Happy birthday, Mr President

Traditional resistance seems futile in the face of Trump Mark II. But a loose coalition within the US is beginning to gain traction - and a gauge of opposition will come on June 14.

- PAUL LITTLE

“If you want to restore order, you need a sovereign - a king, a CEO, someone who actually owns the country and is responsible for it.” – Curtis Yarvin, US political theorist.

“A president is not a king unless we bow.” – Reverend William Barber, prominent civil rights leader.

Donald Trump's second shot at governing the US – or third if you include his dominance of political discussion during the Biden interregnum – began with a blitzkrieg of authoritarian measures so scattershot and rapid fire that to list them all here would leave room for not much more than the picture credits. The assault was notable not only for the belligerent force with which it was pursued, but also for the apparent lack of resistance, organised or otherwise, with which it was met. The victims of the assault seemed stunned into inaction. Where, the rest of the world wondered as it looked on in dismay, was the opposition as the president and his henchmen made a mockery of laws, logic and basic human decency?

But signs of opposition are growing, with a day of public protest on June 14 and authoritative bodies from the courts and universities to corporates lining up to resist the President's agenda.

Joe Guinan, president of the Democracy Collaborative, “a think-do tank” focused on building “system change”, says the slow response to Trump is partly explained by the difference between his two administrations. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. In 2024, Kamala Harris did not. The latter result was democratically more acceptable, and “there’s a much more die-hard, determined and extreme agenda and collection of actors in the second Trump administration. Part of what they are relying on is a widespread climate of fear at the economic and political fusion of billionaire resources with the powers of the state.”