Stepping into Trump’s America

The 2024 presidential election happened on the fifth of November, which saw the win of president-elect Donald Trump over current Vice President Kamala Harris.
The most notable events that occurred in the buildup include two assassination attempts against Trump, and the dropout of current President Joe Biden, who dropped out on the 21st of July and was replaced by Harris not long after.
The election itself happened on the fifth of November. The winner of the election would need to get to 270 electoral votes. It started off as expected with the two candidates winning their projected states. Harris needed to win Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Trump, on the other hand, needed to win North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Trump ended up winning every one of these swing states and by a total of 86 electoral votes.
Trump’s presidency could bring a drastic change to American life as we know it. Trump promises to fix the economy by imposing tariffs, helping the middle class, eliminating certain taxes such as income tax, and trying to make housing more affordable. It should be mentioned, however, that these come with many negative effects. The affordable housing plan would include cutting some regulations in the permit process of building homes which makes houses more expensive. Increased tariffs will lead to more products getting expensive due to the added costs that are passed on to the consumer. Trump has focused on tariffs on countries like Mexico and China. China in particular is huge in the world economy and accounts for about 31.6% of all imports to the world.
Project 2025 is an outline of what the Heritage Foundation hopes the presidential administration can put into use with the main goal of returning the government to the people. Some of the issues highlighted in the project are: Border control, abortion rights, government, and the economy. Trump is particularly focused on border control and it will remain an important goal during his tenure as president to prevent undocumented migrants from going to the US.
As mentioned earlier, “securing” the US-Mexico border and dealing with undocumented immigrants is a particular focus of Trump, and was a central part of his campaign. In his previous presidency, he focused more so on building a wall rather than deporting undocumented immigrants. His plan for his second tenure as president is to launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” This does, however, come with many negatives that would affect the US economy, as there are many undocumented immigrants that make up jobs like construction laborers, maids, janitors, and agricultural work. Along with that, Trump has also promised to revoke birthright citizenship for the children born under undocumented immigrants, which will face staunch opposition from many.
As for foreign policy, Trump has very much focused on an “America First” policy, which would prioritize US interests over foreign allies. In addition to Trump, many conservatives in the government have been critical of US aid to countries like Ukraine because they have the belief that the US should focus more within. Trump has also developed relationships with countries that are not US allies, including Russia and North Korea.
Regarding his stance on the war between Hamas and Israel, Trump wants to see peace between the two. Harris and Trump had different views on the war, with Harris leaning towards a two-state solution. Trump doesn’t want an independent Palestinian state and will “stand proudly” with Israel as Israel is important to the political mess in the Middle East. Trump’s approach to the Middle East would also include support of Saudi Arabia with a bigger focus on fighting against Iran and Islamic terrorist groups like the Islamic State.
Ultimately, Trump’s victory in the 2024 US election marks a major shift in US politics, with policy changes in almost every department.