Donald Trump and the New World Order - A Disturbing Assessment
On January 20, 2017, following his first election as President of the United States, Donald Trump delivered an inaugural address that was quite something, but was soon forgotten. After repeatedly renewing his “America First” call, he addressed the people of the United States and promised, with his characteristic naivety and political inexperience: “We are transferring power from Washington back to you, the people.”
Addressing both those present and the power elites who had boycotted the inauguration in protest, he declared, much to their silent outrage:
“For too long, a small group here, in our nation’s capital, has reaped the rewards while the people out there have paid the price. Washington was doing well, but the people could not share in that prosperity; the politicians were doing well, but jobs were moving away and factories were closing. The establishment has only protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories were not the victories of the people; their victories were not your victories. While they were celebrating here, in the capital of your country, there was little to celebrate for so many families out there across the country. All of that is changing right here and now.”[1]
Trump’s announcement to end “American carnage” deserves special attention, and he continued: “We will seek the friendship and goodwill of all nations in the world, but we do so knowing that it is the right of every nation to put its own interests first. We do not wish to impose our way of life on anyone, but we will let it stand as a shining example; we will shine as a shining example that all can follow. We will restore old alliances, form new alliances… The Bible teaches us how beautiful it is when the peoples of God live together in peace.”
Present were former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, as well as numerous cynical and deeply entangled politicians, business magnates, and media representatives. They had to endure Trump’s humiliating tirade, for standing before them was an American billionaire who had just been elected to the highest office in the U.S. and was boldly asserting his claim to power.
In the media, which had already been attacking Trump for months, his inaugural address was met with comments full of hatred and malice. “The ugly grimace of democracy,” headlined Stern; “Trump seeks enmity,” declared the Süddeutsche Zeitung uncritically; “Bitter, boastful, and banal,” wrote the British Guardian; the Neue Zürcher Zeitung stated “A risky experiment”; the Spiegel assessed Trump’s speech as a “declaration of indecency,” and so on in this vein.[2]
That a new era in world politics was about to begin at this point went unrecognized among the European elites, who remained connected to the networks of Clinton-Obama-Biden politics—to the detriment of Europe, especially Germany. The then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already called Trump a “hate preacher” during the campaign, and Chancellor Angela Merkel had vehemently championed the Russophobic rival candidate Hillary Clinton. The ARD Tagesschau now reported on worldwide demonstrations against the new U.S. president and that Hillary Clinton thanked the demonstrators “for standing up for ‘our values.’”[3] At least the Washington Post stated: “Trump vows to end ‘American carnage.’”
Trump in the Web of the Warmongers and Wall Street
Yet Trump, who turned against the deep state of his predecessors to push through his political agenda, soon found himself ensnared by the financial elites of Wall Street who had supported his campaign. During his first term, he was surrounded by hardliners such as the fundamentalist evangelical Vice President Mike Pence, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, and the “architect” of the Iraq War, John Bolton, as National Security Advisor.[4] In his second term, it is warmongers such as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Hegseth, an evangelical nationalist and former major in the Army National Guard, declared at the National Council of Young Israel in 2018: “Zionism and Americanism are the front lines of Western civilization and freedom in today’s world.”[5] Former Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, advocates an aggressive policy toward Cuba and is a professing Catholic, having been a Mormon in his youth and, at times, a Baptist as well. He runs a law firm as well as the consulting firm Rubio Consulting and is a partner at the consulting firm Florida Strategic Consultants.
Advised—and in many of his decisions apparently also guided—by such prominent ministers and other influential figures, Donald Trump has drifted further and further away from his original goals of seeking friendship with all nations, maintaining peace, and standing up for the well-being of the American people.
Even in his second inaugural address on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump still promised: “We will be the model for every nation,” and he repeated his accusations from January 20, 2017: “For many years, a radical and corrupt elite has robbed our citizens of power and wealth.” According to Trump, this was to change immediately under his presidency. He spoke of wars “that we will end” and of wars “that we will never get into.” He wanted to be “a peacemaker and unifier,” and the whole world would show “reverence and admiration” for the U.S., “the greatest civilization in history.”
However, Trump also said he would put the U.S. first, “…tax other countries to enrich our citizens,” and he invoked American exceptionalism once again. God had “saved” him from an assassination attempt “to make America great again,” and with his inauguration, a “golden age” had begun for the U.S.
Trump’s Politics of Chaos
Although Donald Trump has repeatedly turned against his predecessors in his inaugural addresses and in the period since, he nevertheless upholds the imperial claims of the U.S. and makes this unmistakably clear to the world in his boisterous manner. In the first year of his second term, he has announced rigorous measures that violate international law; for example, he intends to punish the BRICS nations and annex Canada, Greenland, and Panama. [6] He has imposed new sanctions, levied high import tariffs—which are causing major problems in supply chains—and demanded that European NATO member states increase their defense spending to five percent of gross domestic product, a goal that cannot be achieved without significant cuts to budgets for social services, education, culture, science, etc.
Furthermore, he—just like Germany—supplies Israel with weapons and condones the genocide of the Palestinians. He had Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro kidnapped and ordered airstrikes on Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is waging a proxy war against Iran with the support of the U.S., the U.K., and France. [7] In June 2025, he supported Israel’s attack on Iran (“Twelve-Day War”), which violated international law, and on February 28, 2028, he launched a murderous war against Iran together with Israel.
