It has been less than a year since Donald Trump became president of the United States, and he has already turned the country upside down. In November, his administration released a new national security strategy that redefines the goals of US foreign policy.
Decades-long partners of the US, such as Europe, have had to realize that US support can no longer be taken for granted. Instead is being offered only when Trump senses a good deal for his country. What matters is "America First," or, as the slogan for his first 2016 election campaign said, "Make America Great Again" (MAGA).
A great deal has also changed in domestic politics since Trump took office on January 20, 2025. Masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drag people out of their cars or arrest them in the streets. Where large crowds protest such actions, the president sends in the National Guard.
Media outlets that refuse to report in a manner favorable to Trump are sued or shamed online.
Measures to promote the inclusion of employees with disabilities or to advance diversity in companies (known as DEI programs) have been abolished across government institutions.
Under Trump, diversity is considered liberal, or "woke". For the US President and his supporters, these values are a red rag as MAGA is not just a slogan, it is a worldview.
Still, the MAGA movement is not a monolithic entity. Different currents have their own specific concerns. President Trump may be the front man, but the MAGA ideology is backed by a multitude of powerful groups and individuals who are all fighting for their own causes.
The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing nationalist think tank based in Washington, D.C., has dedicated itself "to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."
The think tank is also the force behind "Project 2025," a plan published in 2023 outlining how a conservative US president could reshape the government. Although Trump emphasized during the election campaign that he had nothing to do with the project, he started implementing many of its ideas shortly after taking office.
Members of Trump's administration, such as press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, previously worked for the Heritage Foundation. Vought was one of the leading architects of "Project 2025."
The Heritage Foundation also donated $1 million (around €850,000) to the Republican National Convention, where Trump was officially confirmed and celebrated as the presidential candidate in the summer of 2024.
Among other things, "Project 2025" envisions a vastly reduced government in which employees can be dismissed more easily and a more powerful president. As part of the DOGE initiative, which was intended to make the US government more efficient, thousands of government employees were fired during the first weeks of Trump's second term.
Trump also at times disregards court rulings blocking his policies or dismisses the heads of government agencies he disagrees with.
"Project 2025" also calls for restrictions on abortion rights. This is particularly important for evangelical Christians who have been among Trump's most loyal supporters for a long time.
Evangelical Christians form a powerful lobby in the United States, and the vast majority of them vote Republican. That is likely the reason why Trump does not want to alienate them on issues such as abortion.
The fact that Trump has publicly admitted to enjoying groping women, or that he has five children with three different women, does not seem to be an issue for this group. What matters is that he is advancing what they believe in.
In autumn 2020, just a few weeks before the presidential election at the end of his first term, Trump nominated a judge known for her opposition to abortion to the Supreme Court. In June 2022, the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority of six justices, including three appointed by Trump, overturned the nationwide right to abortion. Since then, it has been up to the states to decide whether and under what conditions abortions are permitted.
A further step that may be due to the influence of evangelical Christians was the appointment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He previously described himself, an evangelical Christian, as a "Christian warrior." Since he took office, he has barred transgender people from serving in the military, and, according to media reports, praised statements made by a pastor opposing women's right to vote. Critics see the growing influence of evangelicals on the US government as a threat to the separation of church and state.
Blogger and software developer Curtis Yarvin appears to have inspired some of Trump’s ideas. Yarvin argues that democracy is an outdated concept and that the state should instead be run like a company by a CEO. In this scenario, there would no longer be an electorate, but rather customers with the right to terminate their contract. After all, anyone who dislikes their boss — that is, the government — can simply move away.
Before the 2024 election, Trump joked that if people voted for him this time, they would not have to vote again afterward.
Yarvin also came up with the idea of turning the Gaza Strip into a holiday paradise. In April 2024, he proposed expelling the Palestinian people from Gaza and transforming the area into a luxury resort. Then, in February 2025, Trump took the same approach with his idea of turning Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East.
Peter Thiel, founder of the online platform PayPal, also considers democracy to be inefficient. The billionaire, who was born in Germany, donated $1.25 million (around €1 million) to Donald Trump in various ways during the 2016 election campaign. In 2024, however, he did not donate to any political campaigns. At the time, he had already spent large amounts of money, such as $15 million (around €13 million) on JD Vance's Senate campaign. Vance's success in the Senate ultimately earned him the position of Vice President. For Thiel, a smart long-term investment.
Thiel's ideas that politics should give corporations and tech companies free rein, are already reflected in the current US administration's policies. Vance recently criticized the EU's Digital Services Act, which could result in a million-dollar fine for social media platform X.
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This article was originally published in German.
