The Godfather in the White House

In the buildup to his first term as President of the US Donald Trump boasted that he could shoot someone and still maintain his popular appeal in America. The same Donald Trump was captured on tape saying that he could grab women by their vaginas and get away with it. Rumors abounded about the existence of a golden shower tape staring -you guessed it- none other that Donald Trump. Then of course there were the two impeachments which gave President Trump the dubious distinction of being a bona-fide felon.

On November 4, 2024 more than half of the American public went to the polls and elected this known felon to the highest political office in the America. No amount of rhetoric about the trial being a witch hunt or about the Biden crime family using its political clout to silence a political rival negates the fact that President Trump was tried and found guilty of not one but thirty-four counts of criminal behavior. President Trump’s reelection has however effectively swept all his criminal malfeasance under the carpet and it is unlikely that he will have to face any real consequences for his criminal actions.

President Trump has been likened to a criminal version of Mr. Magoo who bungles his way through crime after crime but always somehow managing to escape any consequences. The two impeachments and the thirty-four guilty verdicts in the Stormy Daniels illegal use of campaign funds case proves that President Trump soars in the rarified air of political untouchability seldomly reached by political actors in supposedly democratic societies.

The entire world has been afforded the privilege of having front row seats at the great unravelling of the American revolution. The same nation that historically claimed the title of bastion of democracy now finds itself in the advance stages of repudiation of many of its fundamental democratic principles. It is becoming apparently clear that the permissive cornucopia spoken of so eloquently by Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book Out of Control is deconstructing right before our eyes.

President Trump’s America first policy is as clear a sign as any that he wants to create a new world order in which American interests will trump the interests of any other nations whether that nation be friend or foe. The tariff regime rolled out by the Trump administration so far has been a wake-up call for tradition allies of the US. Clearly the Trump administration is no longer willing to accept European freeloading on security issues. In true godfather style President Trump has introduced a sledgehammer into global economic and military affairs.

Trump is on record suggesting that America should take control of Iraq’s vast resources of oil as repayment for US military escapades in Iraq. The quid-pro-quo controversy has been reanimated in Ukraine as President Trump attempts to make a deal with President Zelensky that would guarantee American access to rare earth elements and other minerals in Ukraine. President Trump has dispensed with the niceties of talking about bringing democracy to the world and has focused more on making America rich again through access to global resources.

Perhaps more troubling for Trump detractors is the tendency of the Trump administration to be laser focused on its perceived enemies domestic and foreign. Non- American students who took part in the pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses are being targeted for deportation. Veiled and not so veiled threats are also being made to anti-Trump politicians, media personalities, comedians, and even nations.

Nations and individuals who refuse to buy into the vision of the Trump administration are fast learning that Trump’s hand is just as long as Netanyahu’s. Caribbean politicians have been warned that their access to the US may be restricted if the Caribbean maintains its strong ties with the Cuban government. South Sudanese US visas have already been revoked due to South Sudan’s refusal to accept repatriated citizens from the US. A number of African countries including Zimbabwe has been forced to drop their tariffs on American products courtesy of the new Trump tariff regime.

It is almost a certainty that the retaliatory policies of the Trump administration will pick up momentum in the coming months as President Trump uses the power of the American state to go after and punished his perceived enemies. The hand writing is already on the wall for Blacks faces in high places in the US. High profile Blacks have been and will continue to be on President Trump’s radar. Imaginary witch hunts from the Biden administration will evolve into real witch hunts under President Trump. Maybe the Obamas should be thinking of relocating to Burkina Faso or some other country with an animus against the Western powers.

President Trump’s apparent legal immunity coupled with his control over the most powerful military force present in the contemporary world makes him the ultimate godfather. President Trump, as president of the US, currently controls the Senate the House of Representatives and is fortunate to have a Supreme Court with a conservative majority. As the godfather in the White House, President Trump is already challenging the courts with his controversial executive orders. The argument is being advance that President Trump has a mandate from a majority of Americans that is not matched by the authority of the courts.

Democrats in the US, who have been missing in action since January 20, seem to be finding their voice and are rallying the troops in a rearguard action against the current threats to “democracy” in the US. Black supporters of the Democratic Party are awakening to a reality that they are the losers under Democratic “crime families” and perhaps greater losers when a godfather like President Trump sits in the White House. Our great ancestor Malcolm X reminded Black people living in America that under both scenarios they remain the victims of America.

Lenrod Nzulu Baraka is the Founder of Afro-Caribbean Spiritual Teaching Center and the author of the Black Paradigm: New Thinking for a New Age.