Donald Trump is back with a vengeance. Having been impeached twice and convicted of 34 counts of felony since he left the White House, Trump’s clear victory in the 2024 presidential election affirms — as pundits now say — that he is not an aberration in America’s political history.
He is, as the results increasingly show, the deliberate choice of a majority of US voters.
Observers say President Trump 2.0 will be a more pronounced and unrestrained version of himself. The 47th US President has learned lessons from having been the 45th. He has vowed an America less involved with its allies’ entanglements, more focused on its own interests, and an administration with an iron grip. He’s threatened a ruthless crackdown on illegal migrants and his political opponents, whom he called “the enemy from within.”
What does this mean for US allies, including the Philippines? How will Trump’s America impact Filipinos in and outside the US? What’s in store for democracies around the world, now that the so-called leader of the free world is an unabashed autocrat?
Join Rappler senior multimedia reporter Bea Cupin as she talks to experts and veteran journalists about these questions. Joining her are Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug, Aquino administration political adviser Ronald Llamas and communications secretary Ricky Carandang, UP Diliman political science professor Herman Kraft, Nerve researcher and writer Gaby Baizas, Rappler+ member Patrick Lubenia, and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. Watch the panel discussion on Monday, November 11, at 6 pm. – Rappler.com