Introduction:
The feeling of impending doom has been bestowed upon the citizens of the United States as Donald Trump Retakes office for a 2nd term this year. According to PBS news, 49% of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing while 56% think that the changes he is making are done without consideration of the impact. Yet, his decisions keep shocking the world, which has had a detrimental effect on the financial market, the economy, and now the social conditions of people locally and internationally. His decisions clearly lack a sustainable direction and a critically thought out plan, especially after the effects of COVID-19 on the economy of the US and its impact on the living conditions of workers and low income people. But what does this mean for the US hegemony around the world? It is clear that the state of the world is beyond late stage capitalism and now is in a stage of capitalism called “Trump Stage Capitalism”.
The Reigniting of the US Trade War:
Trump has re-ignited the US-China trade war with a twist this time. Now it includes the countries of Mexico and Canada. The total tariff imposed is around 25% on various goods such as steel and aluminum and timber, and items coming from countries such as China, Mexico and Canada and EU. This will not go well for the US industry considering that the US depends solely on aluminum and steel imports from its neighbors and abroad. However, it doesn’t end here tariffs are a levy on imported goods from foreign countries but are also considered a shadow tax according to economists, this is the problem the trade wars: it doesn’t only affect the country being targeted (arguably) but it also hurts the consumer significantly by increasing the living cost and it puts workers out of a job. According to Fulcrum, approximately 292,000 jobs are projected to be lost; and an increase in living cost between 1600-2000$ per household annually. On the other side however, China has a multitude of importers it can benefit from such as Brazil when it comes to agricultural imports. It has taken several measures to shield from the tariffs, such as retaliation and lessening dependence on US imports, which has been the case where the total of imports from the US have been reduced from 7.23% in 2018 to 6.59 in 2022.
Moreover, the claim is that the measures taken against Canada and Mexico were intended to target the flow of drugs and illegal migration to the USA. However, the flow of fentanyl to the USA from Mexico has been declining despite being at worrying levels.
The Healthcare Fiasco:
Trump’s pick for health secretary is a controversial figure, and that is RFK Jr, the son of RFK Sr. and a close relative of the late president John F. Kennedy. He is known to be an anti-vaccination “activist” who has stated that vaccines cause autism in an interview with FOX news, and denied that AIDS comes from HIV in an interview with New York magazine and in his book “The Real Anthony Fauci”. He also seeks to remove fluoride, which is an important mineral in tap water to prevent tooth decay, which he claims causes IQ loss and disease. In addition, he took his advocacy for anti-vaccination abroad to the Pacific Island of Samoa after a series of improperly prepared vaccinations that caused the spread of measles RFK took the opportunity to fear monger against the use of vaccines against measles, which led to parents fearing the vaccine, avoiding vaccinating their child and blaming the outbreak of the measles not on low vaccination rates, but on the spread of the virus from vaccinated to unvaccinated children. He later denied responsibility for his role in the measles outbreak in an interview in 2021.
The wave of skepticism and fear mongering came under scrutiny when Trump was sworn in and in a hearing for his health secretary position where RFK Jr. denied his anti-vaccination claims, despite there being overwhelming evidence for it across the internet.
RFK has sworn to advocate for public health risks, such as increasing more access to raw milk which is known to cause diseases like tuberculosis and e-coli, and lowering FDA involvement in regulating food standards and manufacturing qualities. All these policies can seriously jeopardize millions of Americans, especially the youth, not only in terms of health but in terms of general awareness of what goes on in their plates and in their bodies.
The National Socialist Party of Tesla Inc.:
Elon Musk is the pick for the Department of Government Efficiency (AKA DOGE), which is arguably the most redundant organization there is, knowing that the existence of congress and the supreme court can dictate whether a governmental agency in the US is doing its job efficiently. Though it has also been acting without transparency and has a very narrow agenda in relation to its true job in, which it is vague. Furthermore, questionable decisions such as requesting access to critical information for taxpayers has been blocked, thankfully, by federal judges.
Yet it doesn’t stop at DOGE. Elon himself is at the center of controversy for several actions, which notably include doing the Nazi salute. Moreover, transphobic comments regarding pronouns and allowing bigoted groups to prevail on twitter after his acquisition of twitter, which led to a surge of anti-Semitism and racist rhetoric on the platform. This is quite surprising considering there was a history of tweets where Elon has been supportive of the LGBTQ+ Community. He also endorses far right groups such as AFD, an extremist group in Germany by going as far as appearing in a gathering where he tells the supporters to not be ashamed of their countries history and to move past it, knowing the dark history of Germany under Nazi rule.
Worse still, Trump has told his cabinet that Musk and DOGE will be carefully watching them. All this points towards a blatant corporate fascism growing in the USA.
Foreign Policy: The Boiling Pot in The Middle East; The Betrayal of Ukraine
Trump has stated that he wants Iran to be the greatest country in the world but one that cannot have a nuclear weapon in a post on Truth Social. He also warmongers about blowing Iran to smithereens with crucial allies in the middle east and seeks to drive Iranian Oil exports to zero. Now, Trump has stated that he has sent Iran a letter urging them to negotiate a nuclear weapons deal. However, the Iranian government said there will be no negotiations as long the maximum pressure policy continues. This creates a boiling pressure pot which could push the middle east into an abyss of proxy wars, and imperialistic interventions especially in the Levant.
Furthermore, Trump has turned his back on Ukraine, with him and his vice president JD Vance scorching Zelensky for being “Moralistic garbage” and accused him of being unthankful to the US, thus leading to the Ukrainian delegation being asked to leave amid the shouting that ensued. This comes after the mineral deal which gives the USA access to the mineral deposits of Ukraine under the pretense of “Reconstructing the country” and setting up a fund to do so. This comes under skepticism knowing the nature of such deals usually have a catch, and all of these actions are typical of the USA turning its back on its “Allies”. Yet the U.S would give military aid worth millions and billions towards The Zionist entity so it can bomb civilians and fund a genocide in the middle east.
Conclusion:
It is unclear where the world is heading under the Trump administration, but what is clear is that the Trump administration lacks direction and consideration for the impact of its policies on people. Instead, it focuses on populist agenda, which has often failed in the past, from gun control to the first Trade war in 2016. The future of the working class and marginalized groups lie under the mercy of the new administration. This stage is what I now call “Trump Stage Capitalism”, for it is a new form of acceleration of the inevitable downfall of capitalism due to its contradictions and destruction wherever it is applied.
Edited by Sahar Allabban and Amin Kharrat