Reporters packed the room Thursday for a Monitor Breakfast event with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. And there were plenty of national issues to discuss – immigration raids, political violence, rising antisemitism.

But when a reporter introduced herself as having “Pittsburgh roots,” Governor Shapiro couldn’t resist going local.

“Great, another Yinzer!” he said, using Pittsburgh slang for a city resident. “Are you still a Steelers fan?”

Yes, she assured him. “Stillers,” Mr. Shapiro threw in, again shifting to Pittsburghese. (He’s from Philadelphia, but is apparently bilingual.)

The governor is on a book tour, promoting his memoir, “Where We Keep the Light.” The book paints a self-portrait of a man who’s all about his family, his Jewish faith, and “getting stuff done.”

But for the media, the interest is all about 2028 and the widely held assumption that Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, will run for president. At a time of deep national division, he prides himself on his ability to work across the aisle.

Still, ask Mr. Shapiro straight up if he’s running, as the reporter from Pittsburgh did, and he demurs. Because he has to. He’s up for reelection this November, and while he’s strongly favored to win, the midterm elections are on a razor’s edge – both for control of the U.S. Congress and his state legislature. Pennsylvania is the nation’s biggest swing state, and he enjoys high approval ratings.

“I don’t think we should be thinking about anything other than curtailing the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption of this administration,” Mr. Shapiro says, as quoted in the Monitor’s coverage.

But the governor’s book did make waves earlier this month, pre-release, when a reporter got an advance copy and highlighted the controversy over his vetting by Kamala Harris’s team for the vice-presidency in 2024. Mr. Shapiro expressed upset over this question: “Have you ever been an agent for the Israeli government?”

In the book, Mr. Shapiro cries antisemitism. The issue of vetting came up last week in our Monitor Breakfast event with another prominent Jewish Democrat, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel expressed sympathy with both sides, saying the question was “not artful, but you have to ask.” Yet another top Jewish Democrat, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also defended the process as “tough” but necessary.

Notably, all three men are widely viewed as eyeing the presidency. And thus the issue of rising antisemitism could be a dominant theme in 2028. Indeed, the night before our roundtable with Mr. Shapiro, a motorist rammed his car multiple times into a major Jewish institution, the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters, in Brooklyn, New York. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

In fact, I told Mr. Shapiro after our event had ended, I have personally experienced antisemitism. I have received nasty emails from people who assume I’m Jewish, I said. “Lovely, just forward them to me,” Mr. Shapiro responded.

On a lighter note, in our post-roundtable chit-chat, we got back to the subject of football. The night before, while doing a book event in Boston, Mr. Shapiro mentioned visiting with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who is also working to fight antisemitism. My ears perked up.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, “but I’m from Boston. Go Pats!”

After several bad years, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Mr. Shapiro was gracious, given that his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last year, won’t repeat.

“I lived through those lean years with the birds, with the Eagles,” the governor said, “and so it’s kind of neat to see them [the Patriots] as good as they are.”

Reporters packed the room Thursday for a Monitor Breakfast event with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. And there were plenty of national issues to discuss – immigration raids, political violence, rising antisemitism.

But when a reporter introduced herself as having “Pittsburgh roots,” Governor Shapiro couldn’t resist going local.

“Great, another Yinzer!” he said, using Pittsburgh slang for a city resident. “Are you still a Steelers fan?”

Yes, she assured him. “Stillers,” Mr. Shapiro threw in, again shifting to Pittsburghese. (He’s from Philadelphia, but is apparently bilingual.)

The governor is on a book tour, promoting his memoir, “Where We Keep the Light.” The book paints a self-portrait of a man who’s all about his family, his Jewish faith, and “getting stuff done.”

But for the media, the interest is all about 2028 and the widely held assumption that Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, will run for president. At a time of deep national division, he prides himself on his ability to work across the aisle.

Still, ask Mr. Shapiro straight up if he’s running, as the reporter from Pittsburgh did, and he demurs. Because he has to. He’s up for reelection this November, and while he’s strongly favored to win, the midterm elections are on a razor’s edge – both for control of the U.S. Congress and his state legislature. Pennsylvania is the nation’s biggest swing state, and he enjoys high approval ratings.

“I don’t think we should be thinking about anything other than curtailing the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption of this administration,” Mr. Shapiro says, as quoted in the Monitor’s coverage.

But the governor’s book did make waves earlier this month, pre-release, when a reporter got an advance copy and highlighted the controversy over his vetting by Kamala Harris’s team for the vice-presidency in 2024. Mr. Shapiro expressed upset over this question: “Have you ever been an agent for the Israeli government?”

In the book, Mr. Shapiro cries antisemitism. The issue of vetting came up last week in our Monitor Breakfast event with another prominent Jewish Democrat, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel expressed sympathy with both sides, saying the question was “not artful, but you have to ask.” Yet another top Jewish Democrat, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also defended the process as “tough” but necessary.

Notably, all three men are widely viewed as eyeing the presidency. And thus the issue of rising antisemitism could be a dominant theme in 2028. Indeed, the night before our roundtable with Mr. Shapiro, a motorist rammed his car multiple times into a major Jewish institution, the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters, in Brooklyn, New York. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

In fact, I told Mr. Shapiro after our event had ended, I have personally experienced antisemitism. I have received nasty emails from people who assume I’m Jewish, I said. “Lovely, just forward them to me,” Mr. Shapiro responded.

On a lighter note, in our post-roundtable chit-chat, we got back to the subject of football. The night before, while doing a book event in Boston, Mr. Shapiro mentioned visiting with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who is also working to fight antisemitism. My ears perked up.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, “but I’m from Boston. Go Pats!”

After several bad years, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Mr. Shapiro was gracious, given that his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last year, won’t repeat.

“I lived through those lean years with the birds, with the Eagles,” the governor said, “and so it’s kind of neat to see them [the Patriots] as good as they are.”

Voters don’t care about ideology, they care about deliverables, says Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. He calls himself the GSD governor – “Since this is the Christian Science Monitor, that’s ‘Get Stuff Done,’” he quips at an event hosted by the Monitor, as part of the Monitor Breakfast series.

Mr. Shapiro thinks the Democratic Party would benefit from following this approach. The governor, who was vetted as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris in 2024 and is seen now as a likely top contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, has drawn attention recently with some criticism of the Biden administration, saying in a podcast this week that it failed to deliver “tangible things that people could see or feel.”

But Mr. Shapiro’s sharpest critiques are aimed at President Donald Trump, who the governor says is making America less safe – placing American citizens at risk through immigration enforcement operations that have turned violent, and damaging perceptions of America abroad.

Why We Wrote This

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – who is seen as a likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 – was the guest at a Monitor Breakfast event on Thursday. In a wide-ranging conversation, he talked about what he thinks voters want from their government, and how President Donald Trump is making America less safe.

