Now that the Supreme Court has ensured Trump cannot be removed from any state ballot based upon the insurrection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment and given that he is the most likely Republican nominee for president, it is to really time to think about what a second Trump term would look like. There have been many articles written about this and, in fact, The Atlantic, dedicated an entire issue to examining this question. That said, I am not convinced that most people, including many of Trump’s own supporters, fully understand the possible ramifications of another Trump term.
The real danger lies in the fact that Trump is really nothing more than a figurehead or a puppet for groups of conservatives who are intent on radically reformulating the Federal government to reflect their vision of a country driven by a biblical world view and far-right conservative principles. Trump, in addition to protecting him from all his legal problems, only cares about the adoration and the trappings of power that another presidency will bring him. He has no strategic vision and little interest in discussing policies other than deciding if they will benefit himself in some way.
There is a group, led by the conservative Heritage Foundation that has been working on a blueprint for a second Trump term called Project 2025. And outgrowth of this effort is an 887-page document called, “Mandate for Leadership: A Conservative Promise,” which goes into great detail about how they would change, eliminate, reformulate and basically weaponize every branch of government. I have not personally tackled this tome yet, but I came across an opinion piece in the New York Times written by Carlos Lozada who has gone through this volume in detail. I have included the link below.
I would encourage everyone to read this column to get a sense of what we might be in for if Trump is re-elected. In some respects, the book, “Mandate for Leadership,” seems like a collaboration between George Orwell (1984) and Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale). The democratic America that has stood the test of time for 250 years will become almost unrecognizable. The “land of the free” will take on a whole new meaning.
