Alienation tactics

Donald Trump has divested the US of traditional friends and allies around the world and alienated many Republican voters who are critical of their party’s elected politicians for submitting to his erratic and destructive initiatives.

In this region, Trump provided Israel with greater backing than any previous US president. In early February, Trump proclaimed his plan to take over Gaza, settle its 2.3 million Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan, clear the rubble, and turn the coastal trip into a “Middle East Riviera.” When Jordan and Egypt refused to accommodate Palestinians, Trump called for sending them to Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan and other East African countries. Transferring the population of an occupied territory is a war crime. With the backing of the Arab League and the Arab governments, Egypt drew up a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza with its inhabitants in place and provided with temporary housing and aid. Trump continues to insist on his plan which has the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Trump then adopted Israel’s line on ceasefires. Ahead of his assumption of office on Jan.20, Israel agreed to a three-phase ceasefire in Gaza. While halting airstrikes and shelling, Israel continued with occasional bombings, killing dozens of Palestinians. Israel also permitted an uncertain flow of food and medicine into Gaza but balked at allowing the entry of machinery for removing rubble from devastated buildings and infrastructure.

During the 42-days of the first phase of the ceasefire which also saw the release of 33 Israeli captives and 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, Israel did not engage in negotiations on the second phase. Israeli Prime Minister had no intention of moving to the second phase, which included the release of all living Israeli captives, the ceasefire was meant to end the war. Instead of insisting that Israel go ahead with phase two, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff called for Israel and Hamas to extend phase one with more captive-prisoner swaps but leaving Netanyahu free to resume the war which he did – killing hundreds of Gazans, the majority women and children.

Hamas had demanded that Israel and the US stick to the agreement and shift to the second phase of the ceasefire. Hamas has no leverage but captives. Netanyahu cares little for their lives but gives priority to continuing the war with US arms and Trump’s backing although the US is supposed to be a mediator along with Egypt and Qatar.

Trump has stirred international anxiety by pledging to annex Greenland and Canada and reassert US control over the Panama Canal. He has promised peace but could very well wage war to get what he wants.

He has angered Europe by urging Ukraine to agree to Russia’s terms to end that war although this could involve the loss of 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. Trump has also said that the US would not guarantee Ukraine’ security once the war ended and distanced the US from NATO, making it clear that he is not bound by longstanding commit-ments to the alliance. Consequently, European NATO members have been compelled to increase defence spending to make up for the absence of the US. This does not mean Europe will have the bombs, bullets, tanks and warplanes to defend the region if it is threatened any time soon. It takes years to build up an arsenal.

Trump has also angered trading partners by imposing tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, China, and European Union member states. They have retaliated with threatening tariffs of their own, risking higher prices and inflation in the US.

On the US domestic front, Trump has created chaos by permitting multi-billionaire Elon Musk to gut the federal government to save money. Thousands of employees have been pensioned or ordered not to return to work. Major government departments have been deprived of staff essential to continue operations. Among them are workers managing national parks, creating concern that there will be limitations on the millions who visit during summer. Trump has closed the Department of Education which provides financial aid to schools, promotes research and reform, and ensures equal access to education.

Republican lawmakers have faced a backlash from constituents in town hall meetings over Trump’s dramatic domestic interventions. His promises of tax cuts by closing and shrinking government agencies, have elicited the demand, “Tax the rich!” Real estate billionaire Trump and his unpopular multi-billionaire advisor Elon Musk have no intention of targeting the rich.

While the Democratic Party had not managed to devise a strategy to seriously challenge Trump and Trumpism, ahead of his first term in 2017, independents and progressives came together to found the Indivisible Movement. This was launched with the publication of a 23-page handbook entitled, “Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda.” The aim of the movement is to lobby Congress members to resist his “bigoted and anti-democratic agenda.” Two weeks after his initial inauguration, more than 3,800 local groups had joined the movement. Indivisibles protested nominees for Trump’s cabinet and rejected the repeal or defund the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act.

In November 2024, Indivisibles issued a fresh guide to cover Trump’s second term. This involved mounting “strategic checks to drive a national backlash” against projected Trump policies and boost Democrats ahead of the 2026 Congressional elections. The activists’ ultimate objective is to prepare for a Democrat win in the 2028 presidential and legislative elections to preserve the country’s flawed and faltering democracy.

Progressives were not alone in standing against Trump. In 2016, veteran Republican conservatives, donors, consultants, commentators and writers banded together to form the “Dump Trump” or “Never Trump” movements. Their effort was designed to block Trump from winning the 2016 Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Despite his victory that year, the movement fought his re-election in 2020 when Democrat Joe Biden won, and 2024 which gave Trump a second term. After his 2024 triumph, the “New York Times” described his Republican opponents as having “been driven into retirement... or cowed into silence.”