US President-elect: Panama, Musk, Tiktok: Trump prepares for a comeback | EUROtoday

Threatening gesture in the direction of Latin America: US President-elect Donald Trump desires to reclaim management of the Panama Canal underneath sure circumstances. “Has anyone here ever heard of the Panama Canal?” he requested the viewers at a right-wing conservative convention within the state of Arizona. “Because at the Panama Canal we are being ripped off, like everywhere else.”

With his look at “AmericaFest” within the metropolis of Phoenix, the 78-year-old Republican gave a foretaste of how he may stage his second time period in workplace. He additionally used the stage to reply to allegations that tech billionaire Elon Musk was exerting an excessive amount of affect on his politics, commented once more on the upcoming demise of the video app Tiktok within the USA and took up controversial cultural-political points that he known as ” woke bullshit”.

It was Trump’s first speech of this type since his election victory originally of November and was paying homage to his rallies within the months earlier than – however was visually somewhat extra spectacular: accompanied by pyrotechnics and a big, glowing “47”. The forty seventh President of the United States shall be sworn in on January twentieth in Washington.

“We are being ripped off at the Panama Canal”

Trump criticized the transit charges on the Panama Canal as “highly unfair.” He known as for management of the waterway to be returned to the United States if it was not handled pretty. The canal – one of many world’s most vital commerce routes – was constructed by the United States within the early twentieth century and lengthy managed earlier than administration progressively handed to Panama.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino firmly rejected Trump’s calls for and emphasised Panama’s sovereignty. The charges could be set transparently and in public hearings, it mentioned in a message distributed on the X platform. “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue to do so.” “We’ll see about that,” Trump countered on his Truth Social platform and revealed an image of the channel behind a big US flag. “Welcome to the United States Canal,” he wrote.

“No, he is not taking over the presidency”

In Phoenix, Trump additionally commented on Elon Musk’s position, which just lately precipitated criticism throughout the finances negotiations in Congress. According to Forbes, the richest man on the planet is accused of interfering in authorities work and not using a political mandate in an effort to pursue his personal financial pursuits. Some Democrats scoffed that Musk was the actual chief of the Republicans, mockingly calling him “President Musk.”

Trump now strongly opposed this time period, however didn’t immediately deny Musk’s affect behind the scenes. Instead, he defined: “No, he’s not taking over the presidency. (…) But Elon did a great job. Isn’t it nice to have smart people we can rely on?”

“Maybe we should keep this thing for a while longer”

Trump was as soon as once more skeptical in regards to the impending finish of Tiktok. “Maybe we should keep this thing for a while,” the Republican mentioned. Chinese firm Bytedance’s video app is underneath stress within the US over privateness issues. A regulation handed in April requires Tiktok to be offered by January nineteenth, in any other case there’s a danger of a ban from the American app shops and the lack of vital infrastructure.

The date falls in the future earlier than Trump’s inauguration. Although he can’t repeal the regulation on his personal, the Ministry of Justice could be liable for its implementation underneath his authorities.

Cultural-political matters additionally discovered their approach into Trump’s speech, which he comprehensively described as “woken bullshit.” He said, amongst different issues, that his authorities’s official coverage could be that “there are only two genders: male and female.” “Transgender madness” should be banned from colleges. In this context, Trump spoke out in favor of strengthening patriotic content material in colleges and in addition decreasing vital engagement with the racist historical past of the USA. “We will teach our children to love our country, honor our history and always respect our great American flag,” he mentioned.

“We will no longer be overrun”

Another central matter of his speech was migration coverage. As within the election marketing campaign, Trump spoke of an “invasion” and used dehumanizing rhetoric. “We will no longer be occupied, we will no longer be overrun, we will no longer be conquered,” he mentioned. The migrants are all criminals or individuals from “mental asylums”. “We will once again (…) be a nation we can be proud of.” Mass deportations had been a central promise of his election marketing campaign. To implement this plan, Trump has already introduced a number of right-wing hardliners into his group.

Who’s Who of the American Right

AmericaFest is a significant annual convention celebrating conservative values, patriotism and activism. The multi-day occasion attracts hundreds of individuals and is hosted by the organizations Turning Point Action and Turning Point USA. In addition to Trump, quite a few distinguished representatives of the ultra-right spectrum additionally appeared there, together with Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Sebastian Gorka and Matt Walsh.