USA: the schism is deepening. American society is more and more divided

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Veniamin Popov, New Eastern Outlook, March 17, 2025 ─ 

On March 4, 2025, at a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump declared: “America’s momentum is back, our spirit is back…our confidence is back”.

The president’s optimism is, however, not shared by all – something that could be seen during his speech in Congress. Democrats not only did not applaud him, but also demonstratively showed their opposition in all sorts of ways. One Democratic congressman, Al Green, even had to be escorted out of the room.

The congressional hall looked like a split screen: Republicans stood and cheered while Democrats sat and protested with signs saying ‘That’s a lie’, ‘Resist’, ‘Musk steals’ etc. Democrats looked more like students taking to the streets to protest than a political party with a strategy and a roadmap for countering Trump’s programme.

Every time Trump spoke of any initiatives, he stressed the horrible situation inherited by him from Joe Biden
 
Opposition to Trump’s policy is not only growing from the Democrats, but also from certain parts of US society. Hundreds of government employees have been dismissed from their duties following the activisation of the Department of Government Efficiency and its head, Elon Musk. The US administration’s policy on transgenders (in his statement Trump underlined that employers should hire and promote people on the basis of merit and competency instead of race and sex) and Trump’s statements about the fact that only two genders exist, male and female, are objectively stirring a lot of dissatisfaction. Furthermore, media loyal to the Democrats is constantly posting materials claiming that the Trump administration and the president’s very forward manner is ‘harming the United States’. Acclaimed economists and political scientists have written many articles about the fact that the trade wars initiated by Trump against China and close allies (including Canada, Mexico and Western Europe), as well as his aggressive intentions vis-à-vis Panama and Greenland, pose a threat to the well-being of the US population.

Trump is supported by most Americans

On top of that, the facts Trump voiced about corruption, wasteful extravagance, mismanagement and outright scams have made quite the impression on Americans; tens of millions of dollars were wasted on LGBT scholarships in Myanmar, male circumcision in Mozambique, turning mice transgender etc. These facts are a testament to the complete chaos in the US’ social welfare system. “Social benefits are being received by 1.3 mn people in the age bracket 150-159, and more than 130,000 people older than 160”.

The audit department created by the president and headed by Elon Musk has already saved more than $100 bn only on shutting down these scams; this is only the beginning of the deep cleanse. Every time Trump spoke of any initiatives, he stressed the horrible situation inherited by him from Joe Biden.

It is worth noting the scathing criticism of Trump’s policies from the US media. CNN, for example, comes to the following conclusion: “The political abyss in modern America has never before looked as gloomy. It has not been possible to overcome this abyss of misunderstanding and contempt that has split the country in two”. According to The Washington Post, “Trump has set the country back almost 100 years”. Such an assessment is similar in its criticism to the Western European press, for example of The Economist, according to which “Trump’s economic delusions are already hurting America” and “the president and reality are drifting apart”.

Nevertheless, according to polls, most Americans believe that the country is moving in the right direction. According to the Newsweek magazine, 47% believe this to be true, which is 10 percentage points more than in December of last year.

Many observers have come to the conclusion that the confrontation in the States will not only continue, but will grow deeper with time.

The Americas

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