A Nightmare Dressed in Daydream

Trump 2.0's chaotic first 90 days, which have been marked by sweeping executive orders, economic shockwaves, tariff wars, and rising oligarchic control, have evidently pushed the US and the world into a realm of policy uncertainty and financial volatility

- DIPANKAR DEY

The first 90 days of the Trump 2.0 administration can be described as a phase of 'uncertainty', 'inconsistency', and 'turmoil' for the global economy in general, and the USA in particular. During this period, President Trump signed 126 executive orders, more than any other president had signed in their first 100 days in office. The orders focus on reversing policies from the Biden administration and implementing his own agenda.

Here are a few examples: (i) rescission of 78 Biden-era executive actions (this order reverses numerous policies related to immigration, climate change and racial equity established by the previous administration), (ii) ending birthright citizenship, (iii) National Emergency declaration at the southern border, (iv) restoration of the federal death penalty, (v) suspension of refugee admissions, (vi) easier removal of underperforming federal workers, (vii) delaying TikTok ban enforcement, (viii) strict enforcement of immigration laws, (ix) cutting off foreign aid, (x) withdrawal from the WHO and Paris Climate agreement, (xi) recognizing only two genders, and (xii) introducing reciprocal import tariffs.

Method in Madness

Immediately after resuming office on January 20, President Trump initiated a trade war on a global scale to Make America Great Again (MAGA). On April 2, which he dubbed as the 'Liberation Day', the Trump administration announced the imposition of new tariffs on virtually all its trading partners (a 10 per cent tariff applied to imports from 180 countries plus a "reciprocal" tariff component proportional to each country's bilateral trade imbalance with the US). This sweeping increase in tariffs constituted the most extensive US tariff hike since 1930.