World News: President Trump, His Entourage, and Democracy

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Tuesday, 21 January 2025 07:41

Written by Olivier Longhi

The arrival of Donald Trump 2.0 in the White House raises many questions regarding international relations, longstanding allied relationships, the diversion of unified goals, and about the increasing risks that now burden democracy on a global scale.

There you go! Now, there is no need to think of it as a possibility, a possibility from the realm of the irrational. The 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump, took office after a spectacular inauguration ceremony that almost bordered on the grotesque, as the staging referred to a vulgar apology for a supposedly super-powerful America on the comeback.

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In any case, and after the incredible aspect of this inauguration, it will be necessary to deal for four years, or even more, with Donald Trump, his excesses, his excesses and his most peculiar vision of the world. Seen from Europe, the questions arise, although they did not wait until January 20 to be put forward.

Will and Confiscation

What position should we adopt in the face of the new occupant of the White House, who has announced a 25% increase in customs duties on products from Canada and Mexico? For the time being, Europe is not in Trump's sights.

But until when? If it ever is. Surely. But one thing is certain, Donald Trump's will to power combined with an almost savage liberalism itself backed by an oligarchy from the digital world does not bode well for democracy, which has already been undermined in this first quarter of the 21st century.

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The confiscation of wealth, and the power associated with it, by a handful of individuals, thus tends to create growing social imbalances capable of fostering heavy and lasting democratic crises, throwing into the arms of populism the vilest fringes of populations excluded, or having the feeling of being excluded. If this is the objective of Donald Trump and his supporters such as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, without it being achieved to date, it turns out, objectively, that all the conditions are met for it to be achieved, and this in the years to come.

Democratic Opinion and Principles

The weakness of the media or journalistic counter-powers, already caught in a vice by their editorial duties and their private financiers, deprives them, or at least limits their influence on a public opinion already suspicious of them.

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At the same time, the reluctance of many nations, especially Western ones, bound by military treaties or economic agreements, also tends to weaken the ability to react or to leapfrog the resurgent ogre across the Atlantic. Is the fight lost in advance? If it is complicated, the die is not cast.

Here again, a voluntary and courageous assertion as a continental power with a global reach may be an option. As well as a reaffirmation of democratic principles through a repositioning of societal objectives.

A concrete example would be to no longer make money an end but a means, to give back its primary place to school and knowledge and to send the Internet, social networks and artificial intelligence back to what they are: tools. The battle promises to be difficult and above all long because the troops on which Donald Trump and his supporters can count are numerous and convinced. But you never know...

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently a professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist and recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, was a press and publishing consultant, and was a communications consultant.