AFP :
Donald Trump still has a month until he becomes US president but he has already displayed his unique capacity to sow confusion and steal headlines with remarks belittling Canada, intimidating the media and torpedoing a budget deal in Congress.
“We’re going to see more chaos in Trump’s second term than his first,” said Todd Belt, political science professor at George Washington University. “I think what has happened this week is a good indication of what is to come.”
He added that a Supreme Court ruling that grants presidents sweeping immunity for official acts will give Trump “more of an opportunity to act on his worst impulses.”
The Republican has stolen the limelight from outgoing President Joe Biden, who has largely disappeared from public view in his final weeks in office.
On Monday, Trump gave his first news conference since winning the November 5 election, talking to journalists for more than an hour about various topics — and savoring the attention.
“Everyone wants to be my friend,” he said when commenting on the visits of various billionaire tech CEOs and other leaders to his Florida residence, which he will leave on January 20 for the White House.
He told reporters that he wanted to “straighten out” the press — something his team has pursued through lawsuits that observers and rights groups worry are signs of escalating censorship tactics.
While commenting on a wide gamut of issues, Trump has also shown that he has not changed in his predilection towards delivering vague, sometimes contradictory, messages.
Take vaccines, for example. The Republican said that he is a “big believer” in the polio vaccine, but also sowed doubt over a widely debunked link between vaccination and autism.
“There’s something wrong. And we’re going to try finding that,” Trump said, noting a rise in autism cases in the United States that experts say is due to changes to diagnostic criteria, increased awareness and better screening.
Trump’s first term in office was marked by sensational announcements, spectacular dismissals, constant reversals and diplomatic turmoil.
Decision makers and analysts faced a dilemma: do you take everything Trump says at face value, or do you ignore the words of the leader of the world’s most powerful nation?
Four years on and the problem remains, as shown by Trump’s teasing remarks about Canada on Wednesday, when he said it would be “a great idea” for it to become the 51st US state.
