The first Trump administration signalled the birth of a powerful new movement in US politics, albeit one that was often incoherent and divided. With the second Trump administration, the MAGA movement has come of age, its project is now much clearer. It represents a fundamental rupture in US politics, and Western politics more generally. What are its key characteristics?

Firstly, and most importantly, it regards China’s rise as a threat to America’s global dominance that must be defeated. The first Trump administration was responsible for the initial turn against China. In the recent tariff offensive, China was signalled out for by far the most severe treatment, with the threat of a virtual end to US-China trade. China replied in kind, the bond market got the jitters, and Trump beat a hasty retreat. The limits of a US tariff offensive against China were spelt out for the whole world to see. And the belated realisation by the Trump administration that China’s domination of rare earths, crucial in the production of many high-tech products, including military hardware, is forcing the former to compromise on its attempts to starve China of US semi-conductors.  Meanwhile, the US is seeking to bully and pressurise as many countries as it can to exclude China from their markets, especially as regards to technology. We seem to be moving remorselessly towards a world increasingly divided between China on the one hand and the US on the other.

Second, the Trump administration has turned against its post-1945 allies and is seeking to renegotiate its relationship with them on terms far more favourable to the US. The most obvious example is America’s now fraught relationship with the EU. Two dichotomies sum this up: unilateralism rather than multilateralism and America First rather than alliances. A consequence has been a political turn against America in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In contrast to the first Trump administration, there is now a very explicit intent to extend America’s territory, notably Greenland at the expense of Denmark, and the acquisition of Canada as the US’s 51st state. In post-1945 terms, this is an entirely new development, but territorial expansion by means of a combination of threatening rhetoric, cash payments, and the use of force was typical of the US’s historical expansion in the nineteenth century. 

Third, the second Trump administration, like the first, views the developing world and the Global South, with disdain, regarding it to be little more than a basket case. This view is closely linked to key domestic themes of MAGA politics, including the demonisation of immigrants from Central America, derogatory remarks about African countries, support for white South Africans and utterly false and racially-inspired accusations against the South African government, unconditional support for Israel, covert support for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, the rejection of the Black Lives Matter, and the sweeping abandonment of diversity and inclusion (including the creation of a new government department, DOGE, for that specific purpose) in the United States. A central theme of the Trump administrations, sometimes explicit, often by innuendo, has been white supremacy. The rise of MAGA marks the return with a vengeance of white supremacist attitudes. 

Fourth, the second Trump administration is opposed to the idea of climate change and the science of global warming. It is hostile to much modern medicine. It is wielding an axe to expenditure on research. It is hostile to the Ivy League universities, regarding them to be a hotbed of liberal thinking and foreign influences that are inimical to American values and traditions. The assault on Harvard University, including the attempt to micro-manage the academic curriculum, oversee academic appointments, financially hobble it, and ban international students, will turn Harvard into a pale shadow of the great world-class institution it is now. The government’s desire to turn Harvard and other great Ivy League universities like Stanford and Princeton, into much diminished institutions that are willing to do Trump’s bidding is deeply disturbing. 

 Which brings us to the fifth and final point, the increasingly authoritarian and intolerant nature of the Trump administration. The boundaries that were fundamental to the principle of the separation of powers between the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court are being systematically eroded. Since the election, the Trump administration has increasingly resorted to rule by decree thereby usurping and by-passing the role of Congress. Although a majority of the Supreme Court was appointed by the President, it too is finding its power being chipped away. The presidency is seeking to radically reform the Pentagon, and other state institutions. Foreign immigrants who are legally US citizens now live in fear that they may be summarily deported. The extraordinary mobilisation of the National Guard and its deployment in Los Angeles against the opposition of the Governor of California and LA authorities, with the objective of seeking out and arresting suspected illegal citizens, is an ominous sign of the lengths to which Trump is prepared to go to impose his will, extend his powers, and move towards a more authoritarian system of government. And never before in the modern period has government office been so open to abuse and financial exploitation by a presidency.

 The ambition is clear: to reconstruct the governing system in the image of the Trump administration and the MAGA movement; authoritarian, beholden to white supremacy, nationalist, anti-intellectual, intolerant of liberal and foreign influences, dismissive of and repressive towards political opposition. Far from making America great again, it will do untold damage to America’s influence and prestige in the world. It marks a new and corrosive stage in America’s long retreat from global power and influence. Far from being a turn outwards, it is a turn inwards. The 2008 financial crisis signalled the beginning of that crisis. It is defined by China’s rise as the global leader and America’s retreat from the global stage.