Might Trump’s extremist agenda be his undoing?
Donald Trump’s principal campaign slogan is ‘America First’. With this slogan, he portrays American society’s problems in the most simplistic way possible while ignoring fundamental issues such as the wealth disparity between rich and poor. All of America’s woes supposedly emanate from foreigners. Add potent racism to the mix and Trump’s toxic message is complete. This meshes easily with his overwhelmingly White core supporters.
These are key elements of his narrative:
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America is unduly burdened by military expenditure. If other countries of the world (such as Saudi Arabia and even Taiwan) require American protection for their security, they will have to pay for it. This includes the US’ European allies in NATO. Trump declares they will have to pay a larger share of NATO’s expenditure: in practice, buying more American weapons. He is unhappy with American expenditure on Ukraine and claims that, should he be elected, Ukraine’s war with Russia will be ended almost immediately.
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Trump does not share the world’s concern about global warming and does not recognise American responsibility in this regard. Instead, he says climate concerns are deeply harmful to America’s economy. On the one hand, they lead to restrictions on the extraction, sale and use of US oil and gas deposits while, on the other, such restrictions lead to higher costs for American manufacturers. As such, they damage the American job market.
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Trump does not like ‘globalisation’ and considers this tantamount to the export of American job opportunities. Therefore, he calls for the return of industrial and commodity production to the US, preserving more American jobs.
IRAN: View from the LEFT, July 2024, No 55
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