Why Trump fits America’s moment

The impact of US President Donald Trump’s first month into his second presidency has already surpassed that of his entire first term. One important reason for this is that Elon Musk’s team has been aggressively scrutinising the spending of numerous US federal government agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Defense (DoD). He has publicly exposed many instances of extravagant expenditure and drastically streamlined the USAID, cutting and freezing its funding. In a sense, these actions will change the future trajectory of the US and the world.

Having lived in the US for 35 years, I have experienced the presidencies of George H. W. Bush (one term), Bill Clinton (two terms), George W. Bush (two terms), Barack Obama (two terms), Donald Trump (first term), Joe Biden (one term), and now Trump’s second term. With the exception of the Bush family and Biden, all of these presidents campaigned as outsiders, promising to clean up corruption in Washington. But none of them fulfilled their campaign promises after they were elected, ultimately becoming part of the very corruption they pledged to eradicate.

During his first term, Trump merely made a show of making changes, but did not fundamentally alter anything. As a calm observer, I never had any expectations for the US presidential elections. This is why I voted for Trump the first time but chose not to vote for him again the second time. 

This time, the actions of the Trump administration utterly surprised me. The corruption within the US government is deep-seated and complex, entangled and intertwined with vested interests. Without the courage to make drastic sacrifices, breakthroughs are difficult to achieve. By exposing the USAID’s spending, Trump and Musk have likely undermined the entrenched interests — and disrupted the careers — of numerous influential politicians.

And this is the fundamental reason why truly meaningful reforms are so rarely successful throughout history. Such dramatic reforms often either die before they can be implemented or result in the downfall of those who attempt them. At least four US presidents were assassinated throughout history, and Trump has already survived an assassination attempt. Many Americans also predict that Trump and Musk will not meet a good end. But these predictions did not deter or stop Trump and Musk.

For a long time, USAID has been spending tens of billions of dollars annually to allegedly fuel unrest in other countries and regions, such as various protests in Hong Kong, the 2014 coup in Ukraine, and globally supporting over 700 media outlets and more than 6,200 journalists. The purpose of fuelling such unrest was purportedly to spread rumours and discredit US adversaries. For example, Cold War relics like the Voice of America — which consumes vast sums of money annually — are allegedly dedicated to discrediting China. It was also alleged that the USAID was involved in the creation and spread of the coronavirus, and later blamed China for it. 

Musk has publicly exposed these so-called top-secret national interests, aggressively freezing the funding for these agencies. This will undoubtedly have a massive impact on our world. Without agencies like USAID, the world will be a much more peaceful place. 

The US government has tried for years to audit the DoD, but it has all come to nothing due to the military’s immense power. This time, the audit conducted by Musk’s team revealed various corrupt practices within the defence department that shocked Americans. For instance, coffee cups were described as costing over a thousand dollars apiece, while a bag of bushings was said to cost tens of thousands of dollars. 

Republicans typically support increasing military spending, and most people thought that Trump would be no exception. But this time, Trump decided to cut military spending by 8%, defying expectations. This is also a good thing for the world. America’s defence spending dwarfs all other countries, exceeding the combined spending of the next ten countries combined. The country’s sky-high military expenditure not only wastes the people’s wealth but also poses a severe challenge to world peace. Since the end of the Second World War, over 200 military conflicts have occurred worldwide, with the US being involved in over 80% of them. The US cutting its defence spending benefits America’s financial situation and also promotes world peace.

Another of Trump’s major achievements is negotiating with Russia to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The former Obama and Biden administrations wanted to make use of the Russia-Ukraine war to weaken Russia, resulting in significant casualties and property damage on both sides. But because of the Biden administration’s support, Ukraine refused to negotiate an end to the conflict despite its inability to resist Russia’s attack. 

But Trump swiftly took action as soon as he assumed office, bypassing Ukraine and Europe to negotiate directly with Russia and largely meeting Russia’s demands. There is hope that hostilities between Russia and Ukraine will stop, which will significantly contribute to world peace.

Musk believes that he can save the US government US$2 trillion. Someone suggested that Trump could take 20% of the US$2 trillion that Musk claims he can save — which amounts to US$400 billion — and distribute it to American households in the form of a US$5,000 rebate. It was reported that Trump welcomes the idea. If this measure is eventually implemented, it would have a significant impact on easing the US’s inflationary pressure and improving the lives of lower- and middle-income households. These effects will boost the Republican Party’s popularity across various demographics.

I interviewed many lower-class Americans, and both Republicans and Democrats expressed support for Trump’s actions over the past month, particularly his funding freeze of organisations such as USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy. Most of them think that it is better to spend money on improving the lives of citizens than on discrediting other countries. Trump and Musk’s actions will reshape the political landscape not only of American society but also of the rest of the world.

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