Kamala Harris’s presidency would’ve marked the first woman and woman of colour to hold on to the United States (US) presidency. But, Trump’s second Electoral College victory seems no less historic, making him the first convicted felon to hold the highest office in the US.
As an Indian student who recently appeared for my first Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) with hopes of entering an Ivy League, the political climate in the US under a second Trump presidency is deeply unsettling.
The prospect of Trump being the first convicted felon to occupy the highest office in the land raises concerns about the state of American democracy and the integrity of its leadership.
While Kamala Harris’s presidency would have been a monumental step forward for gender and racial representation, Trump’s return only serves to reinforce the divisiveness and regression we’ve seen over the past few years.
The notion of a Supreme Court stacked with conservative justices that could strip away the rights of millions, especially women and marginalised communities, paints a grim picture of the U.S.'s future political landscape.
To be very frank, the longer Trump or anyone like him stays in the White House, the less safe I feel walking the streets of the “Home of the Free & the land of the Brave” with my skin colour.
The dreaded first term
During his first term, Donald Trump hand-picked three jurists into the Supreme Court as associate justices to overturn the protections of Roe v Wade. This decision would make the right to abortion illegal for 64 million women.
Later, the Republican Supreme Court will most probably go on to award him presidential immunity on the count of 34 felonies by a New York grand jury once he is sworn in on January 6: the day which marks the fourth anniversary of when he incited a violent mob to the US Capitol to stop the certification of Biden’s Electoral College win.
What's next?
Project 2025, a sneak peek into the next four years in the States, envisions a sweeping overhaul of the US government and policies, advocating for the partisan control of key agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), while dismantling others such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and abolishing the Department of Education.
It proposes reducing environmental regulations, curbing embryonic stem cell research funding, and cutting taxes, Medicare, and Medicaid. Socially, it seeks to criminalise abortion, limit contraception access, abolish Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) discrimination protections, and eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes. It advocates for stricter immigration enforcement, military use in domestic law enforcement, and capital punishment expansion while undoing many of the Biden administration's policies.
The political dialogue within a Trump presidency wouldn’t be any more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Problematic views
In a consistent pattern of racist rhetoric, Trump once stated that Harris happened to “turn black” at a Black Journalist’s Union and has made dehumanising statements about women and LGBTQIA+ people for almost a decade in the American limelight. He also claimed immigrants had infiltrated US cities and were “eating their neighbours' cats and dogs” during the second presidential debate while pursuing ideologies of “the enemy within” and jailing political opponents via X (formerly Twitter).
These views are suitably paired with tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations and a tariff policy that will add close to $3 trillion to the federal deficit and make the cost of living $4000 more expensive for the average American. The icing on the cake is his mass deportation campaigns and suggestions of turning “the U.S. military and police force” into “one really tough day” for the American people, which doesn’t seem any less grim.
As someone who has grown up learning about global politics, the ideas presented in Project 2025 are particularly alarming.
The proposed shifts to US institutions and policies are reminiscent of authoritarian tactics, from dismantling crucial government bodies to weakening protections for civil rights. The social policies, especially the criminalisation of abortion, the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights, and the targeting of immigrants, seem like a direct affront to the values of inclusion and justice that I believe are vital for any nation striving to be a beacon of progress.
The American dream
The US, with all its flaws, has historically stood as a model for democratic ideals, and to see these ideals under such threat is concerning not just for Americans but for international students like me who aspire to live in a society that upholds freedom, equality, and opportunity.
While I understand that American politics is often polarised, the rhetoric from Trump and his administration has crossed a line that makes me question the direction of the country. His dehumanising remarks about women, immigrants, and minorities create an environment of fear and intolerance that undermines the very principles that attracted me to pursue my education in the US.
The idea of facing a future where my rights, the rights of women, and the rights of marginalised groups are threatened is disheartening.
As someone who dreams of contributing to global change, I can only hope that the US will continue to uphold its democratic values, despite the overwhelming forces trying to reshape it into something less inclusive and less just.
(Tarun Tapan Bhuyan is a student of SAI International School. Views expressed are his own.)
