Donald Trump has already preceded over a chaotic presidency that has thrown decades-old alliances into question and brought further turmoil to global safety and security
Donald Trump has taken a sledgehammer approach to remaking the US in his image with disastrous consequences to Americans and the country’s allies.
The US President promised to restore American glory while out on the campaign trail and his supporters enthusiastically endorsed him at the ballot box. But just 50 days into the job, Mr Trump has pivoted away from easing pressure on Americans’ wallets toward striking an imperialistic tone that has taken a larger place in his policies.
Republican Mr Trump has threatened to annex the Panama Canal, the Gaza Strip and Greenland all within two months of his White House return. His controversial advisor Elon Musk has taken a chainsaw to the US government while overstating money saved in the process and clumsily firing veterans from key roles, all with Mr Trump’s approval.
Here are just some of the insane and dangerous things Mr Trump has done since he began his so-far chaotic second term.
Trump’s imperialist ambitions
“One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Mr Trump said of Greenland during a joint session of Congress earlier this month. His comment underlined the imperialist tone he has set since January 20.
So far, the Republican leader has threatened to take the autonomous Danish territory, the Panama Canal and flirted with annexing the Gaza Strip. Populations and governments in all territories overwhelmingly have said they do not want to become parts of the US.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of 1,000 US adults carried out between January 7 and 11 found 53 per cent did not support acquiring Greenland with 29 per cent believing it was a good idea. The threats have also put US allies on notice, raising concerns the country has a predatory relationship with them and intends to use force to take what Mr Trump wants.
Botched Ukraine talks
Without a single demand being made of the Kremlin, the US all but handed over one fifth of Ukrainian territory to Russia. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told European allies the liberation of all Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine was an “unrealistic objective”.
His statement and America’s keenness to end the war quickly gave the advantage to Vladimir Putin with clear red lines being issued to Ukraine. Mr Trump has further weakened Ukraine’s position by shutting them out of peace talks and blasting the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as being ungrateful for US aid, despite him repeatedly praising Americans for their support.
Trump’s role in Tate release
Millions of Americans who voted for Mr Trump after he vowed to stop human trafficking in the US by imposing strict laws aimed at crushing the illegal trade must have been stumped as to why Andrew Tate would be welcomed in the country. The Trump administration is alleged to have played a major role in pressurising the Romanian government to ditch a travel ban on Andrew and Tristan Tate.
The brothers, who are dual US-British citizens, are accused of rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation of multiple women. The Tate brothers arrived in Florida where they have faced a hostile reception from the state’s governor Ron DeSantis.
European leaders on notice
European leaders are becoming less confident that the US is a reliable ally with their best interests at heart. Mr Trump’s favourable pivot toward Russia and harsh critique of several countries over apparent free speech violations while saying nothing about the Kremlin’s crushing of the freedoms of Russian people has not gone unnoticed.
Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said the country needed to become less reliant on the US. The UK has also committed to increasing defence spending in a bid to deter Russia from invading the Baltic states and other European territories.
Elon Musk chaos
Billionaire Elon Musk got off to a controversial start when he appeared to make a gesture similar to a Nazi salute following the inauguration of Republican leader. The X/Twitter CEO has since picked fights with Mr Zelensky and some of America’s committed allies on his social media platform, throwing a spanner into the country’s foreign policy goals.
His chainsaw approach to cutting waste in the US government has also had stunning and unwanted side effects, including firing veterans employed by US departments as well as Federal Aviation Administration employees amid a number of fatal crashes across the country.
Tariff flip-flop
Canada and Mexico have ripped off the US for decades and crippling tariffs were needed to address the imbalance, according to Mr Trump. Economists predicted the US dollar would surge in value as the country became a safer place to invest after tariffs on America’s neighbours.
But Mr Trump has twice pulled out from committing to the tariffs as stock markets plunged with analysts predicting economic pain for American workers. His flip-flopping has now seen the dollar, while still strong, fall to a four-month low due to concern about how tariffs would negatively impact the US economy.
Brutal humanitarian cuts
Mr Trump’s humanitarian cuts have effectively frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in contractual payments to aid groups, risking lives in Gaza. Millions of dollars in aid were slashed threatening a fragile ceasefire between Hamas in Gaza and Israel.
Foreign aid aimed at eliminating or limiting disease spread is at risk as well. USAID programmes have saved more than 20 million lives in Africa through HIV and AIDS treatment as well as Ebola.