The Gag order on Public Service agencies! Abortion laws to
be pared down! Immigrants to be vetted rigorously! Obamacare to be scaled down!
The Great Wall to be built! Climate Action dumbed down! People coming from 7
Islamic nations to be deported!
Many ups and downs..that’s how the 15 day CV would look of
the 45th President of United States of America, Mr. Donald J Trump.
The man is delivering on his manifesto promises and how! He
has just taken office (20th of January 2017) and is already creating
ripples especially in US foreign policy. His Presidency, which began with a
Hitleresque inauguration speech - with the pumping of arms and chants of
“Making America Great Again - was indeed expected to be packed with punches.
But, Trump has pulled them all a bit too soon. He is riding the great bald
eagle and swerving the nation away from globalization towards a more inward
looking economy. We all smell protectionism by the way.
Let’s take a sneak peek into Donald Trump’s explosive populist
measures which were also a part of his manifesto.
Explosion 1:
First of all, he signed on the “Build the Wall on Texas –
Mexico border”, within a day of taking office. The fallout? Mexicans are
feeling discriminated against by their fellow Americans; Mexico President,
Enrique Pena Nieto has refused to pay for the wall; and the meeting that was
supposed to take place between him and Donald Trump has been called following
the abominable Wall-decision.
Explosion 2:
Trump on day two decided to move against all pro-abortion
laws and has threatened all Planned Parenthood institutions with stopping
Healthcare funding if they promote abortion. The Fallout? There are many
lawyers who have started taking up causes of abortion of unwanted pregnancies
in court.
Explosion 3:
Certain government agencies have been issued the gag order,
i.e. to cut down on publishing of content especially on Twitter. The order has
been specifically pointed towards the scientists working for the Environmental Protection
Agency, now that Trump wants to pare down usage of words like Climate action,
Global warming, etc.. The Fallout? Closed door discussions on curtailment of
Freedom of Speech have sprung up.
Explosion 4:
Scale down the affordable Healthcare services started in
March 2010 by former President Barrack Obama, and nicknamed Obamacare, that’s
the ongoing mantra for Republicans. The party is having multiple closed door
meetings, trying to figure out ways to bring down the Affordable Healthcare
services. The Fallout? This is going to impact millions of middle class
Americans, and many have hit the streets in protest.
Explosion 5: And
the worst and which created chaos at the airports of US:
Trump passed an order on 28th of January 2017, refusing
entry into US territory of all immigrants and refugees from seven Islamic
nations, namely Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Libya and Sudan.
Many people
from these nations who have long settled in US, and who were on their way back
to US after a holiday back home, were detained at the airports on the 29th
of January 2017. The Fallout? It was only after massive demonstrations outside
airports and the Supreme Court interventions on a Sunday that the immigrants
were allowed to leave customs and enter US territory.
What we are witnessing
is impulsive foreign policy maneuvers which are rather radical in their
character. And one hopes that Indians do not get caught in the Trump Hurricane.
By:
Monica Mor
Sr. Faculty, INLEAD
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