Watching the collapse of the “world’s greatest democracy”?
If not (and who could blame you?), here’s a quick rundown of what the second Trump administration has done – or plans to do – so far. Every claim here is verifiable with a quick search.
Foreign Policy
Trump pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation (again), boycotted the G20, and imposed a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium. He called Ukraine’s president – a former comedian turned war hero – a “dictator” and openly sided with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, a stunning reversal of US policy.
Environment
He withdrew from the Paris climate accords, froze clean energy funding, revoked Biden’s offshore drilling ban and expanded fossil fuel production in Alaska. Programs aimed at reducing pollution or helping affected communities have been dismantled and all references to “climate change” erased from government websites.
Domestic Policy
Trump eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government and removed LGBTQIA+ people, women, Indigenous groups and disability rights from the State Department’s human rights report.
He plans to gut the National Institutes of Health, devastating medical research and impacting global programs, including in Australia, where researchers have already been questioned on DEI and climate views. Cuts may hinder efforts to combat bird flu (driving up egg prices) and Chronic Wasting Disease, which threatens to spark a new pandemic.
Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is firing tens of thousands of federal employees across the IRS, postal service, Federal Aviation Administration, national parks and nuclear security. Some firings had to be reversed after essential services collapsed.
Trump is pushing to deport all undocumented immigrants – an estimated 11 million people – already straining industries like hospitality, construction, agriculture and childcare due to ice raids.
He signed an order to abolish the Department of Education, leaving schools to the states and proposed $800 billion in Medicaid cuts – affecting 2 in 5 children, 1 in 6 adults and 41 per cent of births.
One tragic truth is clear: America may have gone too far to reverse course. As high-profile deportations and visa denials mount, Canada, Mexico and Germany have issued travel warnings for the US. The likelihood of internal conflict grows by the day.
