Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe speaks to Professor Amelia Hadfield, Head of the Department of Politics, University of Surrey.

Transcript

00:00Well, let's get some more international analysis on this with Amelia Hadfield,

00:03who's head of the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey here in the UK.

00:07Thank you very much for being with us.

00:09There does appear to be a very different atmosphere in the United States

00:13this time round as Donald Trump is sworn in.

00:16However, the public's view of President Trump, certainly here in Europe,

00:19is markedly more negative.

00:21Why is there still a sense of foreboding about the new president?

00:25Thanks, Paul. It's a great pleasure as ever to be here.

00:30I think the answer is quite a simple one.

00:33He's known globally as the ultimate disruptor.

00:37And it's an extraordinary election comeback.

00:41But there is very real anticipation, very real nervous and anxious anticipation,

00:45I think, of what Trump in office 2.0 is going to actually do

00:49and what those actions are going to look like materially

00:53in terms of trade, for example, or security or defence or energy.

00:57So there's a very real worry, I think, here in the UK and more broadly across the region,

01:03the continent of Europe and the European Union,

01:06as well as other bilateral relationships,

01:08also looking nervously at the White House, China, Ukraine, Middle East,

01:12as to what Trump actually has in mind.

01:15It's difficult sometimes to disassociate the sort of knee-jerk,

01:19sometimes sporadic social media messaging that you get from Trump.

01:23And on occasion, we've had much more recently from Musk

01:25to what he's actually going to do as a president

01:28to push his administration forward and to make those key policies.

01:31It's a little all up in the air at this point.

01:34Indeed. And as we're speaking, Amelia, we're looking at some pictures

01:37from just a short time ago of President-elect Donald Trump

01:40arriving at the White House meeting the current outgoing President Joe Biden.

01:45They're on the steps of the White House just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.

01:50We are hearing, we were just hearing from Jim, our correspondent in Washington,

01:53about some of the executive orders that the new Trump team are going to be issuing

01:58and the new president will be signing soon.

02:00Just how concerned are different countries around the world?

02:03You touched on how the Europeans were worried about these new policies,

02:08but China, Canada, Mexico certainly bracing for tariffs.

02:12Can Europe expect tariffs as well?

02:14Or are we expecting a robust response that could stop that happening?

02:18You're absolutely right.

02:20I think a little bit of a distinction between executive orders and policies.

02:24I think the signing of executive orders between 100 and I've seen upwards of 200,

02:29but I think that's a stretch.

02:31Those are in the gift of the president to be able to put together very, very quickly.

02:36They've been prepped for months, obviously.

02:39And these are almost a sort of state of emergency, if you like,

02:42allowing him to be able to say something very, very quickly.

02:45And to get the machinery of government moving,

02:47it doesn't necessarily mean you'll have an instant outcome.

02:50And here, as Jim from Washington said,

02:53declaring an emergency at America's southern border,

02:56possibly ordering the start of mass deportations,

02:59which was very much part of his campaign.

03:02Orders on energy, possibly beginning the bonfire of deregulations

03:09and rowing back on equality, diversity at government level,

03:14but in also government agencies as well.

03:17And then from there, and you're right to bring this up,

03:21and that's the very real concern,

03:23particularly with trading partners of the big, scary tariffs.

03:28Are they going to be as large as possible as was mooted?

03:3210%, 20%, 60% in the case of China, possibly.

03:37Are there opportunities to row back on that, to carve out, if you like?

03:42I think Britain is very much hoping for a sort of friendly carve out, if you like.

03:45Can new ambassadors, because of course,

03:47you have a whole coterie of new ambassadorial staff

03:49flooding into Washington and trying to make their case.

03:52So there's the real question, I suppose,

03:55between the immediacy of the presidential orders

03:57that will be signed this afternoon, going forward.

04:00And then how quickly Trump pushes ahead on the very glitzy campaign promises

04:07that will now have to be translated into the form of policies,

04:10very much driven in terms of tariffs, where he's, as I said before,

04:14he's proposed tariffs of between 10% and 20% on imports from all countries

04:19with this special rate reserved for China as well.

04:22So very, very nervous, I think,

04:24anticipation as to whether he'll go through with that.

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