Trump's return

Donald Trump has won the White House for a second term to become the 47th President of the United States. Trump, whose campaign was a great composition of trial and tribulation, surprised the pundits of doom by not only grabbing the 270 crucial Electoral College votes but also the Senate. This puts the Republicans in a commanding position, as the firebrand, impulsive and X-obsessed leader makes his way to "fix everything" in his endeavour to "Make America Great Again". Trump's choice of JD Vance as Vice President was another startling move given that the two had a history of locking horns with each other. But that roulette paid Trump in not only sweeping the urban vote but also turning the traditional Blue constituencies Red, apart from taking over most of the seven swing states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado.

Trump's "extraordinary comeback" has turned a new leaf in American political history. Like Martin Luther King-Junior, Trump too "had a plan" to outclass his critics. He was vocal on every count where a conservative society like America might choose to keep mum on: he refused to criticise Russia and Vladimir Putin; had his two cents on ending an undesired war in Ukraine; went on to snub his NATO allies for being freebooters; vowed to exit the Paris Climate accord for a second time; and hinted at bringing peace to the Middle East by calling it a day over Israel's Gaza offensive. Last but not least, his campaign reverberated in Pakistan too, as he made no qualms about his understanding with the incarcerated former prime minister, Imran Khan. That made it the writing on the wall as Mushahid Hussain Syed, former chairman of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, firmly believes that it will lead to a change on the political spectrum of Pakistan.

The New York-born ultra-rich Trump is quite un-American when it comes to issues such as abortion and immigration. He opposes a federal abortion ban calling it a state issue, but favours exceptions to the ban in case of pregnancy being caused by rape or incest. Notwithstanding the genesis of Americans being an immigrant nation, Trump has promised deportation of men in the shadows and an end to automatic citizenship for children born to immigrants illegally living in the US. But his campaign raised eyebrows as he pledged to naturalise students studying in the US for a greater professional career contributing to the US economy. Likewise, his presidency will see some unrest with Beijing as he has vowed to revoke China's "most favoured nation" trading status, leading to hike in tariff rates on many Chinese imports, and curbing foreigners' investment in energy and infrastructure.

The second non-establishment president, after John F Kennedy, has a challenge to rewrite America's foreign policy as the world slides towards multilateralism. His tendency towards quick-fix decision-making with foreign leaders will be up for a challenge as he recasts the sole superpower's priorities with the Global South and the industrialised West.