Trump: Previous Next

“It is a historic and political victory like the United States has never seen before… that will allow us to make America great again,” said US President Donald Trump in his victory speech from his campaign headquarters in Florida, where Trump envisions himself as a divine savior of the United States and the world, because he is mobilized by a missionary spirit that is a mixture of religious beliefs and political tactics at the same time.

The former Trump is back - then - to the White House. He has "completed the greatest political comeback in modern American history," according to Newsweek magazine. He is returning laden with many desires: desires for revenge, against parties at home and abroad, desires to complete what was not completed, desires mixed with the bitterness he suffered after leaving the White House: the bitterness of the legal prosecutions, the bitterness of the media and the tracking of his personal and business files, the bitterness of the democratic plots and the fierce war waged against him by his opponents, who are many at home and abroad.

This is how the president, who is being pursued by four lawsuits before the judiciary, and who survived two assassination attempts, returns because “God kept this man alive for a reason, to save the lives of others,” according to the statements of a Muslim preacher, in a speech in which he announced the support of the Muslim community in Michigan for Donald Trump, because he promised to stop wars, and also because he is committed to “family values and protecting children, especially with regard to educational curricula and schools,” among slogans launched by Trump during his election campaign, which was based on refuting the policies of his Democratic opponents, as much as possible, after they worked to refute his policies, after taking power in 2021.

If Gaza had contributed to influencing Harris’ electoral chances, Trump’s return to the White House is not good news for the Strip and for the Palestinians in general. He is the owner of the “Deal of the Century” projects, normalization, recognition of “Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” economic solutions for the Palestinians, and other policies based on liquidating the Palestinian cause. The Palestinians do not know whether to rejoice at Harris’ loss or be saddened by Trump’s victory, in contrast to Netanyahu and his government’s hardline stance, a stance that was reflected in the quick congratulatory telegrams that poured in to Trump from Netanyahu and his ministerial staff, who were undoubtedly relieved by Harris’ loss despite the Democratic administration’s support for Netanyahu’s war on Gaza with more than $22 billion, which, among other factors, affected the election results.

At the Arab level, Trump's return may have been viewed as good in some Arab countries whose relations with the Democratic administration have witnessed a kind of tension, on issues related to the nature of security and military cooperation, the democratic approach to issues of rights and freedoms in the Arab world, and dealing with these issues with a kind of strictness, a strictness that is not observed when dealing with the Palestinian human rights file, for example. Some Arab countries' relations with the United States have experienced a kind of lukewarmness during the Democrat era, which prompted the countries concerned to open up more to the East, represented by China and Russia, while maintaining the same degree of coldness with the current Democratic administration, which later realized the consequences of its policies, with regard to relations with Arab allies.

Of course, another regional player who is not happy about Donald Trump’s return cannot be ignored, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei views Trump’s return with great concern. Khamenei does not forget that Donald Trump was the one who gave the order to kill his most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, nor does he forget that Trump was the one who announced the withdrawal from the nuclear agreement signed by the United States during the term of Democratic President Barack Obama, and that Trump was the one who tightened sanctions on Tehran, and he is the one who has adopted the policy of “zeroing Iranian oil exports,” not to mention his continuous threats to Iran, which made the regime in Tehran breathe a sigh of relief with Trump’s departure from the White House and the arrival of the current Democratic administration, which released frozen Iranian funds, offered to return to negotiations on the Iranian nuclear file, eased pressure on Tehran, and removed its Houthi agents in Yemen from the terrorist lists that Trump placed them on in the last days of his presidency.

Khamenei had prepared for such a day by allowing the reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to win the presidency, hoping that Pezeshkian would ease tensions with Washington if Trump came to power. Pezeshkian tried to do this with a series of statements emphasizing that the Americans are “brothers” and other soft statements from his foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, without finding any resonance with the Democrats themselves, let alone making a breakthrough with the next Republican administration.

Given the raging war in Ukraine, it seems that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be happy with Trump’s return, even if he does not take the initiative to congratulate him, considering that America is “not a friendly country.” The truth of the Russian position was clearly expressed by former President Dmitry Medvedev, who stated that Trump’s victory is “bad news for Ukraine.” Of course, what is bad for Kiev will undoubtedly please Moscow.

If there is anyone who worries more about Trump’s return to the White House, it is China. Trump deals with most parties as a trader who is good at making deals, but when it comes to trade relations with China, he deals with them as a trader who wants to exclude his competitors from the market. This, of course, casts a heavy shadow over relations between the two economic and military giants: the United States and China.

However, all of the above can be consistent when dealing with a character whose actions are characterized by others’ ability to predict them. As for the “Trumpian case,” it is difficult to predict the behavior of a man who came from outside the American establishment and who clearly violated the traditions of that establishment, which makes the expectations, optimism, anxiety, and fears that have been mentioned merely guesses that are difficult to confirm, or even build upon.

*Quoted from Al-Quds Al-Arabi