When Donald Trump returns to the White House for a second term as president, his impact will be felt in many aspects of American life and around the world.
Everything from abortion to immigration to the environment to gun control to LGBTQ+ rights is at stake as Trump and his allies return to power.
Here is a list of the main threats that Trump represents:
Idaho’s extreme abortion ban could spread nationwide
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, it cleared the way for more than a dozen states to ban nearly all abortions. Although these bans allow abortions in emergencies, the terms and fear of criminal consequences force doctors to simply watch patients’ conditions worsen.
Now, federal regulation of abortion could be next. While President Trump’s position on a national ban is not entirely clear (he has reversed himself multiple times on the issue), the Trump administration does not need Congress to attack abortion access nationwide. Dew.
Project 2025, Trump’s right-wing strategy for his second term, proposes banning the shipment of abortion pills, using the Comstock Act of 1873, which makes it illegal to mail abortion-related materials. These pills account for about two-thirds of abortions in the United States.
If fully enacted, the Comstock Act could ban not only the pill but also the very equipment that clinics need to do their jobs, and President Trump is using the bill to create a nationwide ban. There is a possibility that the above abortion ban will be implemented.
President Trump could also undermine the Emergency Medical Labor Act (Emtara), a federal law that protects access to emergency abortions. It has been at the center of a legal debate over Idaho’s extreme anti-abortion law, which recently reached the Supreme Court. The court restored the right for doctors in Idaho to perform a broader range of emergency abortions, but left the door open to revisiting Emtala in the future.
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Mass deportations could hit immigrants hard
Raids and mass deportations are central to President Trump’s vision for a second term.
He has vowed to reinstate and expand some of his most controversial immigration policies, including a travel ban targeting mostly Muslim countries. He has consistently promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.” “Mass deportation now!” were his frequently repeated phrases. It became a rallying cry at the Republican National Convention this summer.
President Trump has provided few details about his plan to expel “probably as many as 20 million people.” But in public statements and interviews, he and his allies have detailed a vision that is consistent with the plans laid out in Project 2025. As Mr. Trump has said, this strategy could include unusual use of the U.S. military for immigration enforcement, border security, and claims. A major wartime nation in the 18th century.
Immigrant advocates and leaders say they are better prepared and better organized than they were during his first term. Groups are already considering legal action against key parts of his immigration policy, and activists say they have learned how to capitalize on public outcry.
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President Trump could embark on a ‘catastrophic’ rollback of LGBTQ+ rights
During his first term, President Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military. He has promised to launch even more aggressive attacks on LGBTQ+ rights if re-elected.
President Trump has ordered all federal agencies to end programs that “facilitate gender transition at all ages,” cut funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care, and ensure that the government does not make transgender people legal. He pledged to push for federal legislation that would prohibit LGBTQ+ rights and order the revocation of federal LGBTQ+ rights. Non-discrimination policy.
Meanwhile, Project 2025 calls for replacing the Biden-Harris policy with one that supports “full heterosexual marriage.”
Legal scholars have warned that marriage equality could be further threatened under the Trump administration, especially with the opportunity to appoint additional judges.
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He will undermine efforts to slow climate change
President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord during his first term, destroying progress made in negotiations. A second term for President Trump would be a disaster for efforts to slow the climate crisis.
Project 2025 highlights the myriad ways the administration could negatively impact environmental policy, from ramping up oil, gas and coal to shutting down the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the government agency that measures how much temperatures are rising. was outlined.
President Trump, who called the climate crisis a “hoax” and “one of the biggest frauds in history,” would, among other things, “drill, baby, drill” to end Biden’s moratorium on liquefied natural gas export terminals, etc. I promised. And his four-year term comes just at a time when the planet needs to accelerate efforts to curb climate change.
Climate scientists say emissions need to be cut by 2030 to stay on track for Paris. Trump’s term will be extended until 2029.
The climate impacts may not be immediate, but will be felt for years to come.
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freedom of the press will be threatened
President Trump has consistently attacked mainstream news organizations and used conservative media outlets for political purposes during his first term and as a candidate. He threatened to weaken libel laws and called news organizations “fake news” and “enemies of the people.” There is nothing to suggest that Mr. Trump, who has been re-elected, will tone down his aggressiveness.
In recent weeks, President Trump has called for CBS News to have its broadcast license revoked as punishment for broadcasting edited responses to an interview with Democratic rival Kamala Harris, and other stations are expected to suffer the same fate. he threatened.