“I am concerned that some foreign countries will boycott the World Cup,” Mr. Shapiro says, addressing a question regarding travelers’ worries about their safety inside the United States. Philadelphia is scheduled to host six World Cup matches this summer.

On immigration, Mr. Shapiro, like other Democratic officials, is unequivocal: The federal deportation campaign directed by Mr. Trump is violating the constitutional rights of Americans. The governor says his state is taking steps to prepare “should this come to our door.”

Those plans involve law enforcement, Mr. Shapiro says, though he declines to share specifics. In Minneapolis, the number of federal immigration agents and officers deployed there vastly outnumbers local officers.

He believes the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti last weekend in Minneapolis warrants a state investigation. And based on publicly available evidence, Mr. Shapiro – who was attorney general of Pennsylvania before he was governor – sees a strong case against the federal officers who fired the shots.

For now, he’s focused on his own reelection and helping his party in November’s midterms, which he says will be a referendum on the Trump administration. “I don’t think we should be thinking about anything other than curtailing the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption of this administration,” he says. “The best way for voters to do that is by showing up in record numbers in these midterms.”

That includes being vigilant about election integrity. A portrait of William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania colony, hangs above his desk, Mr. Shapiro notes, emphasizing the commonwealth’s role in establishing the American rights to free elections and freedom of expression and religion. He anticipates a possible showdown with Mr. Trump over those values.

This past fall, the Trump administration requested access to Pennsylvania’s voter rolls – including voters’ personal information. Mr. Shapiro refused. Pennsylvania, along with five other states, is now being sued by the Justice Department. “I do not trust this administration to use [voter rolls] for anything other than nefarious purposes,” he says.

In a telltale sign of an expected presidential campaign, Mr. Shapiro has penned a memoir. In his book, “Where We Keep the Light,” which was released this week, he writes at length about his faith. An observant Jew who keeps kosher, he is candid about the risks to his family in a time of surging antisemitism. Last April, on the first night of Passover, a man set fire to the governor’s residence while Mr. Shapiro, his wife, and their children were asleep inside.

It isn’t just politicians who are being targeted. In the wake of the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, the governor has had people tell him of their fear to live openly as Jews.

“I’ve felt a responsibility to be more open about my faith,” Mr. Shapiro says. “I have this responsibility now to offer comfort to others.”

The governor also says it is critical to emphasize religious pluralism. The dining room in the governor’s mansion, which was destroyed in the attack last year, has been emblematic of his approach. It has been decorated with Christmas trees, hosted an Iftar dinner, and been the setting for his son’s bar mitzvah.

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Mr. Shapiro wishes people Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, depending on their faith, something he says demonstrates respect for others. “When I see a federal government taking their religion, or any religion, and trying to impose that on others, as a person of faith … that violates everything I believe in,” he says.

“People of different faiths or different religions have strengthened my faith because we found that shared humanity,” the governor says. “That, in many ways, is the American way.”

Voters don’t care about ideology, they care about deliverables, says Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. He calls himself the GSD governor – “Since this is the Christian Science Monitor, that’s ‘Get Stuff Done,’” he quips at an event hosted by the Monitor, as part of the Monitor Breakfast series.

Mr. Shapiro thinks the Democratic Party would benefit from following this approach. The governor, who was vetted as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris in 2024 and is seen now as a likely top contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, has drawn attention recently with some criticism of the Biden administration, saying in a podcast this week that it failed to deliver “tangible things that people could see or feel.”

But Mr. Shapiro’s sharpest critiques are aimed at President Donald Trump, who the governor says is making America less safe – placing American citizens at risk through immigration enforcement operations that have turned violent, and damaging perceptions of America abroad.

Why We Wrote This

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – who is seen as a likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 – was the guest at a Monitor Breakfast event on Thursday. In a wide-ranging conversation, he talked about what he thinks voters want from their government, and how President Donald Trump is making America less safe.

“I am concerned that some foreign countries will boycott the World Cup,” Mr. Shapiro says, addressing a question regarding travelers’ worries about their safety inside the United States. Philadelphia is scheduled to host six World Cup matches this summer.

On immigration, Mr. Shapiro, like other Democratic officials, is unequivocal: The federal deportation campaign directed by Mr. Trump is violating the constitutional rights of Americans. The governor says his state is taking steps to prepare “should this come to our door.”

Those plans involve law enforcement, Mr. Shapiro says, though he declines to share specifics. In Minneapolis, the number of federal immigration agents and officers deployed there vastly outnumbers local officers.

He believes the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti last weekend in Minneapolis warrants a state investigation. And based on publicly available evidence, Mr. Shapiro – who was attorney general of Pennsylvania before he was governor – sees a strong case against the federal officers who fired the shots.

For now, he’s focused on his own reelection and helping his party in November’s midterms, which he says will be a referendum on the Trump administration. “I don’t think we should be thinking about anything other than curtailing the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption of this administration,” he says. “The best way for voters to do that is by showing up in record numbers in these midterms.”

That includes being vigilant about election integrity. A portrait of William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania colony, hangs above his desk, Mr. Shapiro notes, emphasizing the commonwealth’s role in establishing the American rights to free elections and freedom of expression and religion. He anticipates a possible showdown with Mr. Trump over those values.

This past fall, the Trump administration requested access to Pennsylvania’s voter rolls – including voters’ personal information. Mr. Shapiro refused. Pennsylvania, along with five other states, is now being sued by the Justice Department. “I do not trust this administration to use [voter rolls] for anything other than nefarious purposes,” he says.

In a telltale sign of an expected presidential campaign, Mr. Shapiro has penned a memoir. In his book, “Where We Keep the Light,” which was released this week, he writes at length about his faith. An observant Jew who keeps kosher, he is candid about the risks to his family in a time of surging antisemitism. Last April, on the first night of Passover, a man set fire to the governor’s residence while Mr. Shapiro, his wife, and their children were asleep inside.

It isn’t just politicians who are being targeted. In the wake of the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, the governor has had people tell him of their fear to live openly as Jews.

“I’ve felt a responsibility to be more open about my faith,” Mr. Shapiro says. “I have this responsibility now to offer comfort to others.”

The governor also says it is critical to emphasize religious pluralism. The dining room in the governor’s mansion, which was destroyed in the attack last year, has been emblematic of his approach. It has been decorated with Christmas trees, hosted an Iftar dinner, and been the setting for his son’s bar mitzvah.

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

Mr. Shapiro wishes people Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, depending on their faith, something he says demonstrates respect for others. “When I see a federal government taking their religion, or any religion, and trying to impose that on others, as a person of faith … that violates everything I believe in,” he says.

