'Will wage war on any institution': Respected newspaper names Trump world's biggest threat

The Economist — a respected British newspaper nearly two centuries old — recently put former President Donald Trump at the top of its list of the world's greatest dangers heading into 2024.

According to Axios' summary, Economist staff said Trump presented a threat to both the United States and all over the globe. The paper reasoned that the 45th president of the United States getting elected to a second White House term would be seen as a green light for Russian President Vladimir Putin to "fight on" in Ukraine while potentially expanding his conquest to other former Eastern Bloc countries. The Economist also warned that if Trump were in office, China may attempt an invasion of Taiwan, "with catastrophic consequences," and that Trump could end up fumbling the Middle East as Iran and its proxy militias build influence.

However, the paper said the greatest danger Trump presented was in "his own country."

"Having won back power because of his election-denial in 2020, he would surely be affirmed in his gut feeling that only losers allow themselves to be bound by the norms, customs and self-sacrifice that make a nation," the Economist wrote. "In pursuing his enemies, Mr Trump will wage war on any institution that stands in his way, including the courts and the Department of Justice."

According to the Economist, Trump's foreign policy and macroeconomic policies would have a significant negative impact on the world as a whole. The paper argues that if granted a second term, Trump would almost certainly make moves to gut NATO by refusing to back countries facing Russian aggression, allowing Putin to then "pick off" countries like Moldova. Economist writers also theorize that Trump may very well pursue another package of costly tax cuts as he did in 2017, which may spike inflation and drag down global markets.

If Trump were elected president in 2024, the British paper argued that America's "moral authority" would suffer, as voters will have put him in control "while knowing the worst."

"The election will be decided by tens of thousands of voters in just a handful of states," the Economist concluded. "In 2024 the fate of the world will depend on their ballots."