The 2024 United States presidential election is over, and the President-elect has a unique vantage point: He is also an ex-president. This is only the second time in US history that a man served two non-consecutive terms (the other was Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President 1885-1889; 1893-1897).
The winner, Donald Trump, is in a class of his own. Colourful and controversial, a ‘street fighter in a suit,’ few people are neutral when he is the topic of conversation. It is important to ask the question: Will a second Trump administration be markedly different from the first? This article will offer some reflections.
The road to obscurity: It has been said that Trump’s reelection is the greatest political comeback in American history. It is hard to argue against this point. Four years ago, Trump was heading into the political wilderness. Though he had some stunning successes in his first term, like a roaring economy, appointing a third of US Supreme Court justices, and four Middle East peace treaties, these were discoloured by the dark shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by a disputed 2020 US presidential election where Trump alleged widespread cheating by the Democrats. The election controversy culminated with the dark day of January 6th 2021, when Joe Biden’s election was certified by Congress. A protest of Trump supporters turned into a riot on Capitol Hill; 100s were arrested and detained, and many are still imprisoned; some have yet to go to trial.
The results for Trump were contempt, ostracism, cancellation, and continued political and personal harassment, even out of office. A laundry list of incidents in and out of the White House includes ‘the Russian collusion’ and ‘Hunter Biden's laptop’ hoaxes, two impeachments, and a raid on his Mar A Lago home by a SWAT team. Trump was hit with five civil and criminal lawsuits with the goal of crippling him economically, politically and personally. One trial ended in his conviction, earning him the label ‘convicted felon.’
During the 2024 US presidential campaign, at least sixteen states tried to remove his name from the Republican primary ballot. He butted heads with biased moderators in the presidential debates. For months his opponents incessantly called him a fascist, nazi, and even Hitler himself. And if that were not enough, there were three known attempts to assassinate him (including Iran). Grover Cleveland did not go through anything like this.
2024 A successful political campaign: Trump remained defiant in the face of furious opposition and lawfare (the weaponisation of the legal system to persecute political opponents). Trump represented an America-First platform known as MAGA (Make America Great Again). Though a very wealthy man, he knows how to connect with everyday working-class Americans. His son Donald Junior once quipped that his father was a ‘blue-collar billionaire.’
Many gravitated to his political promises, which included closing the open southern border, arranging for mass deportations of illegal aliens, especially criminals, targeting the scourge of inflation and dealing with the rising crime rate. He would tackle ‘woke’ ideological strongholds like gender, sexual, and race-based identity politics, cut the size of big government, deal with the ‘Deep State (the DC-based bureaucracy) and beef up America’s armed forces to serve as a deterrent against foreign aggression.
Then there was the messaging through imagery: the Atlanta ‘mug shot,’ the defiant lifting up his fist at the Butler Pennsylvania rally where he was almost assassinated and shouting ‘Fight,’ the pictures of Trump serving french fries at MacDonald’s, and standing by the garbage truck. These images became iconic, showing yet again that Trump knew how to control the narrative. The message stuck with millions of Americans.
Trump began to build alliances with influencers like Robert F. Kennedy Junior, a lifelong Democrat; Elon Musk of Twitter/‘X’ popular podcaster Joe Rogan, and Tulsi Gabbard - all Biden supporters in 2020 and not known for being conservative. Trump invited them to come over to MAGA. Three of them will be part of his new administration.
In addition, he persuaded traditional Democratic voting blocs like African Americans - including young male blacks - plus Hispanics to join MAGA. Even though Trump is known for being pro-Israel, he even convinced Muslim Americans to ditch the Democrats and vote for him. As a result, on November 5th, 2024, Trump won all seven battleground swing states, the popular vote, and the electoral college with an impressive 312 (he needed 270 to win). In addition, he forged a new political constituency.
Trump 1.0 (2017-2021) vs. Trump 2.0 (2025-2029): Will It Be Different?
There is every indication that the second Trump term will differ from the first. One is a change of style: the first Trump was known to be brash, boorish, and downright insulting (just like many of his opponents). People were not used to a President who communicated to the public via ‘mean tweets.’ One pundit told him bluntly: ‘Tweet Presidentially.’ To borrow a phrase from George HW Bush, we are now seeing a ‘kinder, gentler’ Trump compared to 1.0.
More significant was the substance of his first term. Trump 1.0 was in an utterly unique position. He came to office with zero political or military experience. Dr Steve Turley of Turley Talks said that Trump was in a unique position, a third-party candidate who won a major party nomination and the Presidency; this was an unprecedented situation.
So he arrived in Washington DC in January 2017 with no natural allies, scorned and distrusted by establishment Republicans as well as Democrats. The former, often called RINOs (Republican In Name Only), worked very hard to undermine Trump at every turn. They were determined to ‘run him out of town’ and, come January 2021, they got their wish.
Despite his status as ‘former president’ and the object of intense lawfare, Donald Trump has never totally gone away since 2021. He, in essence, became a shadow president during Biden’s tenure. During Trump’s first term in office, followed by the wilderness years, he learned much about the presidency, how Washington, DC, runs, and the pulse of the American electorate.
Americans discovered during Trump's four-year hiatus how deep the government and media corruption really was. Instead of relaxing and letting Trump do all the fighting by himself during a second consecutive term, many stepped up to the plate at a local level. Americans learned to personally contend for traditional American values themselves: at school board meetings, in public forums, and even going into politics itself. For people of faith, the last four years, even eight years, have done wonders for their prayer life.
This second Trump term will be different because the Republicans have the White House and majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. MAGA as a political philosophy is no longer on the fringe: it has taken over the Republican party. Furthermore, the most vocal and fervent GOP ‘Never Trumpers’ are gone. Unlike his first term, Trump’s cabinet nominations are fiercely loyal to their boss, to MAGA, and ready to push through. Trump himself is battle-hardened and ready for the upcoming fight.
And a fight is looming despite all the positive outcomes. There is ‘the resistance’ that will do anything they can to prevent Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, 2025, like hindering his congressional certification on January 6th or having some economic, cultural or political ‘surprise,’ etc. There could be resistance to mass deportations and balking at the Pentagon over Trump’s position on Ukraine.
If you weigh it all up, Trump’s political comeback is nothing short of a political resurrection, as one pundit quipped. Now, the real work - and fight - begins. And it starts with the prayer closet (1 Timothy 2:1-14). Intercessors will save the world. Prayer takes us beyond politics, and it changes situations and empowers people in a way that nothing else can.
Elections are good, but no matter who wins, they cannot solve all our problems or save us. These needs are met through revival, reformation, restoration and renewal; prayer and obedience are keys. So it is time, O child of God, to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
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