“People of different faiths or different religions have strengthened my faith because we found that shared humanity,” the governor says. “That, in many ways, is the American way.”

The Trump administration appears to be softening its approach to immigration enforcement in some locales amid outcry from the public and Democratic lawmakers over the recent killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, announced on Thursday that he was working on a “drawdown” plan that would reduce the number of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. And Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said on social media that the Department of Homeland Security had notified her it would end Operation Catch of the Day, an immigration enforcement campaign that was launched in her state on Jan. 21.

Mr. Homan conditioned a withdrawal of immigration agents on increased cooperation between federal law enforcement and local officials. “The withdrawal of law enforcement here is dependent on cooperation,” he said. “As we see that cooperation happen, the redeployment will happen.”

Why We Wrote This

President Donald Trump’s border czar outlined a “drawdown” of immigration agents in Minnesota, while Maine’s GOP senator said the enforcement campaign there would also end. It represents a notable shift in response to public outrage over the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.

The announcements show a marked shift in tone as the administration seeks to respond to broad public outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – in separate incidents by immigration agents during their operations in Minneapolis.

Protests have swept through that city, and others, for weeks. On Monday, it was reported that Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who had helmed the operation in Minneapolis, would leave the city. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have called for the impeachment or firing of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who has faced criticism for falsely claiming that Mr. Pretti was “brandishing” a gun as he approached federal officers. Eyewitnesses and videos have disputed that version of events, and a report from the Department of Homeland Security did not mention Mr. Pretti brandishing a gun.

The remarks from Mr. Homan, who arrived in Minnesota on Monday, were more measured. He said that he had met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. He characterized those meetings with Democratic leaders as yielding “meaningful dialogue,” and said that he intends to continue working with local law enforcement and community leaders.

“We didn’t agree on everything. I didn’t expect to agree on everything,” Mr. Homan said. “Bottom line is you can’t fix problems if you don’t have discussions. I didn’t come to Minnesota for photo ops or headlines. ... I came here to seek solutions.”

Still, Mr. Homan heavily criticized “sanctuary cities,” or jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Minnesota’s state prisons, however, have been honoring Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainers, he said. Detainers are non-binding requests from ICE to local law enforcement to hold arrestees suspected of violating immigration laws so that ICE can take them into custody. Sanctuary jurisdictions often do not honor them.

Mr. Homan also said that Attorney General Ellison “clarified” that Minnesota’s county jails “may notify ICE of the release dates of criminal public safety risks so ICE can take custody of them.” Mr. Ellison’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ICE and other immigration agencies, Mr. Homan said, will conduct “targeted” enforcement operations, primarily targeting those with serious criminal histories. Yet he emphasized that the agency was not “surrendering the president’s mission on immigration enforcement.”

“I’m not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,” he said. “The mission is going to improve because of the changes we’re making internally.”

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The Trump administration has long contended that its immigration agents primarily target unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories. But news reports have found that more than one-third of those arrested by ICE have no criminal histories. Amid the crackdown in Maine, locals told the Monitor that some of the arrests there appeared indiscriminate, and local officials have argued the same.

In her social media post, Senator Collins said that “there are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations” in Maine. Ms. Collins had for days been pressuring Secretary Noem to end the immigration operation in that state, which ICE said today had resulted in the arrests of 206 people.

President Donald Trump is taking his boundary-pushing modus operandi on domestic affairs and applying it to the world stage.

Be it Venezuela, Iran, or even, potentially, Greenland, the president is showing a new willingness to invade or attack other countries, while running roughshod over long-standing agreements and partnerships, in a way that has put the entire world on notice.

Mr. Trump’s continued use of tariffs as leverage to gain concessions from even the United States’ closest allies demonstrates how fully he is embracing a no-holds-barred approach to global politics. He can do whatever he wants, he asserted earlier this month, limited only by “my own morality,” not international law.

Why We Wrote This

The president is showing a new willingness to invade or attack other countries, while running roughshod over long-standing agreements. Lately, his focus on Greenland has shaken the NATO alliance and put the entire world on notice.

His dogged insistence in recent days on the need to take Greenland from Denmark, despite strong opposition from Europe and even many Republican lawmakers, has set off alarm bells throughout the West.

When Mr. Trump addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Greenland will be top of mind. The foundations of NATO have been shaken to their core, the transatlantic defense alliance’s very existence in peril.

“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media early Tuesday. “There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”

Mr. Trump argues that acquiring Greenland is essential to his “Golden Dome” security proposal, which aims to protect the United States from a missile attack, and that Europe is incapable of defending the island against Russia or China. The U.S. already has a military presence in Greenland, under a 1951 treaty with Denmark, but the president calls it insufficient to protect the massive, resource-rich Arctic island. Both he and Vice President JD Vance have also targeted Greenland’s economic assets, highlighting the island’s oil, gas, and rare-earth minerals, as well as its access to shorter trade passages through the Arctic.

Democratic and European critics say that Mr. Trump’s claims about the need to take over Greenland – by force, if necessary – are unnerving.

“These are the ramblings of a man who has lost touch with reality,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote Monday on X.

A pivot to international affairs

In many ways, Mr. Trump is unique in the annals of the American presidency. But in at least one regard, as a second-term president, he is following a well-trod path with his sharp pivot to international affairs.

Two-term presidents often focus on domestic matters such as the economy in their first term, as those are usually top of mind for voters, and then work on legacy-building in the second term, often in the foreign arena. For Mr. Trump, some of his foreign policy focus is a matter of circumstance, as he inherited two significant international conflicts from President Joe Biden: Ukraine and Gaza.

Still, Mr. Trump’s foreign ambitions have gone way beyond these immediate crises and into territory unimaginable until recently – from his threat to turn Canada into the 51st state, to the idea of retaking the Panama Canal, to suggestions of U.S. military action against Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia.

Mr. Trump’s insistence on hemispheric dominance has been dubbed by some analysts a new “Donroe Doctrine.” The upcoming 250th anniversary of the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence could also be a factor in Mr. Trump’s calculation of global image-making. But whether there’s a larger strategic imperative behind Mr. Trump’s actions, the desire for some kind of permanent legacy seems indisputable.

“The president may not have a grand strategy, but he does have a sense of his own place in the world and the American place in the world,” says Russell Riley, co-director of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Winning the Nobel Peace Prize became a singular obsession of Mr. Trump’s first year back in the office, as he claims to have ended eight wars, a disputed figure. Last week, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado – the winner of the 2025 peace prize – gave the president her Nobel medal during a visit to the Oval Office, though the Nobel Foundation stated that the prize cannot be transferred, “even symbolically.”

On Monday, news broke that Mr. Trump had sent the Norwegian prime minister a message indicating that his push to take over Greenland was tied to his not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The president wrote that he no longer feels an “obligation to think purely of Peace.” (Norway’s government responded by noting that it does not actually award the peace prize.)

