A year has passed since Donald Trump was inaugurated for the second time. Since then, the world has not been the same. With a focus on the America First agenda, the president has largely sidelined the rules-based world order and set his own rules. Here is Trump's first year in power in bullet form:
US Security Strategy: NATO, Greenland, and Venezuela
In December, the United States published its new security strategy, warning of "civilizational extinction" in Europe, calling for an end to global mass migration, asserting American "supremacy" in Latin America, and dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
A little over a month later, a string of crisis meetings followed as Trump made increasingly aggressive demands that the US take over the Danish self-governing territory of Greenland "for security reasons".
In early January, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured in a military operation in Caracas. They were taken to the United States, where Maduro was charged with, among other things, narco-terrorism. Trump has said that the United States will "run" Venezuela for a time, including the country's oil industry.
Regarding the military alliance NATO, Trump has continued to demand that primarily European members increase their defense spending. And the Pentagon has said that Europe must take over the bulk of NATO's domestic responsibility by 2027. At the same time, the Greenland crisis threatens the alliance, and Denmark has warned that a US invasion would mean the end of NATO.
The wars in Gaza and Ukraine
During the election campaign, Trump promised a quick end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. His envoys have been flying to the regions, and in early October a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas was signed. But the situation in Gaza remains difficult and there are questions over the settlement and future governance.
In Ukraine, the attacks continue. Trump has acknowledged that it is difficult to end the Russian war of aggression. In August, he met with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and he has met several times with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (including the disastrous February meeting that degenerated into an argument). The US has presented draft peace agreements, which have been criticized as being too favorable to Russia.
A Nobel Prize wish
Trump has repeatedly said he wants the Nobel Peace Prize. In a speech to the UN General Assembly last fall, he claimed to have ended seven wars and called himself a peacemaker - while also giving the international community the boot.
But experts believe Trump is not acting in the spirit of the Nobel Prize, that the path the US has now taken is imperialistic and sidelines the rules-based world order.
In a letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister in January, in the midst of the Greenland crisis, Trump wrote that he no longer felt "bound to think only about peace" because he did not receive the Peace Prize.
The global trade war
"Tariffs are the most beautiful word in the dictionary," the president has claimed time and again.
It is well known that Trump believes that the United States has been treated unfairly in world trade and that punitive tariffs are the right way to fight back. In April, he announced tariffs on goods from virtually the entire world. Some have since been put on hold and others are under negotiation. The markets have been chaotic at times and economists have warned of higher inflation in the United States.
Recently, Trump threatened a number of countries that have shown support for Greenland, including Sweden, with tariffs of initially 10 percent if the United States is not allowed to purchase the area.
A capital city to Trump's taste
This summer, real estate mogul Trump began a facelift of Washington, D.C. that would lead to rat-free and safe streets, more beautiful parks, and reduced crime (the police force was federalized and the National Guard was sent in). He also fought with the government-funded Smithsonian to get a more "patriotic and success-oriented" focus on its exhibitions.
In October, there was a sudden demolition of the East Wing of the White House, to make way for a large gold ballroom that will be ready for the United States' 250th birthday on July 4. Trump also wants to erect a golden triumphal arch - an "Arc de Trump".
ICE, mass deportations and border control
Trump has for years accused migrants who are in the United States illegally of violent crimes and drug trafficking and promised mass deportations. This spring, he invoked a law from 1798 to use "all means possible" against what he said were criminal gang members. Mass raids on undocumented immigrants have led to protests and legal battles, but also reduced immigration.
Trump's sending the National Guard to primarily Democratic-controlled cities to quell protests, keep crime in check, and assist in raids has sparked outrage.
In January, the federal immigration agency, ICE, shot and killed an American woman in Minneapolis, leading to prolonged protests.
Shrunken state and the fight against diversity
The Doge organization, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, laid off tens of thousands of government employees. The development agency USAID was shut down, the Department of Education was dismantled, cuts were made to the FBI, and climate initiatives were strangled, among other things.
Trump ordered the closure of state diversity initiatives. He also demanded that the country's prestigious universities do the same, leading to fierce conflicts.
Trump has signed over 220 executive orders this year, more than in his entire first term. His signature legislation from last summer mainly includes tax cuts and defense spending.
Trump's historiography
In December, new plaques were placed on the White House portrait wall of former presidents, some of which were written by Trump himself. The texts contain both insults and baseless claims. They include claims that Joe Biden was "sleepy" and Barack Obama was "divisive".
The White House website recently published a reworded description of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling the deadly incident a "peaceful protest" and saying the police caused it to degenerate.
