Five cumbersome legacies left by Joe Biden to Donald Trump

The president-elect takes office this Monday in the United States. Eight years after his first inauguration, Donald Trump will become the 47^e American president.

The 78-year-old Republican announces that he will act “with unprecedented speed and force.” As if he wanted to thwart his predecessor, he above all promised a flurry of decrees as soon as he took office. But what are the thorny and divisive issues that Joe Biden bequeaths to his successor? A quick overview.

TikTok, the pre-inauguration stunt

Due to lack of sufficient guarantees from the Biden administration, TikTok has made its application inaccessible in the United States on Saturdaydenouncing a law providing for heavy sanctions for technical service providers. These sanctions can reach 5,000 dollars (almost the equivalent in francs) per user for application stores which do not respect the new directives. However, just a few hours after this suspension, TikTok was reinstated on Sunday at the urging of Donald Trump.

Adopted in 2024 under the Biden administration, the text which governs this ban however offers an alternative to ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok: postponing the implementation by 90 days to find a potential buyer. “We have to save TikTok,” Donald Trump said on Sunday during a pre-inauguration meeting, marking a break with previous policy.

The president-elect has outlined a solution to the sensitive issue of the control of TikTok by Chinese interests. “I would like to see a joint company 50% controlled by Americans,” he wrote in a statement. It remains to be seen whether this approach will resolve this complex issue of the Biden era combining economic, geopolitical and digital freedom issues.

Transgender and anti-racism

Upon arriving at the White House, President Joe Biden signed an executive order stating that “all Americans who are fit to serve in the armed forces of the United States should be able to do so.” Repealing a provision requiring transgender people to serve according to their gender assigned at birth.

The tide seems to be turning with Trump’s accession to the American presidency. “With a simple stroke of a pen, from day one, we will put an end to transgender madness,” warned the president-electwho promised to “exclude transgender people” from the military and schools. “The official policy of the United States will be that there are only two genders, male and female.”

Donald Trump also promised to cut all federal funding from schools that have adopted “critical race theory.” This concept, which initially designates a stream of research, is used in a pejorative manner by conservatives to denounce teachings that raise awareness of racism.

Such a turnaround on transgender and anti-racist issues could spark protests and affect social cohesion in the United States.

Gender equality

Joe Biden made an announcement in the form of a snub to his successor, three days before his return to the White House. He declared last Friday that gender equality was now enshrined in the United States Constitution. By insisting that “the 28^e amendment becomes law in the country,” the outgoing president engaged in a debated legal interpretation, which opens the way to a battle in court.

The backdrop is the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a law passed in 1972 by the US Congress which aimed to amend the Constitution to enshrine equal rights between the sexes. The problem: conservative organizations had campaigned for years against the text and had slowed its ratification at the state level. They argued that the ERA opened the way to unisex toilets, same-sex marriage and even the conscription of women into the army.

During the Republican’s first term in 2020, the Trump administration had already opposed the inclusion of the amendment in the Constitution.

According to the “New York Times”, Joe Biden wanted to force the new Trump administration to take a position against the validity of the amendment in court. A way of anchoring the new president-elect in public opinion as a fierce opponent of the recognition of gender equality in the United States.

Oil drilling: “Drill baby, drill”

The Democratic president at the end of his term took a decision on January 6 banning any new “offshore” drilling over a maritime area of ​​more than 2.5 million square kilometers. The ban would apply to oil and gas drilling off most U.S. coasts.

The decision, billed as Biden’s final gesture for the environment, was not to his successor’s taste. Donald Trump, who promised to “drill hard” to lower the cost of gasoline, said he would “rescind the ban immediately.”

According to several experts, cancellation would not be an easy task. Joe Biden is relying on a law giving authority to the federal government over the exploitation of marine resources. However, this text does not provide the right to go back without going through Congress. We will see how Donald Trump will manage this issue which seems like a poisoned chalice. In the meantime, “Drill baby, drill”: his oil drilling slogan is repeated over and over again by Trump and his supporters.

Ukraine, strategic shift in legacy

A week before Donald Trump’s inauguration, outgoing President Joe Biden reaffirmed that the United States and its Western allies could not abandon Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We helped the Ukrainians stop Putin. We cannot give up,” argued the Democratic leader during one of his last speeches. This statement contrasts with the positions of Donald Trump, who promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

The presidential transition is causing great concern in Ukraine, where there are fears of a drastic reduction in American military and financial support. Under the presidency of Joe Biden, the United States has been kyiv’s main supporter in the face of the Russian invasion, releasing military aid exceeding $65 billion since February 2022.

The radical shift is also worrying in Europe, where Emmanuel Macron, in a speech addressed to ambassadors, warned: “If we decide to be weak and defeatist, there is little chance of being respected by the United States. of America under President Trump.”

By handing over to Donald Trump, Joe Biden leaves a legacy of a Ukrainian policy based on unwavering commitment. However, the arrival of a president with opposing strategic orientations could upset this fragile balance.

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Etonam Ahianyo is a journalist in the digital editorial team of paid media. Previously, he worked at “20 minutes”, “NewsExpress” and as a correspondent in West Africa for several international media outlets.More info

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