RICHARD HAASS
We are barely 100 days into US President Donald Trump’s second term, but much is already clear. Trump 2.0 is starkly different: more confident and surrounded by a team determined to implement a far more sweeping agenda. Those staffing the administration – amplifiers more than restrainers, enablers more than guardrails – spent the past four years preparing for this moment.
Trump 2.0 is an activist, imperial presidency, at home and abroad. He seems to be everywhere, dominating public space and private conversations alike in much of the world. The contrast with his predecessor President Joe Biden could not be starker.
The administration’s principal policy goal thus far has been to make good on Trump’s campaign pledge to secure the United States’ southern border. But import tariffs – an across-the-board 10% baseline levy, plus additional country-specific tariffs, reaching 145% in China’s case – have become the defining initiative of his presidency.
Foreign policy is also substantially changed. The US has shifted from being a steadfast supporter of Ukraine to tilting decidedly in Russia’s favor. The shift appears to be motivated by a clear dislike for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and an embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin for reasons unknown.
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