Donald Trump made a post on the social networking site Truth Social in February of 2024, nine months prior to his election to a second term as president of the United States. He wrote,
“We should never give money again without the expectation of repayment or without strings attached.”
“America’s United States should stop being “dumb”!”
The authorities persisted in their crackdown on anyone alleged to have violated labor, border, and residency laws, including by arbitrarily detaining and expelling foreign people based only on their irregular immigration status. The Ministry of Interior reports that out of the roughly 777,000 foreign nationals detained for “violating labor, residency, and border security” laws between January and December, at least 468,000 were sent back to their countries of origin. Over 40,000 foreigners were detained during that time for illegally entering Saudi Arabia from Yemen, the majority of whom were Ethiopian and Yemeni nationals.
Foreign policy under Trump 2.0
The European Union and its allies may find themselves isolated in their attempts to defend Western democratic ideals as a result of Trump’s unpredictable personality, anti-European administration, and propensity to cozy up to autocrats and authoritarian leaders. In response, the EU should strengthen its frameworks for managing crises, give priority to international cooperation in finding solutions, and advocate for laws that uphold human rights and promote stability in the region. Many Nepali migrant workers who were hired to work at Amazon warehouses suffered grave violations of their human rights, including treatment that would have been considered human trafficking for labor exploitation. Before they left Saudi Arabia, the workers were misled by recruitment firms regarding the nature of their employer and the terms and conditions of their employment. They were also living in completely subpar housing and had their wages withheld by outside contractors. Some experienced physical or verbal abuse, or threats of violence, especially when they voiced grievances about their housing and working conditions.
Challenges to global advocacy
Trump also mainly ignored international treaties, weakened multilateral organizations, and abandoned programs to defend civilians under authoritarian governments between 2016 and 2020. For instance, due to what former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called a “chronic bias against Israel,” the US withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2018. The UN Population Fund, the UN Program on HIV/AIDS, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, and ultimately the WHO, from which he sought to remove the US completely, all saw severe financial cuts as a result of this. Now that Trump has won a second term, the US is probably going to resume its impetuous and combative diplomatic strategy. Similar to Hungary’s strategy, America’s possible lack of commitment to democratic alliances may assist its strategic objectives by lessening Hungary’s dependency on multilateral frameworks. Furthermore, it is conceivable that human rights policies could give way to ones that put American strategic interests ahead of fundamental liberties and respect for international diplomatic norms. When it came to marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, among other legal and practical issues, discrimination against women persisted. Fathers are automatically designated as their children’s guardians under the nation’s Personal Status Law. The father is named the child’s legal guardian without giving any thought to the child’s best interests, even though the mother is automatically given custody in the event of a breakup.
The void in human rights
An appeals court reversed a previous decision in February that had given custody of her kid to US citizen Carly Morris. Article 128 of the Personal Status Law, which stipulates that a custodian forfeits custody if they relocate and the child’s best interests are not taken into account, served as the foundation for the decision. However, Trump’s politicized approach to gender issues now includes his resurgent opposition to women’s rights, particularly reproductive freedom. Attacks against his opponent Kamala Harris throughout the election campaign were often motivated by racial and sexual stereotypes. He has openly expressed his support for overturning Roe v. Wade on a social level; human rights organizations caution that this could go even beyond, such as limiting access to birth control. The conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation’s pro-Trump “Project 2025” guidebook serves as a major foundation for this philosophy.
Trump’s approach to diplomacy
By leaving the United Nations Global Compact on Migration in 2017, the US withdrew from global migration cooperation. As a result, Washington is unlikely to provide any assistance to displaced peoples in the upcoming years, even in the face of intensifying hostilities in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Horn of Africa. In order to stop “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the country, Trump implemented an “extreme vetting” strategy during his previous term. This involved the US requiring refugees from Muslim-majority nations to take a religious test, giving preference to Christians and members of minority religions over Muslims.