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Vance, Miller, Hegseth and Noem are in key positions in the administration. The roles of Witkoff and Kushner. The rift after Kirk's assassination and the disagreements with Bannon and Musk...
If Donald Trump's first year in office hasn't changed the world, he has certainly reshaped the global balance with a series of decisions that, both at home and abroad, have brought about a sweeping reorganization of the world order.
From the moment the members of his second administration were announced, it was clear that it would be very different from his first term for a number of reasons. First of all, the people chosen for high positions all come from the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, while figures associated with the old Republican establishment do not hold important positions.
The choice of Vice President from Mike Pence to JD Vance is emblematic, but even theoconservative elements no longer have the influence they once had, a symptom of a Republican Party now monopolized by the Trumpian world.
The only prominent figure with a background in the Republican establishment is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but Trump’s other appointments all stem from the MAGA movement, starting with Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and a trusted adviser to the president. The same goes for Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem, the secretary of defense and secretary of homeland security, respectively.
Key figures in foreign policy during this first year in office have been Steve Witkoff, an early friend of Trump, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is very active in the Middle East.
Foreign policy, in particular, is one of the areas where there has been the greatest disruption since the first administration, which was more interventionist but different from that of Democrats or neoconservatives like Bush.
Trump has, in fact, acted with targeted interventions without imposing regime change from abroad, which, as the case of Libya shows, has led to disasters.
The "America First" vision (represented by tariffs on the economy) has given way to a "soft intervention" in foreign policy, which has led to a deep debate even within the world of Maga.
The divisions within the Trump movement erupted after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who, along with the president, represents one of the few strong figures in the MAGA movement. A concrete case is what happened a few weeks ago at America Fest, the major annual event of the Turning Point USA movement founded by Kirk (the first after his death).
On that occasion, the clash of power and vision within the Republican camp came to public light, with activist Ben Shapiro launching a scathing attack from the stage against Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly, claiming that “the conservative movement is in serious danger.” These words provoked a fierce reaction from those directly involved.
Added to these divisions is the one between the paleo-MAGA camp led by Steve Bannon and the techno-MAGA camp, whose flagbearer was Elon Musk, but whose main influences include figures like Peter Thiel, Yarvin Curtis, and Palantir CEO Alex Karp.
JD Vance is trying to reconcile these spirits, with considerable difficulty, both relationally and ideologically, as the techno-MAGA vision is difficult to reconcile with a Catholic approach. The vice president, however, is aware that, if he wants to aspire to be the next presidential candidate, he cannot afford to take sides in these disputes.
To understand Trump’s second administration and its choices, it’s also important to remember a significant shift from his first term: while in 2016 he was unfamiliar with the mechanics of power (as evidenced by the constant changes in his first administration), in 2024 he arrived with a very different approach. This is demonstrated by “Project 2025,” developed by the Heritage Foundation, which outlines the vision underlying the MAGA world.
In recent years, it would have been enough to read, listen, and try to understand what was happening in the Republican world, rather than approaching it ideologically, to better understand Trump's moves.
But we are only at the beginning; three more eventful years await us. /Adapted from Il Giornale /
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