Trump’s Authoritarianism Has Already Reshaped Western Politics

Over the last week, the newly incumbent Trump administration has both reshaped the domestic politics of the United States and also those of the western world, as his onslaught of authoritarian executive orders issued over his first days in office have laid divisive foundations for the next four years, and ultimately, this transformation is likely to be long-lasting.

This shift towards far-right politicking in the US, which is already underway in parts of Europe, is likely to influence western nations in general, as isolationism, closed borders and the reinstatement of conservative Christian values becomes de rigueur.

US president Trump has signed off on dozens of executive orders that clampdown on undocumented immigrants, immigration in general, tighten free trade, with a view towards a pending severe tariff regime, and have continued to chip away at diverse minority rights that have been won over the past half century.

The new administration’s “America First” stance also reveals a shift in once cordial US relationships with other nations that’s likely to expand exponentially over time, as even before his inauguration last Monday, Trump was spruiking annexing Canada, acquiring Greenland, by force if necessary, as well as making a determination to retake the Panama Canal.

Australia is, of course, joined at the hip to US foreign policy. The safe-for-the-present AUKUS agreement guarantees this, and it also facilitates ongoing and increasing encroachments of US military presence on this continent, which might be of benefit to a Trump America. And the closed border and anti-diversity outlook of the new US is already well established in Australian politics.

US borders are closed

Trump has threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and such plans are said to have commenced this week, targeting criminal elements, but nothing extraordinary has yet taken place.

The US president has, however, declared an emergency in terms of an invasion at the nation’s southern border, with the appropriate actions to be taken being those that serve to “repel, repatriate or remove” aliens. And in a break from the long-held position of limiting the use of the military in the domestic arena, a directive has permitted military staff to act as immigration officers.

Refugee arrivals have been suspended, as has an official government resettlement program. Trump has also signed an order to prevent birthright citizenship, as per the US Constitution, so that children born in the US do not automatically become citizens if their parents are undocumented. But this has since been suspended by the courts, as legal challenges of this measure are underway.

Trump has further prioritised construction of the part-built southern border wall, the creation of Homeland Security forces to operate in states to identify criminal immigrants, the requirement to take DNA and fingerprint samples of immigration detainees, a review of all migrants living under “temporary protected status” and a directive to threaten countries that won’t accept returnees.

Making America great again

During his first presidency, Trump stacked the US Supreme Court with ultraconservative judges, so that six of the nine justices are of a conservative ilk, and as appointments to these positions last for a lifetime, right-wing-leaning decisions are guaranteed for decades to come. And this arrangement is what led to the 2022 reversal of the US federal right to an abortion.

In terms of attacks on minority rights over the last week, Trump has signed executive orders that end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which require government to hire a diverse workforce, and all federal officers in their position due to DEI appointments have been placed on immediate suspension pending termination.

Trump has reversed all Biden administration racial and ethnic equity and LGBTIQ rights directives. These include preventing government discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, encouraging inclusion in schools, ending educational initiatives for Native Americans, Hispanics and Black people, along with terminating the inclusion of LGBTIQ persons in the military.

A directive has been ordered stipulating that the US government only officially recognises two sexes, which will include markings on identification documents. Trump has ended government gender policies and educational provisions for transgender people. And transgender women will no longer be detained in women’s prisons or sections of immigration detention centres.

America first foreign affairs

Instead of entering the White House and issuing an official ban on certain Muslim countries of the Global South, as he did in 2017, or threatening a nation like North Korea, Trump has instead taken aim at his nation’s NATO allies, as well as threatening the countries on either side of the US border and pledging to seize territory belonging to nations not usually framed as US opponents.

In terms of foreign affairs directives, Trump has issued an order that all foreign policy puts America first, he’s paused US foreign development aid pending a review, he’s reversed Biden directives sanctioning far-right Israeli settler groups, redesignated the Yemini Houthis as terrorists, and he’s tossed out Biden’s initiative to place restrictions on AI.

Trump has ordered a review of US international trade arrangements with a view to a new tariff regime, which will especially target China, and he’s established an agency to deal with tariffs. The new president has also called for a re-evaluation of the NAFTA trade treaty with Canada and Mexico, ahead of renewed negotiations next year.

The US president is also threatening to impose new tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods from 1 February onwards, with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent, whilst he’s too cited the imposition of a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods.

A further move that is set to impact dramatically on the US domestically but will also have implications on the global scene is the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency. The head of this department is set to be tech billionaire Elon Musk, and it will have the neoliberal agenda of cutting back government, which is sure to send shockwaves through the US social sector.

A brave new authoritarian world

Australia has been following the United States on the foreign stage since the end of World War II. Since 2014, successive Australian governments have been allowing Washington to install its military presence and ultimate control over military installations across this continent, and our country usually climbs on board to join any foreign conflict the White House desires.

Foreign minister Penny Wong was at president Trump’s inauguration on Monday, so she would have witnessed  Musk’s notorious Nazi salutes.

Wong’s presence at the event, ahead of a meeting with incoming US secretary of state Marco Rubio, is now being spruiked as a sign of Australian strength, while, when asked about Trump’s plans to take the Panama Canal and Greenland, defence minister Richard Marles said a lot of things, but he ultimately refrained from suggesting our nation would not be a part of such military ventures. 

And Trump’s antiimmigration, anti-LGBTIQ and anti-diversity stance will further have implications for the Australian setting, as these positions have long been held by ultraconservative Liberal National parliamentarians in this country, and they especially ring true for potential next Australian prime minister Peter Dutton.