It is Trump 2.0; risen like a phoenix, with a clear mandate to rule

The people of the United States have delivered their verdict; Donald Trump will be the 47^th President of that country, becoming only the second man ever (after Grover Cleveland in 1885 and 1893) to return to the White House after a gap term. He will also be the oldest man ever to assume the office of US president when he is sworn in on January 20, 2025.

There will be no violence; Trump’s opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic party presidential candidate, will not violently challenge the verdict, or try to stage a coup as Trump himself had done four years ago, when he lost the election to President Jo Biden.

And therein, perhaps, lies the difference. Throughout this campaign there was very clear messaging from Trump, a businessman, that he meant to focus on curbing inflation and focus on getting the economy growing and creating job opportunities. The undercurrent of likely violence remained just simmering below the surface.

Harris, already facing an uphill task as a woman of colour, in contrast, found herself stressing on the unacceptability of violence and the need for constitutional values.

She was also unable to offer radically new schemes to spur economic revival; while the economy had begun to perform under Biden, she was too much a part of the establishment to not be scarred by the inadequacies of the past four years, and was unable to offer a new vision.

Similarly, viewed as part of the establishment, she was unable to tackle the very real anger, even among the east and west coast academic institutions, which have been traditional Democratic strongholds, against Israel’s decimation of the Palestinian people. As a result, Gen Z, the first time, educated voters, Arab Americans and Muslims, generally, did not come out to vote for the Democratic nominee Harris. While governments of both parties traditionally support Israel; Trump particularly so during his first term, when he moved the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; Harris did not condemn the enormous violence on women and children adequately. She was seen as part of an establishment that was ineffective in reining in a rampaging Israeli government or bringing in a cease-fire in West Asia.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to congratulate his “friend” Donald Trump.

Congratulating the US President-elect Trump, Modi in a message said, “Heartiest congratulations my friend on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership,” Modi said in a post on X, the social media messaging platform owned by Elon Musk, an ardent supporter of and star campaigner for Trump.

In the wake of the ongoing violent conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, the Indian PM expressed the hope that they would be able to work together to restore peace in the conflict zones.

“Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi said in his congratulatory message.

While Modi is perceived to have a warm personal equation with Trump, even campaigning for him during the latter’s failed presidential bid in 2020 (“Ab ki baar, Trump Sarkar”) Trump is likely to focus on the economy and, as he did during his first term, ensure parity in tariffs, something Indian trade will need to get used to.

The India connection with this Trump administration will extend beyond the leaders. When Kamala Harris became Vice-President, she was the first person of colour, and partly Indian origin, to assume that office. Harris, who proudly flaunts her origins and the lessons she has learnt from her Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who was a first generation immigrant from Tamil Nadu, invoked her teachings frequently during her campaign.

While Harris had a Jamaican father, the new “second lady” of the US will be 40-year old Usha Chilukuri Vance, a lady entirely of Indian origin. Like Harris, she was born to first generation Indian immigrant parents and was a successful lawyer, like Harris, before she married J.D Vance, now the Vice-President elect. The residents of Vadluru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, erupted in joy on Wednesday as news of Trump’s victory became final, and look forward to a visit from her.

Sadly, the villagers of Thulasendrapuram, the village in Tamil Nadu from where Harris’s mother hailed, fell quiet and could not celebrate the victory of their candidate, despite prayers and offerings made for her on election day.

India’s bilateral relationship with the USA is among its closest strategic partnerships, spread across every sphere of activity. So while the world will closely watch to see how Trump 2.0 functions, it is unlikely that there will be radical changes in the way Indo – US bilateral ties develop.

— INDIA NEWS STREAM