On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was once again crowned as the 47th President of the United States. Amidst an oath-taking ceremony dripping with ostentation and a multi-million-dollar invite to America’s rich and famous, the capital was lit up with fireworks.
A comeback against all odds
Let us pause and reflect on how Americans, in their infinite wisdom, orchestrated this jaw-dropping comeback. Trump, the self-anointed saviour of the nation, was drowning in lawsuits that range from sexual assault and financial fraud to election meddling and defamation. Yet somehow, this kaleidoscope of controversy has not only failed to sink him but has also seemed to polish his allure.
Trump is the Houdini of American politics and, with astonishing ease, stepped back into the White House for a second term.
A mystery for the rest of the world
Was it charisma? Hypnosis? A national case of selective amnesia? For the rest of the world, it’s still a head-scratcher—a puzzle that got more baffling with every tweet, every rhetoric from tariffs to a Gaza peace plan to a Greenland grab, Maduro’s kidnapping and possibly Cuba’s annexation as a piece of cake.
Forgotten promises and floating ambitions
In between, he seems to have forgotten the Great Wall project between the USA and Mexico. Is it dead or dormant? He knows. And what about Canada, his 51st-state dream?
Dominating the news cycle through intimidation
With controversial delivery of intimidations, blackmails and bluffs, Trump dominates the world news on and on with the swagger of a man who believes he’s invincible.
A presidency of performance and provocation
He is a master juggler in every aspect of his life—from business to politics—creating headlines with the cosmetic renovation of the White House to his claim for the Nobel Peace Prize, besides receiving the second-hand one from Venezuelan presidential aspirant Maria Corina Maxhoado.
Age, astrology and political duality
Born in 1946, Trump turns 80 on June 14. Under the Gemini sign, Trump embodies its reputation for “duality, double-talk, shifty, changeable, and endlessly communicative”.
Trump the communicator, not the diplomat
But let’s be real: Trump doesn’t just talk; he trumpets with a narcissist flavour. His words are loud, brash and unapologetically inflammatory—from demonising immigrants to brutally deporting them.
Even amid the cynicism surrounding his “Make America Great Again” mantra, there’s one thing you can’t deny: Trump is nothing if not direct. He skips the diplomatic dance and says what’s on his overly ebullient and instinctive mind, no matter how outrageous or incendiary.
Nationalism with global consequences
In a world where many leaders wrap their words in layers of ambiguity, Trump shouts them out like a trumpeter blasting a call to arms—as a self-styled nationalist.
But make no mistake: his nationalism isn’t just wild; it’s dangerous, casting long shadows over America’s neighbours to the north and south, and leaving footprints on the icy shields of Greenland to the ripples in the Panama Canal.
The man who is the story
For better or worse, Trump is a phenomenon—a strange cocktail of audacity, controversy and resilience. Love him or loathe him, one thing is certain: he’s not just part of the story; he is the story, with jittering global implications.
Promod Puri
Promod Puri resides in Vancouver, Canada. He is the former editor, publisher and founder of The South Asian Canadian newspaper The Link, published from Surrey, Canada. Puri is the author of ‘Hinduism beyond rituals, customs and traditions’. Websites: promodpuri.com, progressivehindudialogue.com
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