The President’s Men: US President Donald Trump has made appointments to his cabinet of people who are obsequious to him, the writer says.
20th of January 2026 signals one year in office in the 2nd term of office for United States of America
President Donald J Trump.
It feels way more than a year.
Trump tried to be statesmanlike in the first term. No such pretense this time around. Ruling with an iron fist, he has ensured anyone revealing just an iota of dissent is not tolerated.
Tariffs massively increased, accusing allies like Canada for deliberately allowing drugs into the United States (US), some of the most sycophantic appointments to his cabinet, establishment and then dissolution of the Department of Government Efficiency agency, establishment of the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency; which has operated like Brownshirt brigades terrorising American citizens and immigrants alike, creating a special refugee process for white Afrikaners from South Africa (SA) because of fake genocide and persecution, publicly dressing down foreign presidents in the Oval Office, denuding the White House press corps of critical journalists, threatening dismissal of late night television hosts who criticise the President, refusing to release the Epstein files; claiming to have stopped seven wars in seven months, crassly coveting the Nobel Peace Prize, insulting European countries, boycotting the G20 Summit in SA and then expelling SA from the forthcoming Summit, bombing Iranian nuclear power stations and Yemen on behalf of Israel; threatening Greenland and Denmark that if Greenland does not form part of the US, then the US will take it, instituting an illegal naval blockade off the Venezuelan coastline, accusing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a fictitious drug cartel, bombing Caribbean fishing boats off the coast of Venezuela suspected of being drug smugglers and in the final part of the year bombing Venezuela and American troops going in and abducting Maduro and his wife.
Unbelievable that this and so much more occurred in just one year. He’s built the largest global fundamentalist right wing movement in the world, despite the presence of the progressive global Palestinian solidarity movement.
Don’t marvel at Trump’s appetite for wickedness. Even in a democracy you can elect a person who decides not to follow any of the rules and believes they are a power within themselves and then you have what the world is currently witnessing – the US has seemingly entered the age of the Fourth Reich of the Roman Empire, with Trump as their Caesar!
What’s his gameplan? He is opening up so many flanks of animosity, that it cannot just be a crass power and resources grab.
Trump’s Make America Great Again philosophy or perspective does have a plan and logic. It is a plan that has particular objectives on the international plane, which directly feeds into addressing the attendant domestic challenges that are both historical and a consequence of his international actions.
Ostensibly though, for Trump and others if the US is not in charge of the world, then the US ceases to exist.
The rise of China and the creation of multilateral bodies outside of Western influence like BRICS and others, means for the first time since World War II, the US faces a real possibility of not being the world’s hegemonic power.
The US was never really threatened in the previous century’s Cold War with the erstwhile Soviet Union (Russia). China with its advancements in technology and exponential economic growth, especially, its Belt and Road Initiative, has created markets for itself across the world.
The Biden US administration got Europe and Canada to increase tariffs against China. So as to bully China to give up its technology (especially electric vehicles) and relinquishing their market share.
Trump discarded the strategy regarding Europe and Canada as a burden not an ally. Trump wants to choke China, cutting off its supply of natural resources. If China has a Belt and Road Initiative, then the sadomasochistic Trump has a Whips and Chains Initiative.
Venezuela reveals the plan. It explains his fixation with Iran and Greenland, as well as Israeli recognition of Somaliland near the Gulf of Aden.
All these theatres have an economic purpose to cut off trading routes to China. The US bombing in Nigeria could also be understood within a similar context. China will have to purchase oil and other natural resources through the US.
Prior to the invasion of Venezuela, most pundits believed the Democrats would win the 2026 November mid-term elections.
Things have dramatically changed since then. US oil refineries will directly benefit from Venezuelan oil. This will mean a lot more jobs. The US has enough oil through shale and tar pit sources and does not need Venezuela’s but it can raise revenue for export and control how much is sold to China.
This is the same plan with Greenland and Iran, or any other country that trades with China.
Venezuela is different to Iraq and Afghanistan, even though Trump has declared himself in charge of Venezuela. He is adamant that there will be no American troops on the ground, rather if Venezuela or any other do not abide by his decree, they will be bombed and if necessary abduct whomever seems to be the problem.
Trump has ruled like a dictator circumventing the Senate and the Congress. Initially testing it by raising tariffs without Congress approval against Mexico and Canada. He termed the fentanyl drug smuggling, as a national security threat to the US, allowing him to assume wartime powers. This is how he was able to justify his unilateral military actions in Venezuela.
The economy seems to be bouncing back, increasing the likelihood of the Republicans retaining the Congress and Senate in the midterm elections. Trump will then seek absolute obedience to the US or direct punitive reprisals.
What does this mean for SA? Despite the Government of National Unity, consisting of significant political parties supportive of Trump, President Ramaphosa, has navigated this period remarkably well.
Clearly Trump is a bully and loyal to no-one. He discarded close allies like Elon Musk without a second’s thought. The adage that you can never appease a bully rings true.
Appeasement only succeeds in the bully demanding more. SA has continued with the genocide case at the ICJ, hosted a highly successful G20 Summit, with the European contingent coming out in full support of SA against Trump.
Even if SA allowed a junior US official to receive the G20 gavel, Trump would have still refused for SA to attend the next G20 Summit. SA remains firmly in BRICS with China and Russia and relations with India have improved.
The political party of Cyril Ramaphosa, the African National Congress (ANC) is the problem. Many South Africans don’t trust the ANC. Yet the ANC is the most sophisticated of operators on the international level. It has massive levels of influence, trust and power on all global platforms. South Africans want the ANC’s Congress movement, but not the ANC.
We need to welcome the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa’s (NUMSA) initiative to bring together the various trade unions and political parties with roots within the liberation and Congress movement.
The ANC was a broad church of progressive people and organisations, which was a crucial part of its success. It began losing its ideological certainty when it just was a broad church not necessarily one of progressives. It attracted all sorts of characters.
For this initiative to succeed it will require at least two ingredients. Firstly, it must be composed of progressive organisations. As in the 80s the ANC refused to embrace Inkatha because it was tribal, so to, this initiative should not include Inkatha nor Zuma’s MK Party.
Secondly, even though parties differ in size and support; egos and party political objectives must be put aside so that it is not restricted to creating an electoral coalition. Rather a broad movement is created that should decide who the candidates for public office in the local government elections should be.
SA’s fragile and often petty internal politics are failing South Africans. If a new progressive movement is not created, then if and when Trump decides to take action in South Africa, he may just have a SA government and people praising him for annexing it!
Donovan E Williams is a social commentator. @TheSherpaZA on X.