America First

This blog is Red Baron's introduction to the topic at the February Stammtisch of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft.

The official Inauguration photo

Not an hour goes by without a new message from Washington startling the media. President Trump said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, we will do a job with it too, we will own it. We're gonna take over that piece, so we're gonna develop it. We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal, I don’t want be cute, I don’t want to be the wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent. The Riviera of the Middle East."

Reaction of Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff

When asked how many Palestinians would have to be displaced for his luxury real estate development, Trump said, "All of them, we are talking probably about 1 million 7 people maybe 1 million 8, but I think all of them."

For the operation, Trump did not rule out the use of ground troops. Gaza is only rubble and ashes. The 1.8 million Palestinians could lead a "nice life elsewhere and not have to worry about dying there every day." Their resettlement to other countries in the region is intended to make room for the "people of the world."

Later in a press conference, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, paddled back, saying, "The President has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza" and clearing the territory. The Palestinian population would not be driven out, and any relocation would be temporary.


Even before taking office, Trump was "flooding the zone" with bold and sometimes legally dubious actions that challenged the media to keep up. The oldest president in US history wants to demonstrate determination and ability to act.

Minutes after his inauguration, he began signing almost one hundred executive orders - in the Weimar Republic, these were called Notverordnungen (emergency decrees).

Why this haste?

Let's not forget that Trump has two key opponents. In addition to the "Trifecta," he is running out of time.

Trifecta states are those in which Democrats hold the governorship and have majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The most powerful example is California, with a population of almost 40 million.

Under the new president, the Republican Party holds the majority in both houses of Congress. In the House of Representatives, they have 235 seats, while the Democrats hold 200. In the Senate, the Republicans have a majority of 53 seats compared to 47 for the Democrats, allowing Trump to govern unrestrained for the next two years.

However, in the 2026 midterm elections, the majority in one or both houses could flip, making governing more difficult.

Journalists have identified an even greater Trump opponent: reality.

The new president is barely in touch with reality. One of the main reasons he was elected was his promise to bring down inflation. At the same time, he loves tariffs, which are import duties supposed to secure American jobs and strengthen the domestic market.

In 2015, President Obama officially renamed the nation's highest mountain, the 6,190-metre-high McKinley*, to Denali, as the indigenous people of Alaska have called it for thousands of years.
*Gold miners had christened it in 1896 after the US president

Trump rescinded the renaming with an executive order. It was another Trump attack on former President Barack Obama's legacy.

The president justified his decision by saying that William McKinley had made the country very rich through tariffs and his talent.

Every economics student knows before the first semester that tariffs make imported goods more expensive. A 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico affects 43% of US agricultural products, and 90% of avocados consumed in the States are grown south of the border.

Back in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt criticized the tariffs introduced by President Herbert Hoover under pressure from Republican hardliners, "They are 'the inevitable result of bringing about retaliations by the other nations of the world' and are leading the USA 'on the road to ruin.'"

Trump wants to spend the next four years destroying FDR's legacy, too.

The US has a voluntary following of partners who rely primarily on the extended defense umbrella. The world powers Russia and China can only dream of this. Russia is blackmailing Belarus militarily and economically, and China has taken over Cambodia and Laos under economic duress. The USA doesn't need that. Harvard historian Charles S. Maier once wrote of an "empire by invitation."

However, Trump's understanding of international politics predates 1945. For all their differences, only big men and strong states that can impose all sorts of things on smaller and weaker states within their zones of influence count for him.

However, the USA's partners are stronger and more self-confident than Cambodia. So, Trump's verbal attacks on Canada, Panama, and Denmark could jeopardize the good relationship with America's allies.

As a Danish MEP said in the EU Parliament concerning Greenland to applause, "Let me put it in words that you might understand,  Mister Trump. Fuck off."

Trump is pursuing an agenda of "maximum disruption," with which he is attempting to largely undermine the basic US democratic principle of checks and balances.

The legislature is in his hands; the Supreme Court, which recently granted the president almost all-encompassing immunity from prosecution, is conservative.

Big tech has been given "co-governing power." Trump's advisor, Elon Musk, now has insight into US finances.

What worries me most is the gesunde Menschenverstand the Nazis governed the 3rd Reich by. Trump says he is gifted with it.

Here is a recent example: When asked why he believed that DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) was responsible for the collision of two airplanes over Washington, Trump answered, "I have common sense, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't."

Trump's presidency is a reminder that democracy cannot be taken for granted.

Apparently, only Melania knows how to stop Him.

Democracy is an accomplishment. It is fragile and sometimes uncomfortable, but it is the best thing we have.

Subsequently, the following discussion at the Stammtisch turned around one point: How can we protect our precious democracy.

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