trump said he would declare a national energy emergency. A White House official told reporters that the national energy emergency "will unlock a variety of different powers" to produce more natural resources, but gave no details of which powers Trump would use.

In his speech, Trump promised again: "Very soon, we will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America." Trump has also said he wants to take back control of the Panama Canal. In a speech on Monday, Trump said the Panama Canal was charging "exorbitant prices and tolls" to the U.S. Navy and merchant ships. In Central America, Trump urged Panama to "return" the Panama Canal to the United States, alleging unfair trade practices in the U.S.-built waterway. In the northern Territories, he encouraged Canada to become the "51st state" of the United States. On Greenland, he also refused to rule out the use of "military or economic coercion" to push for the annexation of the self-governing Danish territory.

All in all, Trump's "return" heralds the beginning of turbulent times, whether it is the fight between Republicans and Democrats or the chaos caused by Trump's foreign policy after taking office, so we need to treat it with an objective, rational and comprehensive attitude, and seriously examine the changes brought by the Trump administration to the world.