Trump pledges a new America, end inflation, curtail immigration

Trump, according to  White House website, has outlined the administration’s priorities as ending inflation, lowering costs, tax cuts for American workers, securing America’s borders, restoring peace through strength, American energy dominance and making American cities safe again. Donald Trump promises to end inflation, lower costs, secure America’s border, and restore peace through strength as he was sworn in as the 47th president of America. Trump was sworn in as U.S. president after taking the oath of office in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Monday. Trump’s swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda — the first time in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event at a downtown arena because of frigid weather. The Republican — at 78, now the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath — was set to kick-start his new term with a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the U.S. culture wars. “I will declare a national emergency at our southern border” with Mexico, Trump said to loud cheers from supporters inside the ornate Rotunda hall, vowing to deport “millions and millions” of illegal immigrants. Trump, who pronounced the start of a “golden age” in the U.S. after taking the oath for a historic second term as president, lashed out at what he described as a “broken” society that he would rescue. “The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world”. While promising renewal, Trump’s tone was characteristically dark, denouncing what he said had been a “betrayal” of Americans  by a “radical and corrupt establishment.” “For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair,” he said. Wike rules out reconciliation with Fubara Nigeria accepts invitation to join BRICS as a partner country Addressing the challenge of frequent grid collapse in Nigeria “From this moment on, America’s decline is over.” Trump took the oath with one hand raised in the air, using a Bible given to him by his mother, and became the 47th president. Trump, according to  White House website, has outlined the administration’s priorities as ending inflation, lowering costs, tax cuts for American workers, securing America’s borders, restoring peace through strength, American energy dominance and making American cities safe again. During his first administration, Trump passed record-setting tax relief for the middle class, doubled the child tax credit, and eliminated job-killing regulations at a historic rate. “The American people saw more money in their pockets and witnessed record-low poverty in his first administration, and President Trump is committed to using his second term to usher in an economic revival by lowering taxes and creating more jobs for American workers. “He will champion No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and will work tirelessly to make permanent the historic tax cuts he was able to deliver to the American people in his first term. “President Trump understands that putting more money in the pockets of the American people is the key to economic prosperity and will stop at nothing to make that a reality for all.” It further noted that Trump created the most secure border in U.S. history during his first time and seeks to restore our borders and reclaim national sovereignty. He has promised to do this by ending catch and release, declaring war on the drug cartels, restoring Remain in Mexico policies and empowering law enforcement and border officials to restore our border to its secure state. President Trump will keep America out of unnecessary foreign wars, improve our military readiness and defend our nation from all threats and dangers. “He will modernise our military, extract ideology from our Armed Forces, and replace the failed policies of never-ending war and regime change with a bold vision of peace through strength. “During President Trump’s first term, our nation became the number one producer of oil and natural gas on earth and achieved American energy independence. ““Delivering low energy costs for oil, gas, and electricity to the American people is a priority and he will achieve this by encouraging domestic energy production,” the White House website said.

The Mythology about Trump’s Christian Faith and Savior of the Faith

On Nigerian social media videos showing Trump promising to bring the Bible back to America, opposing homosexuality and false claim of a Biden/Kamala government funded sex-affirming surgery for children are being used to portray Trump as devout Christian and savior of the faith. Health care coverage in the U.S. is provided by the private health insurance companies. Even Obama care is provided via the private market who decides what treatment it covers. This notion that Trump is Bible-reading, scripture union (SU) Christ-loving savior of the faith is one of the mythologies that has been propagated and accepted as gospel truth by many especially in Nigeria. By the fruit ye shall know them. No one knows which church Trump attends nor his pastor. Trump is not a Christian by any standard and there are no fruit of the spirit in his life. Yes, many U.S. evangelicals have adopted him as their reincarnated saviour of the faith due mainly to the overturning of Roe by the Supreme Court appointees who were hand picked for him by the conservation think tank. However, during the campaign when abortion became toxic Trump actually tried to walk back his claim as the one who overturned Roe. He supported Florida Amendment 4 claiming that the six weeks abortion ban was too strict before he walked it back. After decades of cultural resistance to homosexuality, public opinion has shifted towards more support for homosexuality as more scientific data has emerged supporting the biological foundation for most homosexuality. Homosexuality has been recorded for centuries in every culture across the globe dating back to biblical time. What has changed is societal attitude towards it, causing more gays to come out of the closet. This, of course, is still very upsetting on many especially in traditional societies like Nigeria. A recent survey by Gallup shows that 69% of Americans now support same sex marriage which is a seismic shift from just a decade ago. However, among the core evangelicals, opposition to homosexuality and abortion is cast in stone. Trump has exploited that opposition as the cornerstone of his three presidential bids to court the evangelicals and it has worked like magic. The Trump campaign spent over $30 million on videos like this one that falsely and effectively define Kamala Harris who, as an elected official from liberal California, has a long record of supporting abortion and gay rights. The realignment of the traditional strong Hispanic support away from the Democrat toward Trump who took over 40% of their votes is a reflection of both their concern about inflation but moreso, their traditional value which still strongly opposes Gay rights and abortion. I saw that shift here in Miami which was once a deep blue Democratic base which has now turned Ruby Red as Hispanics have become the vast majority, a major demographic shift due to immigration. Trump spent over 30 million dollars pushing the sex affirming video ad naseum during the campaign. By the way I know several Nigerians here in the U.S. who also voted for Trump on the same issue of opposition to Gay right and abortion. Without understanding the nuance of the context, one can easily misread the situation. The reality is that this election result and the massive loss by Kamala has a lot to do with misogyny, racism and xenophobia. Americans were just not ready for a woman president especially one like Kamala who has a complicated immigrant Indian and Jamaican parent more so as wars are going on both in Europe and the Middle East. The image of Trump as a strong man is very appealing to many especially Hispanics many came from countries where strong men were venerated. There were also many blacks who did not think Kamala was black enough. Janet Jackson actually voiced that opinion. Trump increased his black votes while Kamala was way below where Obama was in his presidential bids. This was a case of Kamala running a truncated presidential run (107 days) during the perfect storm when the economy, inflation, cultural sentiments were all against the Democrats. Here is the link to the pew research opinion survey data on attitude towards same sex marriage. https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/ Adewale Alonge, PhD, Founder & President, Africa Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment and Development. www.adped.org