America was promised in Donald Trump's inaugural address that "the hour of action" was nigh. And, a week into his frenetic presidency, he has been as good as his word, not only in reprising but in beginning to implement those campaign policies which so appalled a great many people. Barack Obama may have been criticised by Republicans for relying on executive orders to bypass an obstructive Congress, but an uninhibited Trump is firing them out like a demented printing press.
There’s much smoke and mirrors, however. Many edicts are no more than confirmations of intent, mission statements. His first order, widely misreported as starting to dismantle Obama’s signature achievement, medical insurance for all, merely urges states to start the unravelling “to the maximum extent permitted by law”. Congress will have to do the real job and there is no sign yet of any deal on what will replace it.
Other aspirations also depend on Congress’s willingness – a tax on Mexican imports, money for “the wall”, or to expand the immigration police, or for his huge infrastructure plans, not to mention confirmation of his cabinet ... Not automatic. Others are pledges to set up inquiries, the results of which may or may not result in action.
Internationally, Trump has been at his most radical and troubling in opening up a war on the very idea of multilateralism in trade, diplomacy, social rights and security; a cornerstone of western international relations and the international rule of law since the second World War. He has threatened not only a trade war and wall with Mexico, but the renegotiation of Nafta and the abandoning of the largely-moribund TPP. In doing so, many believe he is jeopardising the global trade framework and the WTO system.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
A draft order leaked to the New York Times sees him extending the attack on multilateralism to the UN and international organisations where he is talking of cuts of up to 40 per cent in US contributions to areas like peace keeping and aid to refugees and abortion rights. Another draft threatens withdrawal from treaties like the critical Paris agreement on climate change. Another, threatens restoration of the programme of "black site" prisons and extraordinary rendition.
Irish campaigners for the undocumented will note with concern that in cracking down on illegal immigrants with criminal records, Trump has massively widened the definition of “criminal”. The net has tightened dramatically. Immigration authorities are now mandated to expel anyone “who has committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offence” whether charged or not, and including those who have crossed the border illegally or used fake social security documents. Or who, in the opinion of an immigration officer, pose a risk to national security.
The US has become a much less friendly place.