By Kenneth Tiven
America’s standing in the world is more precarious today than at any point since the end of the Second World War. Through its policies, personnel, and posture, the Donald Trump administration has accomplished what America’s wartime adversaries once hoped for: a diminished, isolated nation that dismisses democracy, both at home and abroad.
Now, 80 years later, in his second term, President Trump has allowed the arch-conservative Heritage Foundation to blueprint the restoration of an imagined past. Project 2025 is, in truth, a blueprint for 1925—an attempt to erase a century of social, legal, and scientific progress in a country of 340 million people. Its agenda bypasses laws, due process, and the separation of powers foundational to the US Constitution.
The administration’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) lays bare the ideological currents guiding this shift. Required of every incoming administration, the NSS is meant to articulate America’s global priorities. Instead, it delivers a document steeped in grievance and nationalism—denouncing Europe for aiding refugees, criticizing global internet regulations, and defining American power through cultural confrontation rather than cooperative security.
Yale historian Timothy D Snyder notes the report reads like a Russian national security strategy.
The Economist warns that its 33 pages should make America’s allies “panic”.
The NSS arrives on Capitol Hill as both a warning and a window. Trump’s cover letter borders on the fictional; the text that follows is arguably the most racially charged federal document since Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.
Much of its world view is already visible in domestic policy. Racial and gender equity initiatives have been rolled back. Scientific expertise has been sidelined. Public health guidance is undermined by ideological crusades that risk new epidemics. Federal agencies are now helmed by loyalists chosen for ideology or political donations—rarely for experience.
AN ELECTORATE WAKING UP
With the 2026 mid-terms approaching, Democrats see opportunity, while Republi cans see risk. The election of Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, as mayor of New York City underscores the power of younger voters disillusioned with traditional politics. Recent state and local elections revealed unexpectedly strong Democratic gains, suggesting that many 2024 voters have exchanged political “sunglasses” for corrective lenses—seeing more clearly the governing style they once treated as performance.
Trump’s own economic messaging grows more erratic. He promised to “lower prices on day one,” yet dismisses affordability concerns as a “hoax”. This from a man whose business career is defined by bankruptcies—including a casino.
At 79, with visible cognitive and physical decline and surrounded by advisers fearful of his temper, Trump often speaks unfiltered—improvising policy mid-speech or mid-tweet. His administration remains clouded by the fallout from the Epstein files, prompting increasingly theatrical attempts at distraction. “Sink the Boats,” his directive to attack alleged drug smuggling vessels in the South Atlantic, feels lifted from the political-satire film Wag the Dog.
THE ECONOMY: TWO REALITIES
The administration insists the economy is booming. Treasury officials echo Trump’s refrain: “You’ve never had it better.” Yet the data—and public sentiment—tell a different story.
Inflation tracks the rising cost of goods and services—your candy bar that costs two rupees more or weighs 10 grams less.
Affordability reflects emotion: whether your pay cheque feels smaller when buying cars, groceries, or appliances that now cost dramatically more.
In a rambling 90-minute speech in a luxury casino in rural Pennsylvania, Trump painted immigration as an existential threat and praised North Korea’s sealed borders. Meanwhile, tariffs drive up prices, immigration agents conduct sweeping arrests with little regard for civil rights, and a chaotic drug war simmers offshore.
A retired military veteran and Trump supporter summed up the administration’s stance on civil liberties: “Illegal immigrants are criminals. They have no rights. The people accidentally swept up are collateral damage.”
This world view—binary, punitive, tribal—defines not just immigration policy, but the nation’s political geography. Red and blue are no longer adequate descriptors. The United States is fracturing into factions and sub-tribes, each claiming exclusive ownership of patriotism, legitimacy, or truth. On an increasingly crowded planet, the consequences stretch far beyond America’s borders.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels
The post America Unmoored: How Project 2025 Rewrites a Century of Progress appeared first on India Legal.