One hundred days of Trump: Is the American president now really ruling not only the USA, but the entire world?

Trump is imposing tariffs, placing himself above the American Constitution, harassing Canada, giving Europe the cold shoulder, and threatening to betray Ukraine. Almost everything he said in the first 100 days of his second term triggered all kinds of emotions and operational frenzy. America and the world seem to have changed fundamentally in a very short time.

The disruptive policies of the new administration in Washington have only one component: Trump's determination to assert himself – especially against allies. In return, Washington's emissaries court their opponents. The freedom of the MAGA movement is ruthless. Liberal democracy and free trade have little place in a worldview that prioritizes one's own happiness.

Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to maintain an “analytical distance” from the upheavals in the USA, as Federal Councillor Cassis demands from his diplomats in the Foreign Ministry:

The geopolitical development under Trump is unpredictable; the USA is not withdrawing, but is acting as an aggressive superpower.

Donald Trump is completing what Vladimir Putin started: power politics is prevailing “against a sophisticated balance of the interests of all internationally active subjects,” as the Russian president put it at the Munich Security Conference in 2007 .

The multipolar world order advocated by the Russian president at the time is replacing the cooperative security system of the postwar era. Washington appears to want to exercise direct control over its "near abroad," similar to Moscow's: Trump is pressuring—at least rhetorically—Panama, Canada, and, with particular emphasis, Greenland.

At the same time, the United States is decisively turning its security policy to the challenges it perceives as the most immediate threat. The latest analysis by the intelligence community ranks the fight against criminal groups in Central America first. China follows Russia as a power-political challenge. NATO is portrayed as a risk factor for an escalation of the war in Europe.

European states have therefore begun a long-overdue rearmament. France and Great Britain, the former Entente Cordiale, have taken the lead, along with Poland. The EU's "Rearm Europe" program is expected to provide a large portion of the funding. However, NATO will remain the operational link so that European armies can even deploy together.

Georg Häsler

In the major cities of the USA, concern about the president's erratic course is spreading across all sections of the population.

There's a growing sense of alarm in Chicago. An acquaintance who works for the Pentagon speaks of self-censorship. As a precaution, she deletes all posts on her social media accounts that could be interpreted as "left-wing," "woke," or "anti-Trump"; during business Zoom calls, she makes sure nothing suspicious—such as a rainbow picture of her daughter—is visible in the background or on her desk.

The situation is similar at the university. Lecturers weigh every word with a gold-plated scale, because there are well-organized informants among the audience who keep track of all sensitive statements and publish lists of professors they consider too "progressive." Most would transfer to a university in Europe tomorrow if the opportunity arose.

The rich complain that they've lost money due to falling stock prices, and the poor complain that inflation hasn't improved and, because of tariffs, is likely to get worse. Business people are stressed because long-term planning has become almost impossible due to the customs chaos. International travel is being reduced to the bare minimum because you never know if there might be problems re-entering the US. For the same reason, people in the tourism industry are worried: the number of visitors to the US has plummeted. Panic is also spreading among immigrants, even those with legal residency status. Deportation can happen to anyone, is the credo.

Last but not least, journalists are also worried. Trump hates the "mainstream media." Correspondents fear their visas will be revoked, as has already happened to many foreign students.

David Signer, Chicago

Trump's protectionist reindustrialization policy is causing the world's strongest economy to experience a self-inflicted bout of weakness.

Just over a hundred days ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was still forecasting growth of 2.7 percent for the United States in 2025. The high-tech and service industries seemed to be left behind. But then, in his inauguration speech, Donald Trump said the United States was on the verge of collapse and needed to undergo radical change. Now the IMF is (optimistically) expecting growth of 1.8 percent.

With almost revolutionary fury, Trump and his administration apparently want to force the US to become a much more self-sufficient nation and a heavy industrial country again. The American Rust Belt should once again produce steel and build cars. Trump sees high tariffs as the panacea for this. The focus of Trump's anger is the Chinese "workbench of the world," but his desire for a radical transformation of foreign trade relations extends beyond the rest of the world. Trump also seems to be toying with the idea of ​​weakening the dollar through radical market interventions.

The shock to the markets is deep. Uncertainty has increased dramatically in every respect. Inflation expectations for the next twelve months have risen by 2 percentage points, and even a slide into recession would no longer be surprising. This caused US stock prices to collapse, while those of European companies improved. The dollar lost 5 percent of its value on a trade-weighted basis.

Now investors seem to be hoping that dealmaker Trump isn't so serious after all and is actually looking for bilateral free trade agreements. And that tax cuts and deregulation will revitalize the American economy, and that Washington doesn't want to jeopardize the dollar's status as the leading global currency. However, if things turn out differently and the loss of confidence continues, liquidity bottlenecks and even a financial crisis must be expected. The revolution threatens to devour its own children.

Peter A. Fischer

Under Trump 2.0, there are no longer any taboos. America's tech companies are trying to take advantage of this.

"All bets are off" is an American saying from the horse racing world, and it perfectly describes Trump's new start in the White House: Anything is possible. What was previously considered certain in the US is no longer valid.

While Trump often shot himself in the foot during his first term in office, Trump 2.0 is sprinting ahead at a breathtaking pace: 130 executive orders in 100 days, mass dismissals of civil servants, freezing billions of dollars in research funding, mass deportations of migrants, exorbitant tariffs against partner countries.

Trump also shows no mercy to political opponents: Those who once disagreed with the 2020 election lie are now being prosecuted. A similar witch hunt is underway against undesirable law firms . Trump doesn't even stop at the judiciary; he's ignoring court rulings and just had a district judge arrested.

He wants to annex the Panama Canal, Greenland, even Canada like a Roman general. There are no taboos anymore. Trump even openly advertises that access to the White House—specifically, an evening with him— can be bought with the cryptocurrency Trump Memecoin .

Tech companies are profiting from this "pay to play" approach. With expensive lobbying in Washington and millions in donations, they have established a direct line to the White House – and thus managed to exempt their products from the new tariffs. Big Tech is also relying on Trump's investment as a shield against the fines and regulations.

What's the strategy behind all this chaos? Politicians, academics, journalists, and, yes, even lobbyists are desperately trying to see the big picture—and predict what the superpower might do next.

The lesson after 100 days: There is no master plan. Trump makes decisions alone and spontaneously. For the next 100 days, and those after that, we must remember that there is only one maxim: Anything is possible.

Marie-Astrid Langer, San Francisco