Trump’s travels

Mr. Trump’s international focus this term has been reflected in his travel schedule. In the first year of his first term, he took four international trips, with his trip to Davos on Jan. 25-26, 2018, marking the fifth. In this second term, Davos will be his ninth international trip.

Many U.S. presidents enter office with little foreign policy experience, but by the second term, “are more comfortable dealing with the world stage,” says Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute. Often, at that point, signature domestic items have already been fulfilled, and the clock is ticking on their legacy.

Much of Mr. Trump’s domestic travel this term has been either to his estates in Florida and New Jersey or to sporting events. Add to that the stream of world leaders who have come to see Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, plus a key domestic trip with an international focus – his summit in Alaska last August with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The president’s efforts to sell the public on his “Big Beautiful Bill” – the signature legislative achievement of his second term so far, including tax cuts and funding for immigration enforcement – took place largely in Washington.

Lately, top aides have been urging him to get out more domestically and talk about the economy and affordability to help Republican candidates in the midterm elections this November. At a rare rally last month in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump said that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had told him, “We have to start campaigning, sir.”

As a lame duck, Mr. Trump himself won’t be on the ballot again in 2028. Still, he knows this year’s midterms matter. His Republican Party controls the House by a tiny margin, and could well lose its majority, hindering his ability to pass legislation. In a recent speech to House Republicans, he said Democrats will “find a way to impeach me” if they retake the House.

Deepen your worldview

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But as Year 2 of Term 2 begins, Mr. Trump appears more confident and unbridled in his use of power than ever – and he is sticking to his international focus.

“He’s trying to do things without worrying about Congress or the courts,” Dr. Troy says. “Foreign policy is one of those things.”

President Donald Trump is taking his boundary-pushing modus operandi on domestic affairs and applying it to the world stage.

Be it Venezuela, Iran, or even, potentially, Greenland, the president is showing a new willingness to invade or attack other countries, while running roughshod over long-standing agreements and partnerships, in a way that has put the entire world on notice.

Mr. Trump’s continued use of tariffs as leverage to gain concessions from even the United States’ closest allies demonstrates how fully he is embracing a no-holds-barred approach to global politics. He can do whatever he wants, he asserted earlier this month, limited only by “my own morality,” not international law.

Why We Wrote This

The president is showing a new willingness to invade or attack other countries, while running roughshod over long-standing agreements. Lately, his focus on Greenland has shaken the NATO alliance and put the entire world on notice.

His dogged insistence in recent days on the need to take Greenland from Denmark, despite strong opposition from Europe and even many Republican lawmakers, has set off alarm bells throughout the West.

When Mr. Trump addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Greenland will be top of mind. The foundations of NATO have been shaken to their core, the transatlantic defense alliance’s very existence in peril.

“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media early Tuesday. “There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”

Mr. Trump argues that acquiring Greenland is essential to his “Golden Dome” security proposal, which aims to protect the United States from a missile attack, and that Europe is incapable of defending the island against Russia or China. The U.S. already has a military presence in Greenland, under a 1951 treaty with Denmark, but the president calls it insufficient to protect the massive, resource-rich Arctic island. Both he and Vice President JD Vance have also targeted Greenland’s economic assets, highlighting the island’s oil, gas, and rare-earth minerals, as well as its access to shorter trade passages through the Arctic.

Democratic and European critics say that Mr. Trump’s claims about the need to take over Greenland – by force, if necessary – are unnerving.

“These are the ramblings of a man who has lost touch with reality,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote Monday on X.

A pivot to international affairs

In many ways, Mr. Trump is unique in the annals of the American presidency. But in at least one regard, as a second-term president, he is following a well-trod path with his sharp pivot to international affairs.

Two-term presidents often focus on domestic matters such as the economy in their first term, as those are usually top of mind for voters, and then work on legacy-building in the second term, often in the foreign arena. For Mr. Trump, some of his foreign policy focus is a matter of circumstance, as he inherited two significant international conflicts from President Joe Biden: Ukraine and Gaza.

Still, Mr. Trump’s foreign ambitions have gone way beyond these immediate crises and into territory unimaginable until recently – from his threat to turn Canada into the 51st state, to the idea of retaking the Panama Canal, to suggestions of U.S. military action against Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia.

Mr. Trump’s insistence on hemispheric dominance has been dubbed by some analysts a new “Donroe Doctrine.” The upcoming 250th anniversary of the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence could also be a factor in Mr. Trump’s calculation of global image-making. But whether there’s a larger strategic imperative behind Mr. Trump’s actions, the desire for some kind of permanent legacy seems indisputable.

“The president may not have a grand strategy, but he does have a sense of his own place in the world and the American place in the world,” says Russell Riley, co-director of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Winning the Nobel Peace Prize became a singular obsession of Mr. Trump’s first year back in the office, as he claims to have ended eight wars, a disputed figure. Last week, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado – the winner of the 2025 peace prize – gave the president her Nobel medal during a visit to the Oval Office, though the Nobel Foundation stated that the prize cannot be transferred, “even symbolically.”

On Monday, news broke that Mr. Trump had sent the Norwegian prime minister a message indicating that his push to take over Greenland was tied to his not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The president wrote that he no longer feels an “obligation to think purely of Peace.” (Norway’s government responded by noting that it does not actually award the peace prize.)

Trump’s travels

Mr. Trump’s international focus this term has been reflected in his travel schedule. In the first year of his first term, he took four international trips, with his trip to Davos on Jan. 25-26, 2018, marking the fifth. In this second term, Davos will be his ninth international trip.

Many U.S. presidents enter office with little foreign policy experience, but by the second term, “are more comfortable dealing with the world stage,” says Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute. Often, at that point, signature domestic items have already been fulfilled, and the clock is ticking on their legacy.

Much of Mr. Trump’s domestic travel this term has been either to his estates in Florida and New Jersey or to sporting events. Add to that the stream of world leaders who have come to see Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, plus a key domestic trip with an international focus – his summit in Alaska last August with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The president’s efforts to sell the public on his “Big Beautiful Bill” – the signature legislative achievement of his second term so far, including tax cuts and funding for immigration enforcement – took place largely in Washington.

Lately, top aides have been urging him to get out more domestically and talk about the economy and affordability to help Republican candidates in the midterm elections this November. At a rare rally last month in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump said that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had told him, “We have to start campaigning, sir.”

As a lame duck, Mr. Trump himself won’t be on the ballot again in 2028. Still, he knows this year’s midterms matter. His Republican Party controls the House by a tiny margin, and could well lose its majority, hindering his ability to pass legislation. In a recent speech to House Republicans, he said Democrats will “find a way to impeach me” if they retake the House.

