Trump Administration ill prepared for public backlash

 

                                            Protesters in Seoul, South Korea in 2025

 In my last research paper posted here: "Trump 2.0: Democracy Under Siege" I lay out 9 parameters where Donald Trump s not only is circumventing the rules - based international order, but, simultaneously, ignoring the United States Congress. Despite Congress acting as a check on Presidential power, and failing to act in all manner of approval on major policy planks such as immigration, financial i.e. trade wars vis a vis tariffs on allies and foreign policy that favours autocracies like Russia, Hungary, and Israel, at the expense of human rights, and established democracies that have been established since 1945 and the end of WW2. https://kevinkieswetter.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-trump-administration-20-democracy.html

Consequently, and alarmingly, the Trump Administration is doubling down on policies that are counterintuitive to its MAGA base. So much so, that, as ICE has occupied Democratic state  - Minnesota to purge illegal or undocumented immigrants - namely Somali born, two innocent Americans were shot and killed by ICE officials on the streets of Minneapolis: Renee  Good and  Alex Pretti. Both did not pose any threat to ICE officials. Donald Trump's answer to a growing protest movement and poor polling numbers: remove Greg  Bovino, “Border Patrol Commander at Large”  and replace him with  Tom Homan as “Border Czar.”  On January 31 Federal District Judge Fred Biery ordered the release of five year old Liam Ramos and is father from a detention centre in Dilley, Texas. Liam was used as bait by ICE to capture his father. Justice Biery citing that“ the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.” Whether Donald Trump, through business, personal, or political endeavours, constantly draws in legal teams to defend against his proclivity for injustice he deems are perpetuated against him. Federal justices are turning against him and SCOTUS will be wise to rule against him and his illegal tariffs that are alienating American allies, thus, creating a fortress for a select few in the U.S.A. while omitting Americans that need health care, affordable housing, and jobs, that, while promised by Trump,  has failed to deliver. Snatching a 5-year-old from a Minneapolis day care shows the depth that this administration is plunging America into, in an abyss that will take generations to escape.  
 

Regarding foreign policy, using IEEPA ( International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs without congressional approval is illegal and is forcing long time allies like Canada to make trade deals outside America to avoid the overbearing nature of this regime that threatens their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Venezuela (Maduro extradited to the U.S. while Venezuelan oil is absconded from the state and its  citizens), Greenland (threatened buy Trump of a takeover claiming he needs it for national security from Russia and China where in fact those forces are present in the Pacific region and the  Bering Strait), Denmark(threat of Greenland being annexed from the Kingdom of Denmark by the U.S.A.), Canada (Trump referring to Canada as a 51st American state and freeloading off of the U.S. while referring to Canadian Prime Ministers as Governors), Iran (faced a U.S. attack by the  U.S. over its nuclear programme while , and the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip and West Bank (America is regularly emboldened by the Israeli lobby and far right political groups in power or staunch supports of Israeli policy that steals Palestinian land), Ukraine (the U.S. has restricted funding the Ukraine war effort, while the EU has attempted to bridge the gap. Ukraine needs U.S. weapons to  counter Russian technology, and assistance from Belarus, and troops from North Korea in what looks to be a fait accompli in Russia’s favour.   South Korea ( the U.S. has imposed tariffs on South Korea for not pushing through a trade agreement signed with Trump last year. South Korea and Canada are talking a deal on submarines that Canadian officials hope to include a Hyundai facility in Canada to assemble automobiles., and Cuba is facing economic malaise due to blackouts and rampant inflation affecting food, fuel, and transportation. Venezuela and Mexico are not shipping oil to Cuba  as Trump threatens retaliatory tariffs to those nation - states aiding Cuba. Trump has magnified the ideological battle with Cuba as it seeks to weed out socialist regimes. These nations are all victims of an administration that lack diplomacy and fails to understood who America’s allies and adversaries are and what separates them. Trump has reneged on America’s responsibility to the U.N. and left it in a budget quagmire that Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez said will leave UN coffers short of operational means by July 2026. UN Aid Chief Tom Fletcher reported on Dec.8 2025 ”We are overstretched, underfunded, and under attack,” he said. “And we drive the ambulance towards the fire. On your behalf. But we are also now being asked to put the fire out. And there is not enough water in the tank. And we’re being shot at.” Trump’s tariffs, sovereignty claims, and cuts to USAID and agencies such as  the UN have strengthened autocracies and weakened democracies that support the rules-based international order. Recent Senate and House elections overwhelmingly favour Democrat candidates. Trump’s over-reach has over-extended his government as it grapples with day to day issues. Liam Ramos and his father were returned to Minneapolis on Feb.1.