Buckle-up: It’s 2025, get ready to deal with hurricane Donald (+Español)

What a start to 2025… We are days away from a new president of the United States, and Donald Trump has already started causing shock waves at home and worldwide. So buckle up your seatbelts tight, and get ready for the dizzying pace of chaos Mr. Trump loves to impose, his “weave,” as he calls it, and all a tremendous con-game to gain or achieve what he wants—oftentimes without a real sense of what it is he is trying to accomplish, if anything at all.

During his first term, I referred to him as our first ‘Godfather’ president. Now going into his second term, and with little to lose (even the Supreme Court has dictated that “presidents have absolute immunity for acts committed as president within their core constitutional purview, at least presumptive immunity for official acts within the outer perimeter of their official responsibility…”), who knows what this stray bullet of a man plans to do, or even if he knows what he wants to do.

As of today, the incoming president has announced that he may be interested in taking over Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal. He has encouraged Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO country that doesn’t pay enough. And on the first day of his presidency, Trump promised to solve the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as the Israeli-Palestine conflict (that’s what some call this illegal devastation of Palestine by the Israelis).

At home, he threatens to impose tariffs on products from China, Canada, Mexico, and from anyone else he feels like bullying. And who do you think will end up paying for the higher cost of doing business with Trump? Because… do not misunderstand the man’s intentions. Trump’s presidency will focus on how to make his family and his billionaire friends even wealthier. And yes, we’ve had crooks in the White House in the past, but this guy has made lies and illegalities an institution in this country. Or how do you explain the fact that a convicted felon and sexual abuser —that’s what they call it when Trump rapes a woman— grabs women “by the pussy” because he can get away with it?

As for NATO, its future is now up in the air. Immigrants —legally here or not— are in the Trump crosshairs. The Department of Education, the FBI, one’s civil rights, and on and on and on… are all on the cutting board.

Abróchense el cinturón: estamos en 2025, prepárese para enfrentar el huracán Donald (+English)

It reminds me of my first ride on a roller coaster. I was less than 10 years old and my mother had taken me and some friends to a neighborhood carnival. After constant pleading and nagging, she allowed me to ride the rollercoaster that zipped up and down on tracks that seemed destined to take us to heaven. The excitement, the turbulence caused by the ups and downs and sideways, felt like moving in many directions all at once. It was exhilarating. And on the way home I vomited all over my poor mother’s car. What I thought had been a thrilling experience turned out to be a horrible occasion.

This is what Donald Trump reminds me of and brings to this country, and the world: chaos times ten.

Give them credit, though. The people behind Trump have set this up in a way that will take years to overturn —if at all. Right here in Miami-Dade County, for example, it took them a while, although much faster than I expected, to institute the MAGA movement as part of doing business in South Florida. And I dare say, if not for the fact that Miami-Dade commissioners and the mayor ran elections in August, instead of November, our mayor, a Democrat who won easily, may have lost the election because of the Trump coattails if it had been held during the presidential contest in November. 

Who knows? We may have had a Mayor Otaola, or some other crazy Trump ass-kisser and con man…

But the truth is that Miami-Dade now has a brand new sheriff endorsed by Donald Trump. There are county commissioners put there by Trump and his allies. The school board, once a progressive group, now outlaws a month dedicated to recognizing the LGBTQ+ community as it once did, and bans books in libraries and schools. And most of these new MAGA political cadres owe their allegiance to Trump and his people.

But in turbulent times I seek the silver lining. And that can be his hatred of the FBI, for example. He has promised to go after the FBI. Good. This government agency has done more harm than good during its tenure. J. Edgar Hoover, its founder, in my opinion, was one of the biggest SOBs in this country’s history.

And then there’s Elon Musk, who has practically moved into Mar-a-Lago and appears to be everywhere the president goes, and who spent a quarter billion dollars to help elect Trump, and who acts like the non-elected president of the United States (I’ve read Musk is getting on Trump’s nerves), has said that we must cut Department of Defense spending in this country. True. (Lest we forget, the U.S. spends more on defense than the next 10 biggest spenders on earth —which include Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and a host of others.)

So there you go, we’re in for an interesting 2025. Heck! I’m looking forward to watching what Trump does on January 20, immediately after his inauguration, or maybe during it.

Remember, with Donald Trump, anything is possible… as long as it benefits HIM.