This rhetoric, and President Trump’s past actions, led one science journalist to consider whether press freedom and democracy should be added to the “danger list.”
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Sensible gun safety policies could be reversed
As president, Joe Biden oversaw the passage of the first major federal gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years. Advocates now worry that those policies could be easily reversed if Trump and Republicans in Congress win this election.
In his second term, his supporters say he would immediately shut down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was created in 2023 and overseen by Kamala Harris, and replace gun industry-friendly leaders with alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. I hope that he will be nominated as director of the Bureau of Materials. . It could also block enforcement of the law Biden signed and roll back some of the administration’s efforts to expand background checks.
Gun safety advocate Angela Ferrell Zavala said President Trump’s second term would have to be a “hell of a fight” to ensure progress on “common basic gun safety measures.” said to mean.
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US cities are at risk of military occupation
President Trump has threatened to use his executive powers to take control of cities run primarily by Democrats, use federal immigration authorities to carry out mass deportations, and obliterate the progressive criminal justice policies of leftist prosecutors. There is. He has threatened to deploy the National Guard to fight protests and crime in cities and has threatened to act unilaterally without waiting for requests from mayors and governors.
“In cities where law and order have completely broken down… we will not hesitate to deploy federal agents, including the National Guard, until security is restored,” Trump said in his campaign platform.
Mayors and prosecutors in several U.S. cities are collaborating on strategies to minimize the impact. But Levar Stoney, the Democratic mayor of Richmond, Virginia, said, “It’s very difficult to protect your city from tyranny.”
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Biden-era gains like the Inflation Control Act would be repealed.
President Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, called the Biden administration’s Inflation Control Act, a $370 billion bill aimed at accelerating the transition to clean energy, a “green energy scam.” That’s despite millions of dollars of climate investment in Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio.
Congressional Republicans are trying to water down the bill, and Project 2025 is calling for its repeal under the Trump administration.
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Public lands will be opened up to oil and gas production
Early plans suggested that if Trump were re-elected, the Department of the Interior, which is responsible for protecting national parks, wildlife refuges and endangered species, would be dismantled. The department is the focus of a chapter in Project 2025, a policy document that also calls for the restoration of President Trump’s energy-driven policies, reduction of national monument designations and weakening protections for endangered species.
When President Trump takes office, he will likely reverse the efforts made by the Biden administration on the environmental transition and protection of public lands. Trump’s second term could mean cutting regulations, weakening environmental protections and, in Trump’s words, “training, baby, training.”
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US protest movement could face severe repression
Since the death of George Floyd and the racial justice protests that followed in 2020, Republican-led states have expanded anti-protest laws, pushed by the party’s standard-bearer, Mr. Trump.
Trump campaigned on a platform that included quelling protests, vowing to deploy the National Guard to areas where “law and order” had broken down. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a key ally of President Trump, called for the National Guard to be used against students protesting Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
In his second term, President Trump could put pressure on Republicans in Congress to pass legislation that would direct a military response to protests and impose nationwide penalties like the one already in place in Tennessee. There is. The Republican-led state passed a bill that would create new felonies for protest encampments on state property, among other things.
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he will bring instability to foreign policy
During President Trump’s first term, his brand of “America First” politics caused instability among both partners and adversaries. NATO members said the United States had never been seen as an “unpredictable ally.”
His second term could bring further instability as conflicts intensify around the world, including escalating wars in the Middle East and continued war between Russia and Ukraine.
In 2018, President Trump threatened to withdraw from NATO in an effort to force member states to increase defense spending. Earlier this year, he hinted that he would let Russia do “whatever it wants” to countries he says are under-contributing to NATO. Trump’s victory is likely to threaten NATO’s cohesion.
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Jude Blanchett, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there is a possibility that President Trump is surrounded by “advisors who are very likely to be hawkish on China and pro-Taiwan.” Point out that it is expensive. But Blanchett says even if Harris had been elected to the White House, U.S.-China relations would likely have been strained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will no longer have to deal with U.S. opposition to expanding Israeli control of the West Bank. Khaled Elgindi, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said annexation of the West Bank would become a “more active possibility” under the Trump administration. If President Trump were to win, it is less clear whether the Israeli prime minister would mobilize the United States for a decisive strike against Iran’s nuclear program, a long-held goal.
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