Not only the country got a new head of the White House, but the most powerful country in the world has a president in front of whom there are no longer any institutional obstacles to achieve what he set out to do. If he implements only part of what he announces, radical changes await America and the world, Trump's wars are not only political, but cultural and historical.
Za "Time" from New York
Four tickets to the presidential inauguration Donald Trump, which were sold on New York's Craigslist for two thousand dollars, did not find buyers. Taking the oath it was moved, due to the extreme cold, from the entrance steps of the Congress building, and these cards will remain with a dealer in Brooklyn as a memento of something much greater than the ceremony that took place on January 20, 2025.
It will remain as a memory of the day when he came to the head of the most powerful country in the world a man without inhibitions, in front of which there are no longer any obstacles to implement what he envisioned.
If it achieves only part of what it announces, nothing will be the same. "Your head will spin when you see what's happening," Trump promised ahead of his inauguration, announcing "a spectacle from day one" and "a lot of entertainment on television." Meanwhile, New Yorkers who never had much sympathy for their former fellow citizen from Queens, recounted a black-humored joke about the former American president whose mandate, due to the Washington winter, lasted only a month.
photo: ap photoAMNESTY SUPPORTERS, STATE OF EMERGENCY ON THE BORDER WITH MEXICO, "THE AMERICAN GULF"..: Trump's signatures
The new head of the White House avoided the mistake of William Harrison, who proved his strength of spirit by speaking for several hours in the cold and got pneumonia. Instead, Trump demonstrated his power with his favorite Sharpie marker. In less than an hour, he signed dozens of executive orders that imposed a state of emergency on the border with Mexico, began deploying the military, 1.600 supporters pardoned that stormed the Capitol four years ago, abolished birthright citizenship, began the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, and declared that there are only two sexes in this country: male and female.
"America's golden age begins at this moment," he solemnly announced after taking the oath of office. "From this day forward, our country will flourish and once again enjoy the respect of the world. All other countries will envy us, but we will no longer allow ourselves to be exploited. Every day during the Trump administration, America will always come first," he said, promising to "realize our destiny to the stars" and "plant the flag on Mars."
Unlike his predecessors, who on such occasions spread optimism and called for unity, Trump described America in extremely gloomy tones, portraying it as a nation on the verge of collapse. He spoke of the "terrible betrayal" and his mission to restore faith, wealth, democracy and freedom to the people.
"From this moment on, America's decline is over," the new US president solemnly proclaimed.
With or without Trump, America was and remains the world's leading democracy. A coalition of 18 states, human rights organizations and groups that care about migrants have already filed lawsuits to challenge some of the regulations, particularly those that, contrary to the 14th amendment of the US Constitution, stipulate that everyone born on this soil is not automatically US citizens.
"Presidents are powerful, but he is not a king. The Constitution of the country cannot be crossed out with the stroke of a pen," said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin as the media printed pages of densely typed text. fact-checking Trump's claims made during the inauguration. Those old-fashioned newspaper writers have already reached for computer keyboards, believing that the meaning of words is no less important than the facts.
NOSTALGIC MEMORIES
"I remember when Donald Trump wasn't normal," wrote "New York Times" columnist Carlos Lozada. "When Trump was a fever that will pass. When his candidacy resembled a joke. When he was written about in the entertainment pages... I remember when Trump was just weird. I remember when Trump wasn't who we were."
Nostalgic memories of the days before Trump's second term do not mean that the majority of American citizens will not be better off now. That's why those who waited for the first four years of his reign to get things back to the way they were can now say goodbye to that strategy. They won't come back. Not only because the past never comes back, but because the perspective from which Donald Trump seemed like an oddity or an anomaly will disappear. Trump's world is now part of the new normality of America and the world, he is not only waging political but civilizational and cultural wars.
AS THE PRESIDENT SAYS
photo: ap photo...
This is greatly helped by his cabinet of loyal and obedient associates. The previous four years, during which he was exposed to constant public attacks, criticism from the highest state officials, lawsuits for serious crimes and insults from former associates who called him a "fascist", "racist", "sexist" and "moron" were for him more than enough to understand why he failed to achieve what he envisioned in 2016. He applied the most important lesson he learned to the selection of new associates, which is amply illustrated by parts of their hearings before members of the Senate.
