Donald Trump’s second presidency is quickly becoming an exhilarating journey, one that promises a record-setting outcome, as long as it encounters no major setbacks along the way.
Last week, a weary Congress approved Trump’s massive tax-and-spend package, bringing to a close five months of internal conflict within the White House. The President fulfilled his commitment to shake things up: implementing tariffs, closing the southern border, completely overhauling foreign policy, and cracking down on academia, just as he had promised.
His self-styled “One Big Beautiful Bill”, the linchpin of his second-term agenda, extends the generous tax cuts of his first term, those due to expire, and enshrines beaucoup of campaign pledges: tax relief on tips, overtime pay and a whopping $150 billion-plus earmarked for immigration enforcement and the long-cherished border wall.
Economists, predictably, have warned of yet more ballooning deficits and further widening of income and wealth inequality. Social safety nets, critical to Trump’s blue-collar base, take the deepest cuts in decades. However, to Trump, this is another victory in a long string of successes.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, which was repacked under Trump during his first presidency, has handed him more victories by loosening constraints on executive power. He also bullied universities into submission, targeting their diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes, declaring them biased against conservative voices.
On the global stage, Trump took bold actions in the Middle East by bombing Iranian nuclear sites, and so far, there has been little international backlash. Meanwhile, NATO leaders gathered in The Hague, pledging to increase defense spending to meet Trump’s long-standing demands.
Regardless of personal opinions about him, it’s impressive to see this level of engagement. While Trump’s first term was marked by chaos, this approach is quite the opposite. However, the rapid rollout of these policies carries significant risks.
Job creation remains robust, according to the latest employment figures, and the stock market has reached record highs, aided by Trump’s easing of initial tariff threats. Nevertheless, this represents the largest increase in import taxes in generations and could lead to a painful inflation shock for the U.S.
Trump has set a 9 July deadline for trade deals with countries including China, the UK, and Vietnam. But the fate of those negotiations remains unclear, and as the dollar slid significantly in the first half of the year amid tariff turbulence, global financial stability may yet be tested.
On immigration, Southwest border crossings dropped 93% in May, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But hospitality and agriculture sectors, once dependent on migrant labour are already feeling the strain of serious workforce shortages.
His crackdowns have disrupted vital migrant communities, and when he deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles last month to silence dissent, it triggered nationwide backlash branded with protest signs reading “No Kings.”
In foreign policy, Trump has failed to rapidly extricate the U.S. from the war in Ukraine as promised. With Russia advancing and diplomatic channels at an impasse, he risks inheriting a crisis even worse than Biden’s Afghan withdrawal.
His crusade against universities, particularly their diversity programmes, has dragged on for months, with Harvard taking legal action. The impact this will have on America’s academic reputation and its ability to attract global talent remains to be seen.
Federal job cuts under DOGE, the budget-slashing arm once headed by Elon Musk, are another ticking time-bomb. A recent study in The Lancet warns that USAID budget cuts could result in millions of deaths in developing countries.
Nonetheless, Trump will claim he’s delivered more of his promises and at breakneck speed. His inner circle says the groundwork was laid during his time out of office under the banner of “Agenda 47”, his roadmap back to power, complete with executive orders designed to survive court challenges.
But as the year progresses, regulatory rollbacks and budgetary showdowns ahead point to even riskier terrain, especially as Trump seeks to expand executive powers at the expense of Congressional authority.
Selecting a new Federal Reserve chair remains high on his agenda, no doubt he’ll pick someone eager to slash interest rates. Yet appointing someone with that explicit mandate would blow apart the Fed’s independence and send shockwaves through Treasury markets.
What’s more, widening deficit spending risks fuelling inflation. Republicans dismiss the CBO’s dire projections, claiming economic growth will offset the cost. But markets remain sceptical.
As Donald Trump barrels ahead into the second chapter of his presidency with the finesse of a bulldozer in a crystal shop, one can’t help but admire the sheer velocity, if not the direction. Having checked most authoritarian fantasies off his wishlist before the end of year one, the remaining challenge may simply be avoiding political self-immolation. With inflationary clouds gathering, institutional guardrails bending, and the dollar’s credibility quietly eroding, the real question is no longer whether Trump will reshape the American system, but whether that system will still resemble a democracy by the time he’s finished. Buckle up, this joyride is far from over, and the brakes, it seems, were never part of the design.