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

But as Year 2 of Term 2 begins, Mr. Trump appears more confident and unbridled in his use of power than ever – and he is sticking to his international focus.

“He’s trying to do things without worrying about Congress or the courts,” Dr. Troy says. “Foreign policy is one of those things.”

Last year, the world got its first real taste of what President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy would entail.

The new coins of the realm are transactionalism, tariffs, big-power politics that include bullying of allies like Canada and Israel, and – perhaps most significant – a spheres-of-influence vision of the world reminiscent of the 19th century.

A view of the Western Hemisphere as America’s exclusive zone of interest was starkly on display with a Caribbean power buildup that culminated in a Jan. 3 military operation in Venezuela that seized President Nicolás Maduro to face drug trafficking charges in the U.S.

Out, or at least downplayed in Mr. Trump’s foreign policy playbook, are the military and economic alliances and U.S.-led international institutions born from the ashes of World War II. The idea that America enhances its own prosperity and security by building and leading communities of democratic nations has been supplanted by the view that America is strong and prosperous when it puts America first.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

In his first term, Mr. Trump’s foreign policy was hindered by a lack of preparation for implementing a radically different vision of American global leadership.

But the architects of the Trump 2.0 foreign policy, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, had a four-year interregnum to prepare for this term’s muscular, nationalist, America-centric approach. The arrival of this approach is seen in the evolution of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as the former Trump critic has adapted his promotion of democracies and human rights to the America First vision.

2025 brought a deepening estrangement from European allies and more collegial relations with strongman leaders, from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

Mr. Trump has bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, sought to use tariffs as leverage in America’s rivalry with China, and spurred negotiations to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. But the road toward peace in those regions remains uncertain.

The most striking application of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy came in the Western Hemisphere, where his Monroe Doctrine 2.0 includes justifying the use of force in the region to secure U.S. interests.

In the first weeks of his return, Mr. Trump threatened to retake the Panama Canal and belittled Canada as the 51st state. He spoke of acquiring Greenland, too – an idea the White House has been pushing back into the news.

Then came the military strikes in the Caribbean on suspected drug-smuggling boats and what the administration described as a blockade to stop sanctioned oil tankers from exporting Venezuelan oil.

They put pressure on Mr. Maduro, whom Mr. Trump had already labeled a narco-terrorist. But the blockade and ultimately Mr. Maduro’s capture were also seen to be directed at China, which has extensive economic and political ties across Latin America.

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

To Beijing, the message is this: In this new age of spheres of influence, the Western Hemisphere is America’s domain.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

Last year, the world got its first real taste of what President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy would entail.

The new coins of the realm are transactionalism, tariffs, big-power politics that include bullying of allies like Canada and Israel, and – perhaps most significant – a spheres-of-influence vision of the world reminiscent of the 19th century.

A view of the Western Hemisphere as America’s exclusive zone of interest was starkly on display with a Caribbean power buildup that culminated in a Jan. 3 military operation in Venezuela that seized President Nicolás Maduro to face drug trafficking charges in the U.S.

Out, or at least downplayed in Mr. Trump’s foreign policy playbook, are the military and economic alliances and U.S.-led international institutions born from the ashes of World War II. The idea that America enhances its own prosperity and security by building and leading communities of democratic nations has been supplanted by the view that America is strong and prosperous when it puts America first.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

In his first term, Mr. Trump’s foreign policy was hindered by a lack of preparation for implementing a radically different vision of American global leadership.

But the architects of the Trump 2.0 foreign policy, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, had a four-year interregnum to prepare for this term’s muscular, nationalist, America-centric approach. The arrival of this approach is seen in the evolution of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as the former Trump critic has adapted his promotion of democracies and human rights to the America First vision.

2025 brought a deepening estrangement from European allies and more collegial relations with strongman leaders, from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

Mr. Trump has bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, sought to use tariffs as leverage in America’s rivalry with China, and spurred negotiations to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. But the road toward peace in those regions remains uncertain.

The most striking application of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy came in the Western Hemisphere, where his Monroe Doctrine 2.0 includes justifying the use of force in the region to secure U.S. interests.

In the first weeks of his return, Mr. Trump threatened to retake the Panama Canal and belittled Canada as the 51st state. He spoke of acquiring Greenland, too – an idea the White House has been pushing back into the news.

Then came the military strikes in the Caribbean on suspected drug-smuggling boats and what the administration described as a blockade to stop sanctioned oil tankers from exporting Venezuelan oil.

They put pressure on Mr. Maduro, whom Mr. Trump had already labeled a narco-terrorist. But the blockade and ultimately Mr. Maduro’s capture were also seen to be directed at China, which has extensive economic and political ties across Latin America.

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

To Beijing, the message is this: In this new age of spheres of influence, the Western Hemisphere is America’s domain.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

President Trump won reelection on a promise to bring economic growth back to its prepandemic highs from his first term. The centerpiece of his plan was to levy higher tariffs on imported goods, thereby cutting the trade deficit, boosting U.S. manufacturing, and collecting higher revenues.

In April, Mr. Trump sent the stock market into a temporary nosedive when he announced sweeping tariffs on nearly all countries, particularly penalizing nations that ran trade surpluses with the U.S. Before these “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were almost immediately paused to allow for negotiations, the administration had raised levies on China, as well as on Mexico and Canada, which are among America’s largest trading partners. Subsequent deals have led to lower tariff rates for many countries, while importers have successfully sought exemptions. Still, the effective tariff rate on imported goods now averages 11.2%, up from 2.5%, according to the Tax Foundation.

Economists say uncertainty over tariffs has been a drag on the economy, with annual growth projected to come in near 2% for the 2025 calendar year. But, so far, predictions that Mr. Trump’s tariffs would drive up inflation and send the economy into recession have not been borne out. Prices of imported goods have risen, but inflation, while above the Federal Reserve’s target level, hasn’t spiked. Still, the full impact may just be delayed: Many companies built up pretariff inventories, and gyrating tariff rates make it tricky for retailers to set prices.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

At the same time, there’s no sign of a manufacturing renaissance – indeed, manufacturing employment has fallen, not risen, under Mr. Trump. Some companies have announced plans to build or expand U.S. factories, but construction can take years and in some cases might never happen.

What is certain is that tariffs are raising more revenue: The U.S. collected $195 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, more than double the previous year. Based on current tariff rates, revenue could hit $247 billion in 2026, while the trade deficit has narrowed to a five-year low. But if imports fall further, because of either high prices or the reshoring of manufacturing, that would result in lower tariff revenue. The Supreme Court could also upend things with a ruling on the legality of Mr. Trump’s tariffs.