In addition, Donald Trump is causing chaos on stock markets and in the economy worldwide. It cannot be ruled out that he is doing so to confuse his opponents and to conceal, delay, or avert an impending collapse of the U.S. financial and economic system. He views China as his main adversary, though he evidently seeks to avoid a military conflict that could escalate into a multi-front war or even a nuclear war. Instead, he is relying on weakening economic power through isolation, high tariffs, and sanctions.[8]
On the other hand, Trump’s willingness to engage in dialogue with Russia and the end of the constant provocations that his predecessor, Joseph Biden, had taken to extremes are to be viewed positively. Moreover, the initial departure from the war policies of his predecessors and their advisors broke down entrenched structures, and real opportunities had opened up for the development of a new international security and peace architecture; however, these were not seized by European government policymakers and media—who remain entangled in U.S. and NATO networks—to the detriment of Europe, particularly Germany.
Trump seems to have recognized for some time that, for the plans to seize Russian resources and contain China, an understanding with Russia was preferable to a war with Russia. Hence the negotiations regarding the Ukraine conflict and the gradual rejection of Zelenskyy, whom Trump’s predecessor administrations had positioned against Russia. Apparently, he intended to use “deals” to achieve the outcome that his predecessors had failed to enforce with their policy of aggression.
The War on Iran
Trump’s greatest mistake was likely the U.S.’s entry, alongside Israel, into the war against Iran. Since then, his statements have become even more confused than before, and he vacillates between increasingly aggressive posturing and cautious concessions. He boastfully declared that “death, fire, and fury” would come upon Iran, which would never again be a nation, “we’ll break their bones.”[9] And revealingly: “…To be honest, I’d love to take the oil in Iran.”[10]
His Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, acts even more directly—and with extreme hypocritical zeal —as he leads an “American crusade” against Iran. In an interview with CBS News on March 8, 2026, he said that U.S. troops were supported by a “higher power.” The troops “need a connection to their almighty God in these moments.” At a press conference at the Pentagon, Hegseth quoted from Psalm 144: “Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”[11] The extremism of U.S. policy and the resulting global chaos are reaching devastating proportions.
Evidently, Trump shares the views of his Secretary of War; perhaps he, too, is now on the path to senile dementia. In his address to the nation on April 1, 2026, he threatened Iran: “We will send them back to the Stone Age, where they belong.” [12] In response, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Majid Mousavi, replied proudly and confidently on the social network X on April 2, 2026: “It is you who are driving your soldiers into the grave, not Iran, which you want to throw back into the Stone Age. Your Hollywood illusions have distorted your thinking so much that, with your insignificant 250-year history, you are threatening a civilization that is more than six thousand years old.”[13]
On April 4, Trump announced that “all hell would break loose” for the Iranians if they did not agree to a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz.[14] But Tehran initially rejected negotiations; instead, drone attacks followed against Israel, several Gulf states, and U.S. bases in the Gulf region. It is becoming increasingly clear that Trump has underestimated Iran’s resilience,[15] but that he is also trying to extricate himself from this untenable situation without losing face—it is highly questionable whether he will succeed. It looks more likely that he has been weakened and will not recover from his Iran debacle.
Outlook
Donald Trump has alienated all his allies and amassed a huge mountain of debt. And he has strengthened the defensive readiness of the U.S.’s adversaries. With its attacks on U.S. bases, Iran has created a new strategic situation: Anyone who supports the U.S. in its illegal campaigns by tolerating its military bases must expect consequences.
The result will be that even more countries than before will turn away from the U.S. and its self-centered policies that violate international law. China’s missiles are now aimed at U.S. bases in the Pacific, while Russia’s are aimed at military bases in Europe, particularly in Germany. In doing so, Trump has achieved the opposite of what he originally sought—there can be no longer any talk of peaceful coexistence among the peoples of the world.
It is becoming increasingly clear: what is currently unfolding is sad, shameful, and appalling. But it is neither coincidence nor fate. The current escalating global conflicts, driven by Western capital and economic elites, represent a fundamental clash between the collective West and the Global South, including Russia. The way out would be BRICS, and it is to be hoped that Europe’s leading politicians will finally realize that there is no alternative to turning away from the destructive policies of the U.S. and NATO.
The writer and journalist Dr. jur. Wolfgang Bittner lives in Göttingen. He is the author of numerous books, including “The New East-West Conflict,” “Germany—Betrayed and Sold Out,” “State of Emergency,” and “No One Should Go Hungry or Cold.”
Sources and Notes
Quoted from Welt Netzreporter, Jan. 20, 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMfGfhUNyLw (Apr. 3, 2026)
Stern, Press reactions to Trump: The ugly grimace of democracy, Jan. 21, 2017, www.stern.de/politik/ausland/pressestimmen-zu-trump----bitter--angeberisch-und-banal--7292694.html
ARD Tagesschau, “Rebellion in Pink,” Feb. 22, 2017, www.tagesschau.de/ausland/anti-trump-proteste-107.html
See Wolfgang Bittner, “The Conquest of Europe by the USA – A Strategy of Destabilization, Escalation, and Militarization,” expanded new edition, Westend 2017, p. 222 ff.
Cited as https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth, fn. 63 (April 2, 2026)
See www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/groenland-daenemark-unabhaengigkeit-usa-trump-100.html. Meanwhile, the U.S. financial investor BlackRock is said to have taken control of the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal.
See Wolfgang Bittner, “Geopolitics at a Glance: Germany-USA-EU-Russia,” Hintergrund Verlag, Berlin 2025, p. 139 ff.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqZoSqnm5Uo (April 2, 2026)
Cited as https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/13/politics/hegseth-iran-israel-war-american-crusade-analysis
Cited as www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/trump-rede-nation-102.html
Cited as https://freeassange.tech/der-nahe-osten/269469-liveticker-us-israel-krieg-gegen/, 5:53 PM
See www.zdfheute.de/politik/ausland/trump-usa-iran-krieg-drohung-ultimatum-strasse-von-hormus-100.html
See Peter Hänseler, https://forumgeopolitica.com/de/artikel/ein-lgenbaron-verkehrt-die-welt-und-verliert
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