America is a nation that likes its set-pieces and traditions. The inauguration of a new president is one of those moments, its pomp and ceremony intended to commemorate the peaceful transition of power – a new president is installed as his predecessors (including those of another party) look on.
It’s supposed to represent the best, most idealistic version of America, rather than its grubbier reality. Due to a combination of Covid-19 and Trump’s attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 election, much of the ceremony of Joe Biden’s inauguration was skipped – not least the part where the sitting president is present as his successor takes power.
So, this year was supposed to represent a return to normal, and Team Trump tried to play along. All of the living former presidents and vice-presidents were present, and Trump himself paid lip service to bringing America back together in an uncharacteristically low-energy speech in which he stuck to the words on his autocue.
The actual words Donald Trump said, though, show that America’s new normal is going to be nothing like what went before – especially for America’s friends and allies across the globe. While he did it with a gentle tone and with promises of bringing about peace, Trump set out a plan for a new era of the American empire.
This did not require a subtle read between the lines: Trump was overt in talking about a new era of power politics. Throughout the 19th century, the USA’s leaders invoked the concept of “manifest destiny”, a claim that it was God’s divine will for the USA to relentlessly expand across the continent – and used this principle to justify atrocities against Native Americans as they did so.
Trump openly invoked this principle in his inaugural speech, before promising his citizens that his next term would be one that brought territorial expansion for America.
Though Trump did not specifically reference either Greenland or Canada – countries he’s suggested should join the USA during his term – he made extended reference to the Panama Canal and his desire to regain it for America.
In the 21st century, democratic nations have been established on the basis of self-determination – essentially citizens get to decide their own fate, and one country cannot violate the territory of another simply because they want to expand. This is essentially the first principle of the rules-based international order.
By promising to lead a “growing America” that “expands our territory”, Trump is throwing out that principle – creating a direct and alarming threat to his allies, but also justifying the same behaviour from dictatorships. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was predicated on Vladimir Putin’s insistence that Ukraine is actually part of a greater Russian nation, while China still considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, rather than an independent nation.
Defenders of Trump have a habit of “sane-washing” his proposals. When Trump talked during the campaign of replacing income tax with tariffs on imports, talking heads would instead say that it would be sensible policy for America to launch targeted sanctions against China to protect its manufacturing base. It would, but that isn’t what Trump is actually saying. Trump’s inauguration speech proved it.
Trump's back - and this time, he has God on his side
Read MoreIn his first term, Trump promised to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. This time, he is telling Americans that the rest of the world will pay their taxes for them: “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said. “It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources.”
This is not just a pledge to introduce tariffs – but to force the USA’s allies and neighbours to pay the import taxes that Americans should be paying themselves for goods. This is the behaviour of a mafia state, a playground bully on the global stage.
The tone may have been sombre and subdued, and Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton might have been seated with him on stage as he said the words, but in his second inaugural today, Trump ripped up the ideal of America as the defender of freedoms, and embraced a new era of American empire.
The world will be watching nervously to see how much of it is followed up with action.
James Ball is the political editor at the New European
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