The stock market has been strong overall, and home prices also remain high – buoying homeowners, but keeping other Americans out of the housing market. Only 21% of homebuyers in 2025 were first-time buyers, a record low in tracking that goes back to 1981. Expect to hear more about affordability in the coming year.

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with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

President Trump won reelection on a promise to bring economic growth back to its prepandemic highs from his first term. The centerpiece of his plan was to levy higher tariffs on imported goods, thereby cutting the trade deficit, boosting U.S. manufacturing, and collecting higher revenues.

In April, Mr. Trump sent the stock market into a temporary nosedive when he announced sweeping tariffs on nearly all countries, particularly penalizing nations that ran trade surpluses with the U.S. Before these “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were almost immediately paused to allow for negotiations, the administration had raised levies on China, as well as on Mexico and Canada, which are among America’s largest trading partners. Subsequent deals have led to lower tariff rates for many countries, while importers have successfully sought exemptions. Still, the effective tariff rate on imported goods now averages 11.2%, up from 2.5%, according to the Tax Foundation.

Economists say uncertainty over tariffs has been a drag on the economy, with annual growth projected to come in near 2% for the 2025 calendar year. But, so far, predictions that Mr. Trump’s tariffs would drive up inflation and send the economy into recession have not been borne out. Prices of imported goods have risen, but inflation, while above the Federal Reserve’s target level, hasn’t spiked. Still, the full impact may just be delayed: Many companies built up pretariff inventories, and gyrating tariff rates make it tricky for retailers to set prices.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

At the same time, there’s no sign of a manufacturing renaissance – indeed, manufacturing employment has fallen, not risen, under Mr. Trump. Some companies have announced plans to build or expand U.S. factories, but construction can take years and in some cases might never happen.

What is certain is that tariffs are raising more revenue: The U.S. collected $195 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, more than double the previous year. Based on current tariff rates, revenue could hit $247 billion in 2026, while the trade deficit has narrowed to a five-year low. But if imports fall further, because of either high prices or the reshoring of manufacturing, that would result in lower tariff revenue. The Supreme Court could also upend things with a ruling on the legality of Mr. Trump’s tariffs.

The stock market has been strong overall, and home prices also remain high – buoying homeowners, but keeping other Americans out of the housing market. Only 21% of homebuyers in 2025 were first-time buyers, a record low in tracking that goes back to 1981. Expect to hear more about affordability in the coming year.

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

“Move fast and break things” – the Silicon Valley mantra – aptly describes the whirlwind start to President Donald Trump’s second term.

The president hit the ground running last January, issuing a flurry of executive orders, including pardons for most Jan. 6 defendants and the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s effort to slash the federal government.

One year on, Mr. Musk is long gone, as is DOGE. And the impact of President Trump’s ambitious and aggressive efforts to reshape policy – indeed, America itself – is coming into focus. He has pushed the envelope on presidential power, issuing more executive orders in his first year back than in his entire first term. He has bypassed Congress and challenged the courts, invaded Venezuela and arrested its leader, exacted retribution on his perceived enemies, and transformed the White House itself with golden decor and a big planned ballroom.

Why We Wrote This

Beyond policy specifics, Donald Trump has in many ways raised the bar for how much power a president can wield unilaterally. Controversy has followed, regarding both the policies and the approach to power.

Mr. Trump’s second term makes the first term look like a dress rehearsal. It’s almost as if he spent his first four years in office figuring out how much power he had, and came back determined to use every bit of it.

Fifty years from now, will historians be calling Mr. Trump a “transformational president”? Or will this period ultimately seem like a lot of tumult that added up to little long-term change? Likely both. Every president leaves a stamp on the office and the country. As always, the challenge is to separate the signal from the noise.

Mr. Trump has made plenty of promises (or threats) that have gone nowhere – from claiming he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine within 24 hours to saying he would turn the Gaza Strip into a luxury tourist destination.

But in many ways, Mr. Trump has already changed the United States profoundly, including its role in the world, in ways that may have lasting impact.

A timeline at the bottom of this article charts major presidential events this past year.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

America’s image in Europe as a steady ally has been torpedoed, as made clear in the president’s new National Security Strategy, which lauds Europe’s “patriotic” – i.e., nationalistic – parties. Mr. Trump’s new tariff regime has upended global trade, while his crackdown on illegal immigration cut off the flow of migrants at the border

He’s also shrunk and reshaped parts of the U.S. government, including eliminating “diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a priority. The departments and agencies that Mr. Trump gutted, such as the Education Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, will be hard to reconstitute, even if a future president wants to do so. In all this, and perhaps most important, he has reset the bar for using executive power.

“Previous presidents have been criticized for using executive orders and trying to act unilaterally, but he’s taken it to a different level,” says Matthew Dickinson, a presidential scholar at Middlebury College in Vermont. “It’s going to be hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

In a year of upheaval, one notable aspect of Trump 2.0 has been the loyalty and stability of his team. Unlike Year 1 of his first term, when the president rapidly cycled through top aides in key spots – including his chief of staff, press secretary, and chief political strategist – this year has seen little staff turnover. “Let Trump be Trump” appears to be the guiding philosophy of Term 2.

Looking ahead, Mr. Trump’s power might get a real check after the fall midterm elections, if Democrats retake the House of Representatives. Signs of “lame duckery” are already appearing, as some Republicans start pushing back on his policies and approach. Still, he has a year to go with the current Congress – and that’s a lifetime in Trump time.

– Linda Feldmann

On immigration, big goals and big controversy

In Year 1, President Trump oversaw an avalanche of anti-immigrant policies – while creating exceptions for some immigrants who are white or rich. From borderlands to urban centers, his administration targeted illegal immigration and lawful pathways alike. He condemned many migrants, generally, as criminals. He called some, specifically, “garbage.”

Invoking a rare wartime law – and disputed gang ties – the Department of Homeland Security sent more than 100 Venezuelans to a notorious Salvadoran prison in March. A federal judge has asked the administration to address due process violations, while the government dismisses former detainees’ claims of abuse.

The president kept campaign promises as he sought to “seal” the southern border. Border Patrol apprehensions, a proxy for illegal crossings, sank to their lowest level since 1970. A surge of armed forces to the border included the creation of new military zones. In the interior, controversial waves of immigrant arrests – many targeting people without criminal records – at times ensnared U.S. citizens. Even as the administration withholds certain data, it reports deporting over 600,000 people. Mr. Trump also limited legal immigration, including of refugees, while prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa. As foreigners from 39 countries face entry bans, Mr. Trump is offering “gold card” residency for $1 million per person.

Heading into Year 2, polling suggests the public has soured on his immigration agenda. An immigration officer's fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month has also sparked protests there and nationwide.

What to watch: whether the Supreme Court lets the president end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

– Sarah Matusek

Steering a new direction on social issues

President Trump has taken a number of steps in office aimed at defeating “woke” ideology – including dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that he said illegally discriminated against white people.

