Global Warming:
The most damage will be done not to country but to the planet. Global Warming (renamed benignly as Climate Change) is already upon us in the form of Hurricane Helene flooding in the Appalachian mountains (Asheville, NC area), forest fire infernos in Maui, Hawaii and Paradise, California and the current fires in Santa Paula area of California. Epic flooding has occurred in Spain, Italy, Thailand, Bangladesh, Morocco and Algeria. Flooding in Africa has affected Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Typhoon Yagi struck China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It was the first Category 4 or stronger typhoon to make landfall in Vietnam.
The World Meteorologic Organization (WMO) reports that January to September 2024 global mean surface air temperature was 1.54±0.13°C above the pre-industrial average, and that Antarctic and Arctic sea ice extent in 2024 have both been well below average. In 2023, globally, glaciers lost an estimated water equivalent to about 5 times the amount water in the Dead Sea. They conclude that the record-breaking rainfall and flooding, rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones, deadly heat, relentless drought and raging wildfires that we have seen in different parts of the world this year are unfortunately our new reality and a foretaste of our future.
Yet Trump and his minions do not care about global warming, rather they intend to “drill baby drill” in order to keep the price of oil low. They do not care about international agreements or the concerns of other countries, and he certainly will not financially support climate mitigation efforts throughout the world. He will not support green energy. In 4 years the change of climate, already irreversible in many respects, will be comparable to an asteroid heading for earth. It will eventually kill most of us slowly rather than suddenly. At some point, there may be nothing mankind can do to stop it.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank:
Trump has promised to stop the wars and violence. I hope and expect he will end the conflict in Ukraine in short order. I will thank him for that. He is likely to end the carnage in Gaza at the expense of Palestinians in the both Gaza and the West Bank. That population, unable to escape to another country, has been living with the threat of constant death daily for over a year. Trump is expected to allow Benjamin NutenYahoo (sic) a free hand in exterminating the rest of them. Americans would revolt if cattle were being slaughtered in this manner, but since Israel controls the political class in America, we can expect that Gazan's will not have to be concerned about dying from global warming. It is not yet clear whether Israel will kill them by bombing or starvation, but starvation is cheaper, which explains why the Israel's racist government ignored Biden's deadline and other lame pleas to allow aid into the prison that is Gaza. (hint to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu: Gas chambers are more efficient).
Pardons and Protests.
We can expect Trump to immediately pardon himself, assuming Jack Smith and Fani Willis do not terminate the cases against him prior to inauguration. They will probably be forced to leave the country as well. We can also expect him to pardon the January 6th traitors, many of whom are exceeding violent, such as Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers. These men will be welcomed as heroes by many MAGA hats, and will be celebrated guests on podcasts and interviewed widely.
It is unlikely that Trump will allow protests similar to the Women's march in 2016, and he certainly will not allow George Floyd type protests. During Trump's long reign of terror, protesters will risk death, as he had suggested during his first term that the military shoot protesters. He has a particular affinity for world leaders who squash protests with violence.
Immigration
Although it would appear to be impossible to deport 2 million undocumented immigrants, he will certainly try. Although we cannot fathom what Steven Miller intends to do, we can be certain that black and brown people will be the first casualty. Another group to be affected is undocumented farm workers who comprise 49% of the U.S. agricultural workforce. It is unclear which Americans will be expected to pick tomatoes, strawberries and cherries. Elon Musk and the tech oligarchs will likely find a way to protest their workers who, for the most part, are here on temporary H1-B work permits. Last year, 65% of approved visas went to workers in computer-related roles.
The Trump transition team is even suggesting that they will work to deport 6.1 million U.S.-citizen children under the age of 18 lived who with an undocumented family member (statistics from 2018). Axios reports there are 20 million families of mixed status. Trump will make no effort to keep family units together. He intends to repeal Temporary Protected Status designations, which will impact 1.2 million people. The cost of this deportation project could approach a billion dollars, not including the negative effect on the economy.
Since there are no laws that this man respects, we can expect the worst. Pulitzer Prize Winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen writes this about the Ugly American. “If such a regime is the greater evil, it is because it is a repetition on American soil of what the United States has already subjected so many to in the making of this country, including through armed insurrection, mass deportation, detention camps, controlling women’s bodies, and the persecution of political enemies. These are similar to policies the United States has supported in many countries it has controlled or influenced.” Historically, genocide of Native Americans and slavery are also ugly manifestations of the American Empire.
Conclusion
The list of negative effects of the coming Trump administration is much longer than those discussed here. Although there will be great suffering, the rich oligarchs will increase their wealth and power. The worst will be climate change denial, affecting the entire world. Palestinians will bear the brunt of his lack of empathy, possibly being exterminated during his administration. Violent insurrectionists will be unleashed on the public. Protests will result in violence by the state against the protesters. Immigrant families will suffer greatly. Rather than make America great, the Trump administration represents the end of Empire as we have known it.