Editorial: Living in interesting times

The creators of award winning TV dramas like The West Wing, House of Cards, and Veep, might not have envisioned the phoenix-like rise from the ashes of Donald J Trump, who took charge as its 47th US President in his second innings on Monday. Political commentators are now attempting to gauge the pulse of what is being touted as the beginning of the golden age of America. True to expectations, the Oval Office occupant did not disappoint as he embarked on a deft exercise of inscribing his John Hancock on a slew of executive orders that sent shockwaves down the spines of the liberal, left, and progressive Democrats who knew this day was coming.

The MAGA cheerleader got to work on his poll promises by issuing executive orders involving big ticket measures to crack down on illegal immigration, while dismantling diversity initiatives in the federal government. Declaring the nation's southern periphery as a war zone, Trump announced a national emergency on the US border with Mexico to enable the deployment of troops to stem the invasion of illegal immigrants into the US. He has vowed to deport millions of undocumented aliens, a war cry that has struck terror in the hearts of the Indian diaspora as well, which has an unenviable quantum of illegals working in the US.

Indians comprise the third largest group of undocumented immigrants in the US, numbering around 7.25 lakh people, coming right behind Mexico (at 4 mn) and El Salvador (at 7.5 lakh people). Legal experts in the immigration space estimate that there are 13.3 mn undocumented persons in the US. Deporting them will cost up to 4.2-6.8% of the US GDP, while deporting 1 mn of them would cost the US $88 bn annually. In the event of their eventual deportation, the US will need to hire anywhere between 2.2 lakh to 4 lakh new employees. So it's probably one of those tasks that's easier said than done. However, Trump is not one to be backed by such 'inconsequential' metrics as it is his wont to bulldoze ahead with his America First agenda.

It might be recalled that last time around in 2017, during his first week as president, Trump had signed orders temporarily suspending the refugee programme, reduced their intake, and denied visas to citizens hailing from seven predominantly Muslim nations. Trump’s radical advances — withdrawing America from the WHO, washing the US’s hands off the landmark Paris climate agreement, undoing decades worth of worldwide efforts to combat global warming, rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes within the federal government — is all transpiring at a moment when a huge chunk of corporate America is bending over backwards to endear itself to the new president. The attendance of Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk only underscore how deeply the idea of a new America is set to be entrenched in the philosophies of such corporations.

With regard to India, Trump is expected to maintain a transactional approach, having threatened to slap a 100% tariff on BRICS member nations. His dedication towards the QUAD initiative might turn out to be a wait and watch game, considering how Trump’s key focus area is reducing America’s role as a moderator of global conflicts. With Trump’s reascension, we can rest assured that we’ll be living in interesting times.