Politics Post your predictions for the next 4 years of Trump's 2nd tenure as President

Ban gender affirming care for youth, ban trans athletes. Possibly ban for adults as well. End federal funds for colleges that teach curricula right opposed. Ban flying rainbow flag on government buildings. Greatly reduce food safety enforcement and end attempts to improve conditions of animals. No more federal funds to test rape kits.

 

The Bucks will win the lottery and draft Cooper Flagg.

 

Damn they cheated and still lost?

 

Hopefully this happens first.

 

This sounds like a best case scenario.

 

I hope you're right. You may well be.

 

OK, I'm ready to play this game. I found it too depressing at first but now I think it has a happy ending, just not for the United States. Ultimately, though, the world winds up in a little better shape, at least temporarily.

It might seem dystopic, but I think its reasonably likely.

By 2040, the United States will be no higher than the third most influential nation on earth and potentially as low as sixth or seventh.

The biggest thing is the U.S. will be subject to a culling -- some of it intentional, some of it through unintended consequences -- that will result in a major contraction in population over the next 10 years. I think the population will be under 300 million by 2034 and perhaps as low as 280 million.

First things first. The ACA will be repealed but not replaced. Social Security and Medicare will be privatized and largely downgraded. Fossil fuel extraction will be emphasized and incentives to develop renewable energy will be abandoned.

Trump will go through with his campaign promises to deport migrants -- legal and otherwise -- and will go through with even deporting birthright citizens, speeding ahead with that before the courts have an opportunity to stop him.

By 2028, SCOTUS will be 8-1 conservative judges.

He also will employ large tariffs, at least initially.

There will be a national abortion ban. Women's rights in general will diminish, if not legally certainly in a practical sense; for one thing, they won't be able to easily get divorced even from abusive marriages. Essentially, their major contribution to society will be as breeders.

LGBTQ rights will be rolled back. It might be something like Poland's LGBTQ-free zones, but trans care will be largely stopped, and gay marriage will be repealed.

Lots of Confederate monuments will be restored in the South.

It will be a period of deregulation, and federal agencies will be shut down or become largely ineffectual because of improper or apathetic management.

Trump will pull the U.S. out of NATO, despite the counsel of the Pentagon and security advisors.

Without even the threat of U.S. intervention, the Palestinian people will be effectively wiped off the face of the earth, and, left unchecked, Israel will officially annex Gaza and the West Bank. Russia will struggle but eventually win the war in Ukraine and bring it back into its territory.

However, seeing the difficulty Russia had in Ukraine, China will not attack Taiwan. It will posture, but it won't act.

Trump will not be around for the 2028 election. He'll either die of natural causes by his third year in office, be replaced by Vance and his technocratic backing because he is cognitively unable to perform his duties or possibly will just step aside when things becoming overwhelmingly difficult.

Now, here's what happens because of all this.

The U.S. will for all intents and purposes become engaged in a eugenics program. Latin Americans and Blacks will be deported in the millions and maybe tens of millions.

Millions more Americans will die from the lack of healthcare. Poorer people with pre-existing health conditions won't be able to get adequate care and will die at much higher rates than now, as will older Americans who won't be able to count on social safety nets.

The average life expectancy will plummet. Infant mortality rates will increase, as will suicide rates.

Speaking of which, pornography and marijuana bans will be implemented that will have an effect that will surprise the administration, as crime and suicide among younger white men, which already was high, skyrockets as they are unable to find meaning and fulfillment in the new system. Many of them now turn to pornography and weed as a way to alleviate their stress, but, without that option, they'll become increasingly violent. Much of this violence will be misogynistic in nature.

With environmental programs being pulled back, natural disasters continue to become more extreme. However, FEMA now is poorly funded and left, leaving southern states more susceptible to higher death counts, larger loss of property and even greater times to rebuild.

The rapid decrease in population will hurt the country's business's ability to fill jobs. That, in concert with rapidly rising inflation because of Trump's tariffs, will bring on the recession Biden was able to avoid, and it might even turn into a full-fledged depression.

More Americans die from lack of food and shelter.

Needing to replenish the population to fill labor needs, Trump, his successors and the Republicans will try to turn 180 degrees to bring migrants from all over the world into the country. However, that ship will have sailed, as the world's population will see a lack of stability here and instead will move to two or three other regions/countries.

Putin, feeling invincible after eventually defeating Ukraine, tests his luck by invading Poland, thinking it will be easy pickings without the shadow of U.S. intervention. He has, however, overplayed his hand -- the European Union by itself is easily powerful enough to destroy Putin's impotent, overrated Russian army. Putin is quickly defeated and never does turn to using nuclear weapons. Instead, he's assassinated, and more than 100 years after the initial promise, Russia finally becomes a social democracy much like the rest of Europe.

Having avoided the threat of own xenophobic right unlike the U.S., the EU welcomes migrants from all over the world, including the United States and once again returns to being the center of world power after about 80 years of U.S. dominance. Economically and socially, Europe thrives.

