“Trump and the end of the West”

It is not the least of Donald Trump's talents to force his interlocutors to speculate on what he is going to do. We know the pillars of his program, since he has never changed them – fighting against immigration, imposing customs duties, encouraging drilling, downsizing the federal state, tracking down wokism – but no one knows in what order he will proceed, at what pace and from what angle of attack. These uncertainties worry and destabilize, that’s the goal. Still, to grasp the tone of Trump's second term, the official photo of his inauguration says more than the speeches: closed face, penetrating gaze, cleverly oriented halo of light, a political version of Clint Eastwood in Inspector Harry…Message: The sheriff is back in Washington, and not joking.

Maximum pressure and exceptionalism

Donald Trump is first of all a very simple method: that of “maximum pressure”. Whatever the subject, facing adversaries or supposed allies…