Donald Trump completed his first 100 days as President of the United States at the end of April. The whole world is discussing these 100 days. But no one understands anything. It's like the story of the blind men describing an elephant: Everyone focuses on whatever catches their attention. Trump is ruining the economy, destroying the state, isolating the United States from the world, trampling on democracy, destroying the American university system, violating the rights of immigrants, and so on. No one is asking the question: Why?
In order to discuss what kind of policy we should pursue against Trump, we first need to understand this. Why is Trump pursuing a political programme that is claimed to be so contrary to America's interests?
Is Trump capricious or crazy?
We answered this question when Trump first took office. That is why we can now understand each of his crazy policies. Trump's deviant policies are a response to the neoliberal strategy that world capitalism has been pursuing since the mid-1970s, which was further strengthened by the policies known as ‘globalisation’ implemented after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but which led to a very deep economic crisis in 2008. Trump says that no global solution can be found to the problems of capitalism. I look out for America's interests. What is good for America is good for the world.
That is what he says. Do you have anything to say to that? First, you must understand this, find the answer, and then fight Trump. It is not enough to say, ‘Sir, customs tariffs will raise the prices of American imports and work against the American people.’ Those are details. The man is saying, ‘I will solve the world's problems by enslaving the world under the yoke of my own country.’ He has a historical vision. Without understanding this, you keep saying, ‘You are shooting yourself in the foot,’ or ‘You are being rude.’
Today, those who enter the Oval Office, the famous study of the White House, are greeted by a brand new picture: it is the portrait of someone whose name has been unknown to anyone but historians for at least a hundred years: James K. Polk, a 19th-century US president. What did this gentleman do to earn a pride of place in the Oval Office? He seized Texas and the enitre territory that today comprises the southwestern states of the United States from Mexico, in the process extending his country to the Pacific Ocean! Trump has made someone unknown among the 45 US presidents who served before him his own ‘hero.’ Conquest! Greenland, Canada, Panama!
Tariffs are the economic form of this war to conquer the world. It cannot be dismissed as ‘this product will become more expensive, that producer will suffer. etc.’ Trump is declaring war on the entire world.
Whoever holds the gold...
Trump knows that war cannot be waged with weapons alone. He understands that economic power is the most important asset of warring countries, and that without it, the power of weapons and armies can only have temporary impact. He gave the latest sign of this in a recent post on Truth Social, the social media platform he himself has created. He wrote: ‘He who has the gold makes the rules.’ In a way, this is like saying ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune.’ He is speaking from the heart of American popular culture. In the 1960s, when post-war capitalism was developing most smoothly in the United States, a very popular comic strip called ‘The Wizard of Id’ became extremely popular. The original cartoon can be seen in the photo at the beginning of this article. The king declares, ‘Remember the Golden Rule!’ One from among the crowd of his subjects asks, ‘What’s that?’ Another replies, ‘Whoever has the gold makes the rules.’ This is a phrase that was very popular in American culture half a century ago and is still widely used today. Trump is a billionaire who knows how to communicate with the people. He has opened a page from popular culture. And anyway, he himself has no other culture.
We are back to the same point. America has entered a whole new political orbit. It is seeking world domination by bringing everyone into line with its money, its stick, and its power.
If you want to respond to Trump, if you want to stop Trump, if you want to defeat Trump, you will have to know this and act accordingly.
Scenes of misery from the anti-Trump bourgeoisie and the so-called left
In the United States, the supposedly left-leaning Democratic Party is in a state of knockout. They haven't even been able to lift a finger. Among them, only Bernie Sanders shows signs of vitality: this gentleman participated in the party's primaries in 2016 and 2020 and, although in the end lost the race, was quite successful. However, he ultimately bowed before Wall Street lackeys like Hillary Clinton and Joseph R. Biden and supported them at the elections. He is someone who highlights class issues and calls himself a ‘democratic socialist.’ He is touring the country with Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest so-called ‘socialist’ organisation in the U.S. The two of them are holding huge rallies attended by tens of thousands of people. The tour is called ‘Fighting the Oligarchy.’ Sanders is out to put an end to the supremacy of dollar billionaires (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and the like).
The weakness of this movement is already evident even by this act of self-definition. Billionaires have always been the dominant force in the American economy. Finance capital or monopoliy capital known as the oligarchy has always been at the pinnacle of the ruling class that governs the country. This time, Trump managed to pull the biggest ones away from the Democrats and bring them over to his side. But ultimately, fighting billionaires is not a task specific to this period. Without understanding what the specific character of the power structure the politician those billionaires are supporting is out to establish, what will you fight against? Apart from this political myopia, let us also take a look at the practical side of things.
During this leg of the tour, at the Idaho stop, two protesters jumped onto the stage and unfurled a ‘Free Palestine’ banner. Sanders, who was speaking at the time, did not object to the police arresting the two protesters. Moreover, when the crowd protested against him, he spoke of Israel's ‘right to self-defence.’ Israel is an occupying settler-colonial state and has no right to self-defence. But the point here is that ‘Free Palestine’ does not threaten Israel's existence in any manner. The Palestinian people's right to their own state was accepted in the Oslo negotiations and even approved by imperialist states. Whether it will come about or be of any use is another matter that ill take us away from the central scope of this article.
Sanders' despicable support for Zionism and the genocidal Israeli state is clear proof that he cannot escape the vortex of Trump's politics. Trump has set his sight on the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ before Greenland, Canada, and Panama! His most convenient weapon in his war against the world is Zionist Israel! By failing to stand up for a ‘Free Palestine,’ Sanders is surrendering to Trump.
Drawing inspiration from the grand master
The Palestinian issue brings us to Turkey. Now that Trump has praised Erdoğan for having overthrow Syria's former president Beshar al Assad and replacing him with suit-and-tie takfiris, the intellectuals of the AKP-MHP power bloc are rubbing their hands in joy, calculating that Trump's policies wil bring them great benefits. If people numb their minds with myths instead of learning from history, then of course their perspicaicty will be limited to this level!
Who was it that first declared war on the world before Trump in the modern era? Hitler! Nazism, of course, had marked the Soviet Union, which represented the working class in power, as its arch enemy. The organised working class is the arch enemy of fascism. The workers' state is the highest level of organisation that the working class can achieve. That is why destroying the Soviet Union was an obsession for Hitler.
While this is true, Hitler's ultimate goal was to defeat first Britain and then the United States by stepping on the positions he had gained in Europe and thus establishing world domination. Trump has set his sight on a similar goal. We have been repeating since 2017 that Trump is a fascist of a special kind. Those who cannot see this still do not understand what is going on.
Of course, there may also be those who are allies of fascism and want to fill their coffers under its wing. This is exactly what the AKP and the MHP, the latter already coming from a tradition of alliance with Hitler during World War II, may be doing. Anyone who falls into the trap will be betraying Palestine once and for all. Furthermore, one need not be a genius to understand that the war Trump has unleashed on the world will most likely lead to a Third World War. The death toll in World War I stands at 20 million according to historians, and that of World War II is rising toward 70 million. Today, with many countries armed with nuclear weapons and possessing the capabilities of cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, and other technological advancements, one might have to sacrifice 10 million lives to claim 10 square kilometres in Syria.
CHP? The CHP is the party that serves imperialism the most in Turkey. No one should seek refuge in it.
Workers, labourers, Turks, and Kurds, the war Trump has unleashed on the world will be like the apocalypse. Workers of all countries, unite against him and his allies in every country!