The scheduled January 20th inauguration of Donald Trump will be a headliner event; but probably not in a conventional way. Things have not been business as usual since Donald Trump pulled a surprise in the November 8 presidential elections in the United States of America. A lot of right groups have sprang up out of fear of what a Trump presidency could for the mixed American nation, especially for the Black community. Thousands of protesters who had since come out have expressed fear over Donald Trump’s planned “deportation army”, his supposedly lack of respect for women, his ties with Russia and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and most significantly, his apparent determination to repeal Obamacare.
The protests staged over the last couple of months have raised fresh doubts on the ability of Donald Trump to lead the world’s most powerful country. These allegations have in no small means cast a dark cloud over what the trump presidency could mean for the blacks, immigrants, and members of the LGBT community who were at the centre of the his plan to “make America great again” during the campaign. Now that the reality of a Trump presidency is just days away, and the many protests staged seem lacking in potency to stop the inauguration, we look at four things that will happen upon the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.
Repealing Obamacare
The simultaneous process of repealing and replacing which appear to have started already will be the highlight of the Trump administration. The bill which has survived at least 60 attempts by Republican senators will finally be put to rest after six years of success which has seen a number of low income earners enjoyed a premium health care. With the amount of testimonies flying all about on social media, the repealing of the act might be a way of pulling off an imminent disconnect with the American society. The reason being put forward by the Republican party is that the Obamacare is broken, and as such, must be replaced by something better. While they seem to be heading on with the repealing part of the process, the content of the replacing aspect remains to be seen.
A close-bordered United States of America
We cannot say enough about Trump’s proposed immigration policy which he partially rolled out during his campaign. As opposed to what the policy has been represented to be, the policy is not particular stringent on Blacks, but on illegal immigrants. It is a policy to advance the nativism and nationalistic ideologies of Donald Trump. While a number of people have laughed it off as campaign stunts which might not see the light of the day, the recent comments of Donald Trump on the immigration policies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, shows Trump policy of close border is all but a certainty in his administration. In an interview with a London based paper, Trump reportedly labelled Merkel’s policy a great mistake. While we might not be seeing a large scale deportation as implied in Trump’s November 2015 deportation army comment, which had since been countered by Senator Marco Rubio, getting into America might become a bit harder than it used to be. We cannot at this point quantify the effect of a close-bordered America, but if the fear of an imminent loss of job by Blacks becomes a reality, a lot of foreigners might be forced out of the US.
A fallout with the media
If there is one thing the pre-inauguration process has shown us, it is that Donald Trump does not trust the media. The recent publication of an unverified dossier containing damning information on alleged relations with Russia appears to have increased a contaminating paranoia on Trump’s team. And as such, the drama we have seen each time Trump addressed the world through his Twitter handle might just be about to get real. Trump will have a lot pressmen getting under his skin in the coming days, and as the response of the president-elect is largely predictive, a Putin-styled fallout with the media will be a regular occurrence in the Trump presidency.
With about thirty groups having secured rights to stage protests before, during, and after the inauguration, and some going a as far as threatening to ground the event, can a possible postponement of the inauguration be ruled out? Maybe not. However, knowing what the United States security service is capable of doing in an event of such significance, it is safe to conclude that the Inauguration will go ahead as planned.
Aluta Continua
The recent and renewed wave of protests which is set to last the length of the inauguration week will most likely extend into the formative weeks of the administration. And if the people remain largely uncertain about their safety and the safety of their interest in the proposed America, protests will likely transcend the length of the administration. In Trump’s America, it is safe to accept that there will be always be protest at one time or the other in different forms. The overreaching danger of the continual protest is that a message of non-acceptance will be sent to, not just Donald Trump and his cabinet, but the world at large. If such protests are properly registered, there is a chance for the protesting Americans to ensure the removal of Donald Trump. But they would have to convince a republican congress of the severity of any of their allegations to impeach Trump as impeachment is more of an act of law than public support. However, both appears to be in favour of Mr Trump. A fallout with members of his cabinet and the Republican Party on the long run cannot be ruled out.
