US President Donald Trump is a holder of many records. He’s only the second president to win a second non-consecutive term in more than a century, after Grover Cleveland in 1897.
And, yes, the 45th and 47th President signed 220 Executive Orders during his first term ending in January 2021, and a record 26 orders on his Inauguration Day for the second term.
The orders don’t need approval by Congress, but their implementation may be torpedoed by the lawmakers or they might get nullified by the court if found unconstitutional. Lawyers point out, for example, that Trump’s decree to pull the US out of the UN Health Agency (WHO) is bound to be challenged because the decision to join membership was made by Congress and should be reversed by the legislature.
But there are many deliverable orders with far-reaching repercussions given by the president, such as the 90-day freeze on foreign aid and the suspension of operations of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which might lead to its disbandment.
Many of the orders had been on Trump’s agenda since the first term and may not surprise you: the freeze on refugee admissions; deportation of millions of migrants; stoppage of funding for the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees, which was revived by President Joe Biden; enforcement of the two-genders policy; and pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Ending birthright citizenship may not be very easy because automatic Americanization of all children born on US soil is apparently provided for in the 14th Constitutional Amendment.
I’d be less worried by the new tariffs on imports from Mexico, China, Canada, and elsewhere—save for the uncalled-for trade war they’ll usher in—because they will be countered in equal measure, as already witnessed. Unfortunately, it’s the American people and citizens of the targeted countries who’ll bear the brunt of the trade wars.
As we brace for more orders and measures by the second Trump Administration, the question lingering in mind is: What drives these actions? According to President Trump, the aim is “complete restoration of America.”
You wonder, however, if cutting aid to South Africa and the imposition of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its staff are not driven by vendetta.
South Africa opened a case against Israel at the ICC last year, accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. And the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant.
Worse still, Donald Trump and some of his associates have been accused of fascist or white supremacist sympathies, which they categorically deny. These culminated in what some categorized as a Nazi or “stiff arm” salute by Elon Musk, the President’s supporter and advisor, at the January 20 inauguration.
Musk dismissed allegations that he gave a Nazi salute as a “dirty trick.” “(The) everyone is Hitler attack is sooo tired,” he posted on X.
Informed observers maintain that flat public denial is a tactic commonly used by alleged far-right sympathizers. I have a gut feeling that they will turn themselves in sooner or later.
The writer is a Media and Communication Consultant.
amkumbwa@ymail.com
