This presidential election seems possible to happen. If Trump is elected president again, what will the US democracy and the world look like?
Hillary Clinton said that if Trump was elected, "the country is about to be finished." I think this statement is too exaggerated.I don't think Trump can turn the United States into a dictatorship.
Having said that, in my 40 years of World News report, I have repeatedly seen the charming leader won democratic elections and then destroyed these democracy.Left -wing populists have done this in Venezuela, Mexico and Salvador, while right -wing populism has done this in Hungary, India and Poland (it is a rolling in Poland).Trump coveted power, willing to ignore democratic norms, eager to beautify himself, and suppress the opposition, which reminded me of those leaders.
"He is the most dangerous person in this country, Mark Milly, President of the Joint Council of the United States", said to Bob Woodword.
Trump will not be self -proclaimed as a lifelong dictator, but he has adopted the standard practices of strong man politics to try to use the US legal system to punish and intimidate critics.While serving as President of the United States, he proposed to sue Hillary and did have a criminal investigation on former Secretary of State John Kerry.
"Sometimes, revenge is reasonable," Trump said in June.
It is worth noting that his efforts to sue Hillary and Kerry have not succeeded, and American democracy was basically unscathed during his first term.The US democratic system is more powerful than Hungary or Venezuela, and the US system is not so fragile.
Similarly, in his first term, Trump's authoritarian tendency was frustrated by his incompetence and the crazy obstruction of his assistant.The difference between the second term is that his preparation is more sufficient, and it seems to be ready to introduce like -minded assistants, which provides support for his anti -democratic efforts.
I have seen threats and revenge in many other countries how to intimidate business and civil society, and forced them to obey.According to Trump, his government took measures to harm Jeff Bezos and his corporate interests, which may lead to the latter's loss of a $ 10 billion cloud computing military contract.This may explain why Bezos decided that the Washington Post did not endorse in the US presidential election.
When I learned that Trump instructed the assistant to use the National Taxation Bureau to audit his critics or those who were unwilling to obey his command (such as the Federal Investigation Bureau James Komi and Andrew McKob),I feel very familiar.
His men refused to do so at first, but Komi and McKob were later selected -claimed to be randomly selected -accepting audit.Trump said he knew nothing about it.
When I first saw Trump after politics, he put forward some ridiculous claims, and then denied these words-.
The first amendment to the United States has been established for a long time in the United States, and it will continue.But Trump can destroy the freedom of pressing through bullying business owners.After all, about a year ago, he said that the owner of the NBC should be investigated by the rebellion due to the report of the TV station.Recently, he also suggested that ABC should be punished for his handling of presidential debate.
"They are news agencies," he commented on ABC news."They must get a license to do this. They should be revoked." Later, he also called on the CBS license and said that the 60 -minute program "frankly speaking, should be stopped."National news agencies do not need licenses, but their subordinates need local television stations.
Trump has repeatedly called for the amendment to the defamation law to reduce the protection of news institutions.Two years ago, he called on reporters who did not disclose the source in the national security case, and added highly that the possibility of being raped in prisons would make reporters willing to explain the source.(I believe that the will of the reporter is more firm. I saw this in those reporters who risky life in Russia and other autocratic countries.)
It is also worrying that Trump hinted that he would use the armed forces to deal with American citizens.In October, he suggested to deploy the National Guard or Army in the United States to crack down on "internal enemies", including "radical left madman".
This language may encourage more political violence we have seen on January 6.In an interview with Times Magazine in April, Trump was asked about the violence that might occur after the election. He seemed to acknowledge the existence of this risk."If we can't win, you know, it depends on the situation," he said sullenly."This always depends on the fairness of the election."
It is necessary to take a while to think about, what impact Trump's election may have on the international situation.
If Trump was elected again in 2020, the Russian army may now have entered Kiev, because Trump could not summon the international alliance at all and get aid to prevent Russia (even if he wants to do this).Ukraine may have collapsed, and Russia may turn to Moldova or Latvia, and NATO is likely to become an empty shell.Observing the weakness of the West, so the possibility of war in Asia is even greater.
Trump is self -sustaining with a strong man, but in the conversation with foreign officials and business leaders, I feel that he actually shows a kind of weakness.He will damage the Atlantic Alliance and threaten the national network built by Biden, and he seems to underestimate the challenges from Moscow.
Just last month, Trump called some Americans who criticized him as "scum" and "greater enemy than China and Russia."Perhaps this is why Russia intervened in the United States election, obviously to help Trump.
Similarly, some people joked that Trump's Chinese name is "Sichuan founded the country", which means that although Trump's mouth is opposed, his chaotic practices and ignorance of allies make China stronger.
Trump is not interested in foreign warfare, but he may act recklessly and tend to upgrade; the result is that in the early stage of his US presidential term, as Trump himself said to Woodward, it was actually "Everyone does not know how "how close it is" from North Korea.His National Defense Minister James Mattis was so worried that he once wore sportswear to sleep and installed a flash of lights in the bathroom to inform him of the crisis out of the crisis when he happened to take a bath.
None of us knows how the situation will develop, and Trump will not achieve all his goals.Two years ago, he called for the "termination" constitution, but it would not happen.When he was in office, the Federal Circular Court stopped a plan for him. He asked a assistant to "cancel" the court -at the time, it did not work and would not be next year.
But Trump will not make the United States so democratic and make the world more dangerous?Absolutely.We are gambling in the future.
Article Source: New Time Review Column
