
Roving Periscope: Trump quake stirs the US and the West, starts roiling the world
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Within hours of Donald Trump’s Inauguration as the 47th President of the US on Monday, America withdrew from the WHO, Paris Climate Accord, and more, as the worried world waited with bated breath what the maverick Republican leader would bequeath to the planet four years from now.
He suspected the longevity of the just-declared ceasefire deal in the Middle East. He said not confident the deal in Gaza would hold, although he had trumpeted it as his diplomacy to secure it ahead of his inauguration.
“That’s not our war; it’s their war. But I’m not confident,” Trump said. He, however, said Hamas had been “weakened” in the war that began with its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
His Inauguration for a second, non-consecutive term, completes his triumphant comeback after surviving two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts, and an indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” he thundered on Tuesday.
Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Panama….and more: they fell silent as if struck with a bolt from the blue. Trump has threatened them all to change their status quo.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who sat in the front row at the Inauguration ceremony, carried a congratulatory letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Trump. The two democracies are expected to take their bilateral relations to the next level soon.
In India, former diplomat-turned-Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who has also worked in the United Nations, said, “We are watching the (Trump) announcements made so far. More and more energy is coming into the market. There is no shortage of oil in the global market… Some of the decisions were already anticipated…” Asked if more oil could come from the US to India, he said “Yes.”
Even before he took the oath amid festivities, Trump, 78, had announced to push the limits of executive power, deport hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, secure retribution against his political enemies, and transform America’s role on the world stage, the media reported on Tuesday.
Hours later, Trump fired four senior government officials appointed by his predecessor and warned, in a first post on Truth Social since his Inauguration, that “over a thousand more” faced imminent dismissal. “My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”
He also named them—Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council. “Let this serve as an Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon.”
“YOU’RE FIRED!”, he said, in what is Trump’s favorite catchphrase from his days as the boss of the hit TV show “The Apprentice.”
Soon after taking the oath, President Trump laid out his plans for the next four years and signed nearly 80 executive orders to reverse actions taken by the preceding Biden administration. “We will sign executive orders first to revoke nearly 80 destructive and radical executive actions of the previous administration,” he said minutes before signing them.
He promised cheering supporters that he would act with “historic speed” from Day One of his White House comeback.
His return to the White House was felt in many world capitals.
Hours after he took office, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday in which he proposed further developing their strategic partnership.
Putin waved at and addressed Xi as his “dear friend,” saying he wanted to outline “new plans for the development of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.”
China is, however, more worried, and cautious, as Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products. Responding to the US decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), which Trump had, in his first term (2017-21) accused of being pro-China and covering up its role in the COVID-19 pandemic, China on Tuesday vowed to support the global health watchdog.
“The role of the WHO should only be strengthened, not weakened,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in Beijing, adding: “China will, as always, support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities… and work towards building a shared community of health for humanity.”
China also said that it hoped to cooperate with the US to resolve trade issues.
Beijing is “willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the United States, properly manage differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation,” Guo Jiakun said about potential new levies under Trump.
“It is hoped that the US will work with China to jointly promote the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations.”
About the US decision to reinstate Cuba to a list of state sponsors of terrorism, China said it was a demonstration of America’s “bullying.”
Washington’s repeated use of the list “runs counter to facts… (and) fully reveals the hegemonic, high-handed and bullying face of the United States,” Guo said.
He also said China is “concerned” about the US withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord for a second time. “Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity, and no country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own.”
In Afghanistan, the Taliban government announced the release by the United States of an Afghan prisoner in exchange for US detainees, saying the deal was brokered by Qatar.
“An Afghan fighter Khan Mohammad imprisoned in America has been released in exchange for American citizens and returned to the country,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement. It said Mohammad was serving a life sentence in California after being arrested “almost two decades ago” in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.