On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order instructing government agencies and departments to terminate all DEI offices and positions, “equity action” plans, and DEI performance requirements.

This order was a direct response to the first executive order President Joe Biden signed after his own inauguration, instructing agency heads to assess the equity of agency policies and actions. Another Trump executive order rescinded affirmative action requirements for federal contractors. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo instructing the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate illegal DEI mandates in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds.

In response, major U.S. companies from Walmart to Meta scrapped diversity goals and training programs. And hundreds of colleges and universities have ended programs that promoted DEI on campus or focused on LGBTQ+ or minority students.

Mr. Trump moved to undo protections for transgender people, making it federal policy to recognize only two genders and rescinding federal funds from schools that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. After Mr. Trump revoked Mr. Biden’s executive order that allowed transgender troops to serve openly in the military, the Department of Defense issued a ban on transgender service members, which the Supreme Court has upheld. His Department of Health and Human Services in December proposed a sweeping set of new rules that would dramatically restrict access to gender-transition treatments for minors.

Mr. Trump has also tried to shift American culture in a more conservative direction. He has instructed the Smithsonian museums to root out what he calls anti-American propaganda in their exhibits. He took over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, appointing a new board that tapped him as its chair, eliminating “woke” programming, and adding his name to the building’s exterior.

– Story Hinckley

Justice as retribution?

The first year of this second Trump administration has challenged long-standing norms in the criminal justice system. Having criticized the justice system as unfairly targeting him, Mr. Trump appears to be trying to use the system in a similar fashion.

He has pushed for prosecutions of his political adversaries and issued pardons for allies. He has personally criticized lower court judges who ruled against his administration, while one of his top aides has railed against “judicial tyranny.” Presidents have traditionally refrained from direct criticism like this out of respect for the judiciary’s independence and to uphold public confidence in the courts. Amid Mr. Trump’s attacks, violent threats against federal judges rose.

In September, Mr. Trump called for two adversaries – former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – to be prosecuted. Indictments quickly followed – against Mr. Comey on charges of lying to Congress, and against Ms. James on charges of mortgage fraud. Both deny the charges, and both cases have since been dismissed on procedural grounds. In January, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that he was being investigated for allegedly lying to Congress. The investigation is a pretext, Mr. Powell said, for not acquiescing to Mr. Trump’s demands to lower interest rates.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has used the presidential pardon power to reward his supporters and potential allies. On his first day in office, he issued pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted or charged for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including hundreds charged with violent felonies.

– Henry Gass

A chain saw, but DOGE doesn’t meet its target

Remaking the federal bureaucracy began on President Trump’s first day in office, when he created the Department of Government Efficiency. Under the leadership of Mr. Trump’s billionaire benefactor Elon Musk, DOGE became synonymous with the president’s effort to dislodge what he calls the “deep state” and slash a “bloated” federal government. Mr. Musk set a goal of cutting $2 trillion from the country’s $7 trillion budget. By its own accounting, DOGE – which disbanded eight months ahead of schedule – only achieved about 10% of its cost-cutting goal; media investigations and conservative think tanks suggest the true savings were roughly half that, at best.

Still, cuts were widespread across the government. According to data released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in January, more than 322,000 federal employees have left the government since January 2025, either through layoffs or after taking buyouts. But some agencies also rehired workers, either out of necessity or because of court rulings, leading to an overall workforce cut of roughly 220,000 employees, or a 10% reduction. This falls short of Mr. Trump’s stated goal of four reductions for every new hire, and is less than President Bill Clinton’s federal workforce cut of about 17% in the 1990s.

The cuts varied across the government, with some agencies and departments harder hit than others. The U.S. Agency for International Development was shuttered almost entirely, the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities was cut by more than 50%, and the Department of Education by more than 40%. The Departments of the Treasury, Agriculture, State, and Health and Human Services each lost around 20% of their workforces. The Department of Defense, on the other hand, only fell by 8%.

Beyond the current cuts, workers and experts fear that the administration’s attacks on federal workers may damage future recruitment. Mr. Trump also signed executive orders to allow for more politically appointed positions – a “sharp departure,” says Rachel Augustine Potter, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, from “the meritocratic foundations of the U.S. bureaucracy.” If courts uphold these changes, she writes, it could make it difficult for America to return to a less politicized, expertise-based civil service.

– Story Hinckley

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

A timeline, below, charts many of the major presidential events this past year.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

“Move fast and break things” – the Silicon Valley mantra – aptly describes the whirlwind start to President Donald Trump’s second term.

The president hit the ground running last January, issuing a flurry of executive orders, including pardons for most Jan. 6 defendants and the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s effort to slash the federal government.

One year on, Mr. Musk is long gone, as is DOGE. And the impact of President Trump’s ambitious and aggressive efforts to reshape policy – indeed, America itself – is coming into focus. He has pushed the envelope on presidential power, issuing more executive orders in his first year back than in his entire first term. He has bypassed Congress and challenged the courts, invaded Venezuela and arrested its leader, exacted retribution on his perceived enemies, and transformed the White House itself with golden decor and a big planned ballroom.

Why We Wrote This

Beyond policy specifics, Donald Trump has in many ways raised the bar for how much power a president can wield unilaterally. Controversy has followed, regarding both the policies and the approach to power.

Mr. Trump’s second term makes the first term look like a dress rehearsal. It’s almost as if he spent his first four years in office figuring out how much power he had, and came back determined to use every bit of it.

Fifty years from now, will historians be calling Mr. Trump a “transformational president”? Or will this period ultimately seem like a lot of tumult that added up to little long-term change? Likely both. Every president leaves a stamp on the office and the country. As always, the challenge is to separate the signal from the noise.

Mr. Trump has made plenty of promises (or threats) that have gone nowhere – from claiming he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine within 24 hours to saying he would turn the Gaza Strip into a luxury tourist destination.

But in many ways, Mr. Trump has already changed the United States profoundly, including its role in the world, in ways that may have lasting impact.

A timeline at the bottom of this article charts major presidential events this past year.

More stories on President Trump’s second term after one year:

America’s image in Europe as a steady ally has been torpedoed, as made clear in the president’s new National Security Strategy, which lauds Europe’s “patriotic” – i.e., nationalistic – parties. Mr. Trump’s new tariff regime has upended global trade, while his crackdown on illegal immigration cut off the flow of migrants at the border

He’s also shrunk and reshaped parts of the U.S. government, including eliminating “diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a priority. The departments and agencies that Mr. Trump gutted, such as the Education Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, will be hard to reconstitute, even if a future president wants to do so. In all this, and perhaps most important, he has reset the bar for using executive power.

