Trump unbound: America braces for wild, dark comeback

by Danny KEMP

Buckle up: Donald Trump returns to the White House next week for a second term that promises to be even more volatile -- and hard-line -- than his roller-coaster first presidency.

Buoyed by his historic political comeback, the billionaire Republican has shown no sign of changing the bombastic style that shook the United States and the world from 2017 to 2021.

"If you liked Trump One, you're going to love Trump Two," Peter Loge, the director of George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, told AFP.

For all the talk of a more disciplined Trump, the 78-year-old -- who will become the oldest person ever sworn in on January 20 -- appears to be much the same mercurial figure as last time around.

Before even setting foot back in the Oval Office, he has spoken of a new "golden age" even as he vows retribution against opponents and the media, and pledges the mass deportation of illegal migrants.

Trump has also set off alarm bells around the globe, issuing outlandish territorial threats against US allies and stoking fears that he will throw Ukraine under the bus to win a peace deal with Russia.

"Trump's character is fundamentally the same," said David Greenberg, professor of history and journalism at Rutgers University.

"What we can expect to see is more of the unexpected."

- New normal -

But if anything, Trump 2.0 is set to be even more powerful, and more extreme.

A Trump presidency shocked many in 2016, but is now the new normal. Big tech and big business have rallied behind the man they largely shunned in his first term.

Crucially Elon Musk, the world's richest man and boss of the increasingly right-wing X social media platform, is at Trump's side.

"Everybody wants to be my friend," the president-elect said in December.

Many of the guardrails around Trump four years ago are gone, with diehard loyalists replacing the so-called "adults in the room" who tried to moderate his worst instincts.

The Republican Party is firmly behind him in a way that wasn't the case last time. The US House of Representatives and Senate are both in Republican hands -- albeit with a tiny majority in the House -- and few dare even murmur dissent.

"Trumpism is the Republican Party today," said Jon Rogowski of the University of Chicago, adding that Trump was now "more palatable to a wider range of the political spectrum."

Trump's stunned critics have largely fallen mute during the transition.

The once fervent accusations of "fascism" and authoritarianism have dimmed while even President Joe Biden, who described Trump as a "threat to democracy," has toned down his rhetoric.

Barely mentioned for now is the way Trump ended his first term -- in disgrace after his election-denying supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 -- or the fact that he will be the first convicted felon to be president.

But former special counsel Jack Smith delivered a parting rebuke early Tuesday, in a report detailing Trump's alleged criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election result that saw Biden win.

The report said Trump would have been convicted at trial had Smith not dropped the case after the Republican was elected president in November last year.

- 'Professional wrestling' -

Trump will start his second term in a hurry, knowing that he's limited to four more years -- even if he has mused about a constitution-breaking third term.

He is expected to sign around 100 executive actions in his first hours in office, possibly including pardons for some of the January 6 rioters.

Trump's first months are likely to focus on immigration and the economy, his electoral strong points, while Musk will lead efforts to gut the federal government.

Trump has also picked an uncompromisingly controversial -- and rich -- cabinet, including the vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.

On the world stage, Trump is more provocative than ever. He has refused to rule out military action against strategic Greenland and Panama, while threatening US trading partners and neighbors Canada and Mexico with huge tariffs.

Conversely, Trump says he wants talks with the leaders of Russia and China, strongmen he has long openly admired.

The question is just how seriously Trump's threats should be taken.

"A really good metaphor for President Trump is professional wrestling," said Loge. "The point is not the sport, the point is the spectacle."

This time around, the world may be more ready to deal with him, Loge added.

"In the first Trump administration people responded to the spectacle. This time we may be responding more to the sport."

© Agence France-Presse