But nature abhors a vacuum, and there just are too many people to all cross into Europe. The other beneficiary of America's issues is the fledgling and growing East African Federation, which has been able to build in relative obscurity while the rest of the world has been in turmoil. Now, the opportunity exists to take a huge bound forward, and the new nation, with huge amounts of natural resources and very eager to bring in people from other cultures to add to its own, quickly establishes itself as a world economic power.

The United States, meanwhile, has become a nation of unbelievable extremes. No party holds power for more than four years, as progressive populists are swept into office in 2028 but, unable to undo the damage of the previous administration in three years, they're unable to convince Americans they are the answer, and the pendulum swings back to a new MAGA-like movement, which, like its predecessor, is completely unfit to lead and is voted out again in 2036. This process continues to play out for years as Americans are unable to think critically about policy nor remember the lessons of just the previous presidential elections.

 

I was starting to respond but just lost interest. He’s just gonna fuck things up. We know this. Too much to write.

 

The only thing to look forward to is seeing MAGATs feel the impact of his decisions. MAGATs who can’t get abortions (because they do). Poor people not waking up with excess money in January. People seeing tariffs impact everyday purchases. Eliminating govt programs and departments and making America worse than it is. I will just take comfort seeing them miserable.

 

So do I. He likes pomp, attention and most of all making money from presidency. His stupidity and incompetence stopped some of his worst agenda. That is what Project 2025 is about. Trump as figurehead and everyone bowing down. Elon Musk and far right running country.

 

Essentially, I think we're going to become a big version of Hungary.

Backward and declining in significance.

When I visited my family in Slovakia for the first time a few years ago, we took a day and went to Gombasek Cave. It's a cave system on the border of Slovakia and Hungary. The Slovakia side is more modest naturally, but there's a huge, modern ranger station there and gift shop and it looks like a big deal.

The Hungarian side is more naturally stunning, including a huge cliff face above the entrance. However, there's no real acknowledgment of this being a park site. There are a bunch of basically street vendors, the guardrails and things on the mountain stairs and cave themselves look like they're from the 1920s and a good portion of the cave is closed to the public because it isn't maintained and isn't safe.

I'd bet you'll see something similar happen to a lot of our national parks because Trump doesn't see value in something like that.

 

I promised Lashanna whatever happens I will take care of her. My family tends to live long. She was feral so I have no history. But she could be my last cat. Her name means happy and I will keep her that way no matter what.

Sadly, we can see increase in abandoned, neglected and abused children and in child porn as more women and little girls are forced to carry pregnancy against their will. And child labor already making a comeback. Child workers less likely to protest and are kept uneducated.

 

We become an ultra conservative religious, white patriarchy, where Trump gets to sleep with your bride on your wedding night. And then his minions have access to our bedrooms and control over our sexual activities (they've already shown they're really into the sex lives of American citizens). Your children are left even more undereducated and most are working in American sweatshops by the age of 10 (but at least we will have closed down those nasty Asian sweatshops). Millions of neglected wildings run the streets terrorizing the nation because abortion is illegal and the women who gave birth to those children have no interest in raising them and couldn't come close to affording it even if they did. And the sperm donors don't give a shit either. Old people are living on the streets because Social Security and Medicare have been gutted, if not outright eliminated. All housing will be owned by corporate entities and Americans who aren't completely homeless will be segregated into Conservatives and Liberal ghettoes. And Beast will be appointed Minister of Culture........

 

Trump pledged to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship. He can then de-naturalize millions of immigrants.

14th Amendment is very clear. All persons born or naturalized in the US and subject to jurisdiction are citizens. The subject to jurisdiction is meant to refer to children of foreign diplomats who are born here but not citizens as diplomatic personnel are not subject to jurisdiction.

Right wing judge James Ho, product of immigrants, said 14th Amendment doesn't apply to war or invasion and migrants aren't immigrants, they are invaders. Amendment says no such thing but hope is Supreme court, with five of none justices Trump appointees, will overthrow 156 years of precedent.

 

I’ll give this the positive spin since that’s the way I usually roll:

Trump and Team 2025 will jump into the first months of his term equally full of energy and themselves. He’ll kick the deportation effort into high gear with some high profile roundups of undocumented folks who have largely been minding their own business. He’ll enact heavy tariffs on China and other trade enemies. MAGA faithful will cheer. There will be punitive reprisal tariffs. The economy will fall into heavy recession as prices surge upward. Crazy RFK Jr. will roll out nonsensical policies affecting public health. The GOP will break the filibuster in response to Dem efforts to slow down the Trump agenda. Two years in, things will be so bad that Trump’s popularity will crash. The midterms will be a blue wave in both houses. Trump won’t be able to do jack his last two years and will stroke out before the end of his term due to massive frustration.

 

The roaring 20s.

 

How would this work? Would my wife be deported because her parents were legal immigrants from Laos, but never became citizens?

Would our kids be deported with her?