It is believed by many that whoever is the President of the U.S is practically the President of the world.
As such, it isn’t surprising that everyone is interested in what President-elect, Donald Trump’s second presidency means for the U.S and the world.
Since Trump emerged victorious in the U.S presidential election, speculations and projections concerning its implications have run wild, with many spelling doom for Europe.
In a revealing interview with Vaultz News, Kwaku Nuamah, a Senior Professorial Lecturer at American University, shared his insights on the potential ramifications of a second Trump administration.
He noted that real place where the world will see impact is “his tariff war,” pointing out that Trump has promised to do a 20% tariff across the board in the U.S.
That, Nuamah said, is going to lead to a spike in prices and would be inflationary. “He doesn’t think that that’s going to happen, but any Economist would tell him that that’s going to happen,” he stated, underscoring the disconnect between political rhetoric and economic reality.
Nuamah mentioned that Trump might get into a tariff war with China.
Trump has said he would impose duties of 60% on goods from China as part of his plan to build-up the manufacturing industry in the U.S but it remains to be seen whether Trump would follow through with his threat.
However, the Professor expressed skepticism about the feasibility of such strategy.
“The Chinese will retaliate anytime you put tariffs on Chinese goods coming here. They will do the same over there. But again, a lot of the goods that are coming from China are actually American goods. They’re just, you know, assembled over there. And so he will be biting off, cutting off his nose to spite his face.
“But any kind of tariff war with China will have implications for the global economy.”
Kwaku Nuamah
Hinting that the tariff war could extend far beyond the U.S.-China relationship, Nuamah highlighted that Trump could force Europe to choose sides in this brewing economic conflict. “Even Europe itself may also come under some kind of tariff situation with the Trump administration,” he stated.
Also, the Professor discussed the impact of a second Trump administration in the US, saying that the immediate concern is inflation.
According to him, the American economy has rebounded nicely from COVID but the Biden administration didn’t get the credit that they deserve. “If Trump had this economy, he will be telling everybody ‘it’s the best economy in the world’,” he said.
He mentioned that people are taking inflation, which is very high, as evidence that the economy is not working. “That’s not true,” he averred.
He noted that people are expecting Trump to do “some kind of magic” to bring prices down and to fight inflation.
“He promised a lot, but he’s not going be able to do that. He might do something reckless, like cut taxes, which is what Republicans always do when they come to power.
“But when he cuts taxes, it’s not going to fix the problem because when people think that the economy is, you know, under stress, when you cut taxes, they don’t spend the money. They save the money. His tax cut has only benefited the very rich. And when the very rich get tax cuts, they don’t spend it to create jobs. Instead, they buy back their stocks. So it’s not going to have any impact.”
Kwaku Nuamah
Moreso, Nuamah stressed that another way where the effects of the Trump administration will be seen is with immigration policy, saying that Trump has made “unrealistic pledges” to deport people. “He wants to deport 24,000,000 people. He’s not going be able to do that, but he would do something chaotic,” he voiced.
He cautioned that if Trump carries that out, it will decimate the American economy because a lot of the low wage jobs are done by immigrants.
Support For Ukraine In Limbo
Additionally, the Professor expressed that Trump’s commitment to defending Ukraine against Russia is suspect, and the Europeans are “either going to have to step up and cover whatever shortfall is in there, or they just going to have to watch” and let Russia do as it pleases.
However, he said that Elon Musk, who has invested heavily in Trump’s campaign, is making money from the war and Trump is “transactional.”
“So Elon Musk might be able to sway him on Ukraine,” pointing out that Musk was part of the first call between Trump and the President of Ukraine following his election win.
He emphasized that if Elon Musk needs Ukraine to be financed so he can make his money, he might be able to coax Trump and “there might be a situation where Trump sees a way to profit from the war, and then he may go along with it.”
Meaning Of Trump’s Win For Israel’s War
Moreover, Nuamah touched on the meaning of Trump’s win for U.S support for Israel’s war.
He disclosed that Trump has a good relationship with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also noted that Netanyahu is very pro Trump and was praying for Trump to get elected.
“But now that Trump has won, I don’t think that he knows for a fact what Trump is gonna do because Trump is transactional. He may continue funding him or he may decide to extract some concessions because Trump also wants a deal with Saudi Arabia, and he may put pressure on him to, make some concessions on that.
“We don’t know. Except that what we do know is that Trump doesn’t respect Arabs. He’s called the Palestinians names.”
Kwaku Nuamah
He asserted that Netanyahu thinks that he can trust Trump more than he can trust Harris. “And I don’t know whether that’s true or not. We’ve got to find out,” he opined.
In conclusion, Nuamah’s observations point to the certain fact that Trump’s administration will be one to watch closely.
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