“Previous presidents have been criticized for using executive orders and trying to act unilaterally, but he’s taken it to a different level,” says Matthew Dickinson, a presidential scholar at Middlebury College in Vermont. “It’s going to be hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

In a year of upheaval, one notable aspect of Trump 2.0 has been the loyalty and stability of his team. Unlike Year 1 of his first term, when the president rapidly cycled through top aides in key spots – including his chief of staff, press secretary, and chief political strategist – this year has seen little staff turnover. “Let Trump be Trump” appears to be the guiding philosophy of Term 2.

Looking ahead, Mr. Trump’s power might get a real check after the fall midterm elections, if Democrats retake the House of Representatives. Signs of “lame duckery” are already appearing, as some Republicans start pushing back on his policies and approach. Still, he has a year to go with the current Congress – and that’s a lifetime in Trump time.

– Linda Feldmann

On immigration, big goals and big controversy

In Year 1, President Trump oversaw an avalanche of anti-immigrant policies – while creating exceptions for some immigrants who are white or rich. From borderlands to urban centers, his administration targeted illegal immigration and lawful pathways alike. He condemned many migrants, generally, as criminals. He called some, specifically, “garbage.”

Invoking a rare wartime law – and disputed gang ties – the Department of Homeland Security sent more than 100 Venezuelans to a notorious Salvadoran prison in March. A federal judge has asked the administration to address due process violations, while the government dismisses former detainees’ claims of abuse.

The president kept campaign promises as he sought to “seal” the southern border. Border Patrol apprehensions, a proxy for illegal crossings, sank to their lowest level since 1970. A surge of armed forces to the border included the creation of new military zones. In the interior, controversial waves of immigrant arrests – many targeting people without criminal records – at times ensnared U.S. citizens. Even as the administration withholds certain data, it reports deporting over 600,000 people. Mr. Trump also limited legal immigration, including of refugees, while prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa. As foreigners from 39 countries face entry bans, Mr. Trump is offering “gold card” residency for $1 million per person.

Heading into Year 2, polling suggests the public has soured on his immigration agenda. An immigration officer's fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month has also sparked protests there and nationwide.

What to watch: whether the Supreme Court lets the president end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

– Sarah Matusek

Steering a new direction on social issues

President Trump has taken a number of steps in office aimed at defeating “woke” ideology – including dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that he said illegally discriminated against white people.

On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order instructing government agencies and departments to terminate all DEI offices and positions, “equity action” plans, and DEI performance requirements.

This order was a direct response to the first executive order President Joe Biden signed after his own inauguration, instructing agency heads to assess the equity of agency policies and actions. Another Trump executive order rescinded affirmative action requirements for federal contractors. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo instructing the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate illegal DEI mandates in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds.

In response, major U.S. companies from Walmart to Meta scrapped diversity goals and training programs. And hundreds of colleges and universities have ended programs that promoted DEI on campus or focused on LGBTQ+ or minority students.

Mr. Trump moved to undo protections for transgender people, making it federal policy to recognize only two genders and rescinding federal funds from schools that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. After Mr. Trump revoked Mr. Biden’s executive order that allowed transgender troops to serve openly in the military, the Department of Defense issued a ban on transgender service members, which the Supreme Court has upheld. His Department of Health and Human Services in December proposed a sweeping set of new rules that would dramatically restrict access to gender-transition treatments for minors.

Mr. Trump has also tried to shift American culture in a more conservative direction. He has instructed the Smithsonian museums to root out what he calls anti-American propaganda in their exhibits. He took over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, appointing a new board that tapped him as its chair, eliminating “woke” programming, and adding his name to the building’s exterior.

– Story Hinckley

Justice as retribution?

The first year of this second Trump administration has challenged long-standing norms in the criminal justice system. Having criticized the justice system as unfairly targeting him, Mr. Trump appears to be trying to use the system in a similar fashion.

He has pushed for prosecutions of his political adversaries and issued pardons for allies. He has personally criticized lower court judges who ruled against his administration, while one of his top aides has railed against “judicial tyranny.” Presidents have traditionally refrained from direct criticism like this out of respect for the judiciary’s independence and to uphold public confidence in the courts. Amid Mr. Trump’s attacks, violent threats against federal judges rose.

In September, Mr. Trump called for two adversaries – former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – to be prosecuted. Indictments quickly followed – against Mr. Comey on charges of lying to Congress, and against Ms. James on charges of mortgage fraud. Both deny the charges, and both cases have since been dismissed on procedural grounds. In January, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that he was being investigated for allegedly lying to Congress. The investigation is a pretext, Mr. Powell said, for not acquiescing to Mr. Trump’s demands to lower interest rates.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has used the presidential pardon power to reward his supporters and potential allies. On his first day in office, he issued pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted or charged for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including hundreds charged with violent felonies.

– Henry Gass

A chain saw, but DOGE doesn’t meet its target

Remaking the federal bureaucracy began on President Trump’s first day in office, when he created the Department of Government Efficiency. Under the leadership of Mr. Trump’s billionaire benefactor Elon Musk, DOGE became synonymous with the president’s effort to dislodge what he calls the “deep state” and slash a “bloated” federal government. Mr. Musk set a goal of cutting $2 trillion from the country’s $7 trillion budget. By its own accounting, DOGE – which disbanded eight months ahead of schedule – only achieved about 10% of its cost-cutting goal; media investigations and conservative think tanks suggest the true savings were roughly half that, at best.

Still, cuts were widespread across the government. According to data released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in January, more than 322,000 federal employees have left the government since January 2025, either through layoffs or after taking buyouts. But some agencies also rehired workers, either out of necessity or because of court rulings, leading to an overall workforce cut of roughly 220,000 employees, or a 10% reduction. This falls short of Mr. Trump’s stated goal of four reductions for every new hire, and is less than President Bill Clinton’s federal workforce cut of about 17% in the 1990s.

The cuts varied across the government, with some agencies and departments harder hit than others. The U.S. Agency for International Development was shuttered almost entirely, the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities was cut by more than 50%, and the Department of Education by more than 40%. The Departments of the Treasury, Agriculture, State, and Health and Human Services each lost around 20% of their workforces. The Department of Defense, on the other hand, only fell by 8%.

Beyond the current cuts, workers and experts fear that the administration’s attacks on federal workers may damage future recruitment. Mr. Trump also signed executive orders to allow for more politically appointed positions – a “sharp departure,” says Rachel Augustine Potter, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, from “the meritocratic foundations of the U.S. bureaucracy.” If courts uphold these changes, she writes, it could make it difficult for America to return to a less politicized, expertise-based civil service.

– Story Hinckley

Deepen your worldview

with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.

A timeline, below, charts many of the major presidential events this past year.

Read our other stories on President Trump’s second term after one year: