‘There’ll be unfettered power': Why Trump's second term will be different
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With the Republicans now dominating the Senate, the House and the Supreme Court, is there anything standing in Donald Trump’s way?
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Is this Trump victory even more devastating for the Democrats than 2016?
Read time: 3 minutes
What’s the story?
It’s done and dusted. Donald Trump has won the US election by a landslide and will soon enter the White House for a second term.
Not only has he won handsomely, says Jon Sopel, but the Republicans will now control the Senate as well as the House of Representatives.
His power will no doubt be bolstered by the Supreme Court’s Republican majority, with three justices installed by Trump himself.
This means the next president essentially has the power of a “democratic autocrat”, says Emily Maitlis.
This marks a rather different political landscape compared to the last time Trump held office.
In 2016, Trump had a set of radical policies such as “building a wall”, banning Muslims from entering the country, and expelling all illegal immigrants.
There was a reason he never got some of his more controversial policies over the line.
“He had Paul Ryan, who was the speaker [of the House] who was not a Trumpian, and he had Mitch McConnell, who didn’t like Donald Trump.
But since then, they’ve “all been dispatched”, Emily Maitlis notes.
So can he make good on more promises than he managed to deliver during his term in office?
Donald Trump: The Sequel
What has Trump pledged?
Just like in 2016, Trump has vowed to complete a programme of mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
He has promised to finish building the wall to keep them out, as well as reinstating his so-called “Muslim travel ban”.
Although he distanced himself from Project 2025, the mammoth document of policy proposals was written by several staffers in his previous administration, making it difficult to dispute that it is not linked to Trump.
One policy within it is a proposal to replace civil servants with political appointees.
In particular, Trump has set his sights on the Department of Justice, expressing a desire to take control of the department by filling it with his allies.
“He's been very clear. He's going to pack the civil service full of his cronies,” Lewis Goodall points out.
And that may help with something else he has not ruled out - prosecuting his opponents.
It means there is a chance he could instruct federal prosecutors to launch legal proceedings against or fire those who oppose him.
When asked whether he would do this, Trump replied: “It would depend on the situation.”
Asked if he would prosecute Joe Biden, he said: “Biden, I am sure, will be prosecuted for all of his crimes, because he’s committed many crimes,” without specifying exactly what these were.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
Emily Maitlis says: “If he wants to deport 11 million people immigrants, he's got to get on with it. If he wants to change the whole tax system to make it a tariff system, he's got to get on with it.”
Often, there is a deadlock in Congress and the American legislative chambers, which can be an obstacle to pushing through legislation despite having political power.
So for the next four years, Emily says, Trump should “get on and do everything that he's threatened to do and see if people like it”. But now, Jon warns, the “forces of resistance have disappeared”, and Trump can “move without any friction at all, because there's nobody there.”
“There is going to be unfettered power”, he adds.
Lewis agrees, warning Trump is “going to change the mechanisms of the American state to suit his interest and purpose.”
He adds: “The only real impediment to that won't be any check on his power, it will be his own fecklessness and lack of applications.”
Listen inn full on The News Agents.
