“We will remember this day, when the American people regained power,” said Donald Trump in his first statements after winning the presidential election. The US is “leaning to the right”, a political turn that seems to be sealed by the dominance of the Republicans in both Houses of Congress. The slim majority in the Senate was visible already from the night of the elections, while now, although the counting of all the votes has not been completed, it seems that Trump’s party prevails in the House of Representatives as well.

“This time Trump is much better prepared and that’s the big difference from his first term,” says Stormi Annika Mildder, director of the independent Aspen Institute in Germany. “We estimate that he will staff his government only with genuine supporters of his policy and this means that in many ministries there will no longer be those persons who could prevent the worst, as happened in the period 2016-2020.” Republicans seem to be leaning more and more towards Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement.

Will the “Project 2025” program be used?

Will Trump finally capitalize on the controversial political program Project 2025? In the election campaign he wanted to distance himself from this radical program, which is considered a manifesto of the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. However, American publications point out that associates of Trump and devotees of the MAGA movement, who probably assume important positions of influence in the state apparatus, have actively participated in the preparation of this particular program.

Moreover, despite his attempt to distance himself, the pre-election Trump did not fail to visibly adopt some of the positions of Project 2025, saying for example that in immigration he will launch “the largest deportation operation in the history of the USA”. The new occupant of the White House shows the same persistence in energy policy, calling for a return to the extraction of fossil fuels (which are nevertheless considered harmful to the environment) and the weakening of climate goals.

“Change of state” in sight

The federal authorities are seen as the most important lever of pressure for the new president to initiate the desired changes. An example is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In Project 2025 the chapter on the EPA spans 32 pages. They are signed by the director of the agency during Trump’s first term, who proposes to “demolish and build from scratch” the outdated structures of the agency.

As Stormy Annika Mildner says, “one can use the federal authorities to establish a regulatory framework that responds to the public interest, but one can also disable them by telling the chief executive ‘we are doing absolutely nothing'”. And this will probably happen in terms of environmental protection or the transition to renewable energy sources.

The selection of the new president for the Ministry of Justice is also awaited with interest. When in fact Trump himself has accused the department repeatedly – at least 100 times, according to calculations by the public radio network NPR – of “persecuting” political opponents of the previous administration.

Like-minded people instead of “insurance groups”?

And in the Judiciary, the conservative MAGA movement is expected to make its presence felt, appointing friendly judges. Of course, any decisions require the approval of the Senate, but this is probably considered a formal procedure for the Republicans, who also have the majority there and will certainly not lose it before the “mid-term elections” of 2026. It should be noted that in Trump’s first term, 234 judges were appointed for the first time , including three in the US Supreme Court.

However, Stormi Annika Mildner believes that the new administration will not attempt to change the US Constitution. And this is because, as he underlines, “amending the Constitution is a complicated matter, and moreover, an amendment could prove to be harmful for the Republicans, when they return to the seats of the opposition”.

So from the moment when conservative majorities are established in the White House, in Congress, but also in the upper echelons of Justice, who can shoulder the burden of the “checks and balances”, the constitutional arrangements that must function as safety valves for balancing the powers to prevent conflict of interest and abuse of power?

“I would by no means say that the end of the American Republic has come,” says Mildner. She believes that the media will honor their controlling role. But the democratically elected governors at the state level are also preparing for a possible political conflict. Already, New York Governor Kathy Hokul has been clear, addressing Donald Trump: “If you attempt to harm New Yorkers or curtail their rights, you will find me across the street, every step of the way.”

Edited by: Yiannis Papadimitriou