set up a war cabinet for the next term. Some of the politicians, campaign donors and loyal allies chosen for his team will have as priorities the cultural conflicts traditionally exploited by the populist right to stir their bases.
Trump 2 will take a more practical approach than his previous four years. The formation of the future government suggests that the elected president sees culture wars — based on challenging consensus and exploiting divisive values — as both a tool for gaining power and maintaining it.
Logic is embedded not only in the debate of ideas, but in the concrete elaboration of public policies. Trump chose a staunch opponent of government regulations for the Environmental Protection Agency, with explicit orders to treat the issue as a political battle. The nominee for the Department of Energy is an oil executive who questions climate change.
Others chosen are symbols of deep social and partisan divisions in the US. Health must stay with , a proud anti-vaccine campaigner. The likely head of the Pentagon will have the task of carrying out a purge of generals based on ideological criteria.
Trump wants the cultural war as a key point on the government’s agenda. His role will not simply be to streamline the public machine in search of efficiency: he says he will target the financing of international bodies and public communication, typical targets of the ideological battles of the populist right. The person chosen for the telecommunications agency talks about punishing TV channels for their political bias.
Many of these ideas were already there in Trump’s first term, but were blocked by veterans of the government machine or seen as accessory items. Now, the Republican has a plan to eliminate obstacles and deliver to his voters the fight promised in the campaign, at the cost of a lot of destruction in certain areas.
I take a break and return to the column on December 10th. See you back!
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