US President-Elect
Panama, Musk, Tiktok: Trump is preparing for a comeback
A few weeks before the start of his second term in office, Donald Trump is on stage at “AmericaFest”. As in the election campaign, there is neither a lack of patriotic symbolism nor provocative slogans.
Threatening gesture towards Latin America: US President-elect Donald Trump wants to reclaim control of the Panama Canal under certain circumstances. “Has anyone here ever heard of the Panama Canal?” he asked the audience at a right-wing conservative conference in the state of Arizona. “Because at the Panama Canal we are being ripped off, like everywhere else.”
With his appearance at “AmericaFest” in the city of Phoenix, the 78-year-old Republican gave a foretaste of how he could stage his second term in office. He also used the stage to respond to allegations that tech billionaire Elon Musk was exerting too much influence on his politics, commented again on the impending demise of the video app Tiktok in the USA and took up controversial cultural-political issues that he called ” woke bullshit”.
It was Trump’s first speech of this kind since his election victory at the beginning of November and was reminiscent of his rallies in the months before – but was visually a little more spectacular: accompanied by pyrotechnics and a large, glowing “47”. The 47th President of the United States will be sworn in on January 20th in Washington.
“We are being ripped off at the Panama Canal”
Trump criticized the transit fees at the Panama Canal as “highly unfair.” He called for control of the waterway to be returned to the United States if it was not treated fairly. The canal – one of the world’s most important trade routes – was built by the United States in the early 20th century and long controlled before management gradually passed to Panama.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino firmly rejected Trump’s demands and emphasized Panama’s sovereignty. The fees would be determined transparently and in public hearings, it said in a message distributed on the X platform. “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue to do so.” “We’ll see,” Trump countered on his Truth Social platform and published a picture of the channel behind a large US flag. “Welcome to the United States Canal,” he wrote.
“No, he is not taking over the presidency”
In Phoenix, Trump also commented on Elon Musk’s role, which recently caused criticism during the budget negotiations in Congress. According to Forbes, the richest man in the world is accused of interfering in government work without a political mandate in order to pursue his own economic interests. Some Democrats scoffed that Musk was the real leader of the Republicans, ironically calling him “President Musk.”
Trump now strongly opposed this term, but did not directly deny Musk’s influence behind the scenes. Instead, he explained: “No, he’s not taking over the presidency. (…) But Elon did a great job. Isn’t it nice to have smart people we can rely on?”
“Maybe we should keep this thing for a while longer”
Trump was once again skeptical about the impending end of Tiktok. “Maybe we should keep this thing for a while,” the Republican said. Chinese company Bytedance’s video app is under pressure in the US over privacy concerns. A law passed in April requires Tiktok to be sold by January 19th, otherwise there is a risk of a ban from the American app stores and the loss of important infrastructure.
The date falls one day before Trump’s inauguration. Although he cannot repeal the law on his own, the Ministry of Justice would be responsible for its implementation under his government.
Cultural-political topics also found their way into Trump’s speech, which he comprehensively described as “woken bullshit.” He stated, among other things, that his government’s official policy would be that “there are only two genders: male and female.” “Transgender madness” must be banned from schools. In this context, Trump advocated strengthening patriotic content in schools and also reducing critical engagement with the racist history of the USA. “We will teach our children to love our country, honor our history and always respect our great American flag,” he said.
“We will no longer be overrun”
Another central topic of his speech was migration policy. As in the election campaign, Trump spoke of an “invasion” and used dehumanizing rhetoric. “We will no longer be occupied, we will no longer be overrun, we will no longer be conquered,” he said. The migrants are all criminals or people from “mental asylums”. “We will once again (…) be a nation we can be proud of.” Mass deportations were a central promise of his election campaign. To implement this plan, Trump has already brought several right-wing hardliners into his team.
Who’s Who of the American Right
AmericaFest is a major annual conference celebrating conservative values, patriotism and activism. The multi-day event attracts thousands of participants and is hosted by the organizations Turning Point Action and Turning Point USA. In addition to Trump, numerous prominent representatives of the ultra-right spectrum also appeared there, including Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Sebastian Gorka and Matt Walsh.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