When new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth was asked about covering travel expenses related to health care, including abortions, he replied: “I've always been pro-life. I also know that President Trump was in favor of it, and we will review all previous policies. Our main principle is what the President wants on this particular issue. So if the president wants it…”
State Secretary Marco Rubio, who has much more credibility than others, said something similar when he was asked about international relations: "The foreign policy of the United States of America is determined by the president. My job is to advise him about it and, finally, to implement it".
Loyalty was much more important than expertise. Those who, like Robert F. Kennedy or Tulsi Gabbard, have held the highest offices of government will know how to appreciate it because no one else would ever give them any opportunity.
WITH THE HELP OF DEMOCRATS
On the other hand, there's no reason for anyone to be upset about all that. Republicans, with the clear will of the majority of American citizens, came to power. More than 77 million voters voted for Donald Trump. Their victory was largely due to the weakness of the Democrats, including their insistence Joseph Biden to stay in the presidential race until everyone who means something in the party threatened to openly oppose him. Added to this were mixed messages Kamale Harris, which did not have enough time to present itself to voters.
The latest CNN poll shows that Democrats have not had a worse approval rating in thirty years. Biden's support is lower than Trump's at the end of his first term, when everyone except him was absolutely sure that this was the final end of his political career.
Biden began his presidency promising to end Donald Trump's political legacy, but left the White House with less support than any president in recent American history. Only 25 percent of respondents - "Oh, my dear God," spontaneously exclaimed to the journalist of this television company - think that Biden was a good president. For comparison, Barack Obama was supported by 52 percent of those polled at the end of his term.
Trump's strength rests in large part on the weakness of his political opponents. But it wasn't just MAGA extremists and conservative voters who wrote off Biden and Kamala Harris. Progressive members of the Democratic caucus have long warned that no one should be surprised "that the Democratic Party, which abandoned the working class, experienced the working class abandoning them." Politics that focus on racial, national, or sexual identities, instead of American citizens who can't afford to go to the doctor or don't know which town their kids will go to school in if landlords raise the rent, doesn't understand how most people in this country really live.
When you add to that the fact that the 50 richest people in this country own more than 165 million people from the bottom of the social ladder, and that the US is continuously arming the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which is dealing with Palestinian civilians, that the US military is participating in numerous conflicts on various continents, and Washington selectively implements concern for human rights around the world, it is clear that against the Democrats were not only political opponents from the Republican Party, but also a significant number of those who sincerely believe in the values that this party only declaratively supported.
Even moderate senators, such as Sheldon Whitehouse, waved their hands at Biden's parting words about how "an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens democracy, basic rights and freedoms" is being formed. The reason is clear: just a few days earlier, the president had presented high honors to people like fashion mogul Ralph Lauren. At the same time, 75 percent of the country's gross domestic product is realized in half of the federal states that traditionally support the Democrats, which clearly shows that most of the oligarchs live in the strongest strongholds of the Democrats, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.
The most respected economists have warned for a long time that neoliberalism is leaving the scene, leaving "the smell of lies and dishonesty", and that "there are few ideologies that have been so arresting", sowing "confusion, discord and chaos" while calling for democracy, while at the same time spreading half-lies like the truth.
Regardless of their social status, social position or education, the citizens of America felt it more than well on their own skin. This country, from the first days of colonization, when the bodies of hundreds of thousands of those who traveled to the New World ended up in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, until the re-election of Donald Trump, rests on survival in the world of the most cruel capitalism. That's why no one is ready to believe in sweet-talking promises and lies.
Americans are direct, open and brutally honest, just like the world they were born in. This is perhaps best illustrated by the latest public opinion poll conducted by the "New York Times", which shows that the values advocated by Donald Trump are more popular than himself. More than 55 percent of Americans support the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, while most believe the U.S. has neglected serious problems at home by embroiling itself in costly conflicts around the world.
