Trump Rolls Up His Sleeves

THE DARK SIDE OF THE EARTH – Reshaping the United States and the world disrupts interests, even provoking comparisons to Hitler.

U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

Donald Trump  is in his element—he’s shaking up America and the world, and both could use it. But what will come of it in the end? That remains to be seen. Some global citizens still haven’t come to terms with the American president’s return to power; sulking or trembling with fear, they retreat into the solitude of their four walls, both physically and mentally.

The liberal elite's flagship newspaper, The New York Times, even in its Wirecutter product review section (yes, such a thing exists), features a nonbinary sex educator named Bianca Alba, who identifies as neither male nor female, conducting a product showcase of anal sex toys. This is not a joke—if it were, it would be a bad one, and it’s too early for April Fool’s. What was it that the great Thomas Hobbes said about the state of nature, where fear and conflict reign supreme? That human life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Fortunately, those with a more intellectual bent can find mental stimulation in the loftier pages of The New Yorker, which soars even higher than The New York Times. Andrew Boynton, the head copy editor of the liberal magazine, has made a momentous decision in honor of the publication’s 100th anniversary: the diaeresis stays. Although the diaeresis may seem like the umlaut-type accent mark on our Hungarian “ö” and “ü” vowels, it's merely a refined stylistic flourish, not more than the perching tittle atop the letter  “i” (“ï”) in the alphabet, to ensure that, for instance the word “coitus” is not mispronounced as “coytus.” Retaining it is, of course, a great help to American families.

But not all global citizens are satisfied with the small ornaments of their freedom—they proudly parade their ideologies in public. And leading the charge, as usual, is the mainstream media.

Alhough equating Trump with the mass-murdering Hitler is both extremely hackneyed and unreasonbable (not that fairness would concern them), they do it anyway—again and again. The German news magazine Stern depicts Trump and Putin on its cover as the axis of evil, tipping their hats over Ukraine’s corpse, mimicking the infamous World War II caricature of Hitler and Stalin.

(The trend is contagious: a Hungarian satirical biweekly portrays Trump on its cover with a Hitler mustache, “jokingly” adding that the clumsy graphic designer had no other way to fix a minor flaw on the president’s face. This, apparently, is today’s “humor” in Budapest.)

Meanwhile Masha Gessen, the nonbinary, transgender columnist of The New York Times who insists on being referred to with they/them pronouns, wrote immediately after the inauguration that Putin is ready to carve up the world, and Trump has handed him the knife. Two weeks later, the Soviet-born Maria Alexandrov went on to claim that Trump is instinctively dismantling academic life, followed by a piece on how the president is “erasing” transgender people. Thomas Friedman, arguably America’s most famous columnist (a white, heterosexual man, which makes him an oppressor according to the woke dictionary), insists that Trump’s every word is a lie, and if he truly surrenders Ukraine to Putin, then—using a biblical analogy—he will bear the mark of Cain, the fratricide, on his forehead. Meanwhile, “our own Andras Schiff (a former opposition politician -ed.)” is leading by personal example. As a pianist, he is now boycotting not only Hungary but also the United States because of Trump. One can almost hear the deafening silence in America’s concert halls…

One would love to ask such people: what is it that they truly love? Beyond war and gender ideology, of course—those they clearly adore. The liberal panic, however, is somewhat understandable: Trump has rolled up his sleeves and gotten to work.

He has not abandoned his goal of securing peace in Ukraine. With the two adversaries making little progress after three years, he remains the only leader in the world who could push them toward a resolution. He pressures Putin, hounds him, throws him out, then calls Zelensky. This year will be crucial for NATO: in a few months, at the Atlantic summit, Washington and the European majority must openly address their fundamental disagreements.

At the same time, Trump has set his sights on Greenland—and, believe it or not, even on Canada—while also dealing with Mexico and China. He has pulled the U.S. out of multiple UN institutions, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which has been accused of ties to Hamas. He has also exited the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.

He is dismantling the Trojan horses of the deep state abroad, including USAID, which has been active in funding opposition circles in Hungary under the guise of “democracy,” “rule of law,” and “independence.” He has also taken aim at the agency that operates Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. The Project 2025 policy plan specifically highlighted the redundancy of Radio Free Europe’s Hungarian service. He has warned the Palestinians that they may soon see Gaza only on television, is cracking down on Yemeni rebels, and has made Iran an offer it could only refuse — so it did.

And yet, all this has happened in just two months of Trump’s presidency. Imagine how much further he would be if he didn’t enjoy sleeping in, watching TV, and golfing? Some USAID employees have reportedly burst into tears. After Trump’s scandalous White House meeting with Zelensky, the Ukrainian ambassador in Washington also broke down. Many more will weep. But most of them have already been crying for a long time—wherever there is war.

The reelected president’s domestic policies are just as contentious, testing the balance of power between branches of government. Trump has declared war on illegal immigration, the coercive enforcement of political correctness and affirmative action under the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) banner, and the bureaucrats aligned with the Democratic Party. (Guess how much of the vote Trump received in Washington, D.C., in last year’s election? Just 6.6 percent, while Kamala Harris won 92.5 percent.)

Trump dismissed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (prompting cries of outrage—it’s not customary to do this after an election) and the head of the Navy, believing such positions should not be filled based on race or gender quotas. He is pressuring elite universities to revise their internal policies, threatening to cut funding unless they curb pro-Palestinian hate protests and stop allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s swimming. Even a prestigious Democratic-leaning law firm has decided to cooperate with Trump, fearing for its government contracts.

Trump is also moving to dismantle the Department of Education (although critics argue that only Congress can formally dissolve it), to curb the “civil rights” division of Homeland Security (read: pro-migrant advocacy), and has already deported hundreds of Latin American criminals to El Salvador, where they were promptly shaved bald and folded in half. A U.S. judge attempted to block the deportation order—but not in time. (“Oops! Too late,” said the Salvadoran president.) In response, Trump threatened the judge with impeachment, prompting a rebuke from the Chief Justice. The tug-of-war between branches of government continues, though Trump governs in a rare political environment favorable to him: with a Republican-majority Congress and a Supreme Court that is two-thirds conservative, at least until the 2026 midterms. At times, it seems like he fires off policies blindly, hoping that even if some are struck down in court, others will hit their mark.

Clearly, something has been set in motion—not by the offended liberal elite, but by the 77 million Americans who voted for Trump. 

If they are dissatisfied, they’ll make their voices heard in the 2028 election. Until then, there is plenty to dismantle—and Hungary will have its share of it.