Trump's new letter shows plan to return US to 'darkest past': analyst

President Donald Trump's new letter to naturalised U.S. citizens hints at his disturbing agenda for America, according to Salon's Chauncey DeVega.

Trump's letter, released on Sept. 17, tells migrants they are taking an oath to "forge a sacred bond with our Nation, her traditions, her history, her culture and her values."

Whereas other presidents in their letters traditionally celebrated a "hopeful and inclusive vision" of what it means to be an American — premised on shared ideals, not creed and fixed attributes — Trump's letter strikes a very different tone, wrote DeVega.

"He is, symbolically and ideologically, the country’s first White president, and his understanding of what it means to be an American is very different from his predecessors," he said.

Trump’s letter reflects how he is "growing in power as the country’s first White President," wrote DeVega, with the president not celebrating the contributions migrants have made to America, but stressing their obligations to America, and what America has given them.

"The letter must be understood as part of a revolutionary right-wing political and social project: One where a real American is white and patriotism means loyalty to Trump and his MAGA movement. Nonwhite people can aspire to that identity, but their acceptance is conditional on aligning with Whiteness and its norms," writes DeVega.

DeVega pointed to other aspects of Trump's agenda that illustrate his commitment to xenophobic nationalism, such as his hardline migration policy, his attempts to "whitewash" American history to downplay the achievements of Black and Brown Americans, and the recent UN summit speech, where he railed against migration.

"In total, Trumpism models limited, circumscribed versions of citizenship and political belonging known as blood and soil nationalism, where 'racial stock' determines human worth, rights and citizenship," DeVega wrote.

DeVega argued that Trump's policies are part of a deeper history of racism, including slavery, violence and discrimination towards non-whites, and polices in the 1920s that banned non-white migrants and restricted citizenship to white people.

"Trump’s letter, his UN address and other policies are daily affirmations that he and his MAGA allies are seeking to return us to the country’s darkest past. In their eyes, being a real American means being the right kind of white American," wrote DeVega.