The citizens did not forgive the fraud of those who, by the nature of things, had to build a better world, but due to the autocratic matrix in their behavior and duplicity, they now had to leave the management of the country to ideological opponents from the right side of the political spectrum.
Political scientists have noticed for a long time that "the new right and Woke the left accepted the same logic of intolerance" and that "despite mutual ideological animosity, they are reflected in each other", and much earlier, in Theses on Feuerbach, it is written that the truth can be proven only in practice.
If it was not understood by those who, by the nature of things, it should be understandable, it is the turn of those who believe in practice without truth to rule.
UNITED GREENLAND, PANAMA AND CANADA
The big question is whether there is any coherent ideology behind Donald Trump. His "America First" mantra has already begun to give way to the "peace through force" slogan, which the president has promoted with plans to buy Greenland and re-establish control of the Panama Canal, not ruling out the use of the military.
Some, like the popular presenter Stephen Colbert, approached these statements from the humorous side: "There are many reasons why the whole idea is crazy. One of them is that it's completely silly. The second, that Greenland already has a 'father', which is Denmark, and they are not planning to sell it".
Many, however, do not see anything funny in these statements by Trump. The former deputy of his national security advisor, Victoria Coates, who currently holds a leadership position at the conservative "Heritage" foundation, believes that President Trump is thereby telling the governments of Denmark and Panama that Chinese brokering must be stopped at these strategically important points for US interests.
The Chinese threat, by the way, is the only point of agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Trump's former national security adviser, retired General HR McMaster, openly claims that "China is laying the groundwork for a possible nuclear strike on the United States," but essentially no one knows what's behind the talk of Canada being the 51st US state or the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico other than that who pronounces them.
END OF THE WORLD
In the future, all this will not only be talked about, but also decided by a man who had no inhibitions and brakes even before, only that during his first term such ideas were openly opposed by members of the cabinet and Congress. That is no more and will not be for a long time, the Republican Party is a mirror of Donald Trump, which he treats as any of his companies where no one can oppose him.
So those unsold standing room tickets left in an apartment in Brooklyn may one day return to New York's Craigslist with a much higher price as a memento of a world that is just disappearing, but also a memory of a day after which there was nothing. the same. Both for America and for everyone else who has always looked at this country with hope.
What is happening in the country and the world, what is in the newspapers and how to pass the time?
Every Wednesday at noon In between arrives by email. It's a pretty solid newsletter, so sign up!
A fire broke out in places on the Adriatic coast in the area of Piska and Marušić, east of Omiš in Croatia, and the fire is spreading in the direction of houses. Extinguishing the fire is made difficult by the storm
The Israel-Iran war has grabbed the headlines, but thousands of people in Gaza are losing their lives, homes and dignity every day - without any attention. The humanitarian disaster deepens, while hostages and civilians struggle to survive, completely forgotten
The Human Rights Watch organization warns that the European Union and Great Britain are increasingly treating the Western Balkans as a "warehouse for migrants". In Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the announcement of possible deportations from Great Britain, the issues of security, camp capacity and political will to sign such agreements have been reopened.
The war between Israel and Iran enters its second week. Donald Trump is weighing whether the US should intervene militarily, European officials are negotiating with Iran's foreign minister, and Serbia is evacuating its citizens.
The European Parliament, on the initiative of right-wing parties, voted to form a working group that will examine the financing of non-governmental organizations from the European Union budget. The decision was initiated by right-wing parties
Can the students and the opposition make up for 51 votes in the repeated elections at polling station number 25 in Kosjerić? Is it an impossible mission or another attempt that changes everything
The Serbian Government elected the commander of the "White Eagles", Dragoslav Bokan, as the president of the Board of Directors of the National Theater. Why not read "Aco Serbs" instead of "Your hands are bloody"?
What will Vučić do when his second presidential term expires in 2027. The Constitution does not provide for a third. Maybe he won't go into political retirement
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
What is happening in the country and the world, what is in the newspapers and how to pass the time?
Every Wednesday at noon In between arrives by email. It's a pretty solid newsletter, so sign up!