Donald Trump will take office on January 20th 2025. Hard to believe that despite the 78-year-old being is the first former president in US history to be criminally convicted of falsifying business records and found guilty of 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws.

Despite all his legal battles Donald Trump has convinced the US electorate that he should be president, even though many foreign leaders are deeply concerned at the prospect of what another 4 years of Trumpism might hold.

The global situation facing Trump this time around is much more dangerous and uncertain bringing with greater risks for the word at large from a transactional politician.

With the war in Ukraine entering a heightened phase with the prospect of long range targeted missiles being used by both sides and the threat of nuclear weapons being deployed by Putin as a leveraging tactic in peace negotiations. The ongoing situation in the Middle East, concerns about the Korean peninsula and the potential threat of military action from China in Taiwan, there is a growing need for a skilled politician with a knowledge of foreign diplomacy.

The big question is whether Trump is up to the job?

Other key concerns are Trump’s claims of imposing 10-20% tariffs on imports and a lowering of corporation tax to 15% for companies that produce domestically in the US. It remains to be seen if such promises come to pass and if such moves tempt any of the 1,000 US companies contributing to the Irish economy to reduce investment in ROI and return jobs back home. 

Dan O’Brien, chief economist at the Institute of European Affairs called the potential tariff on all goods shipped to the US the “biggest near-term risk” to the Irish (and European) economies. No doubt a trade war between the US and its trading partners (Europe, Canada, China) poses a real risk of stifling economic growth and leading to a broader economic recession. 

The key now is how far is Trump prepared to go to make America Great Again and what is the likely fallout for the world and Ireland?