Interview: USA expert: “Trump will continue to play an important role”

USA expert Thomas Jäger explains whether Joe Biden can overcome the division of America. What to expect from his Vice President and why Trump will shape politics for a long time.

There is still a chance of a dignified one Handover from Donald Trump an Joe Biden?

Thomas Hunter: As for Donald Trump, it involves a photo op at the White House with a traditional conciliatory gesture. This would be important for Joe Biden in order to get his message of reconciliation across as President of all Americans. But as long as Trump maintains the claim that his election was stolen, many of his supporters will view Biden as an illegitimate president. That would be a heavy burden on Biden’s presidency. With Trump, it’s not just psychological reasons that play a role. He will consider which behavior he will benefit more from politically in the future. Because he wants his family to be a long-term political brand in the
USA build up. Technically, the handover runs even without Trump. Preparations are already in full swing to fill thousands of new jobs in government agencies, ministries and other positions in Washington.

Can Biden succeed in reconciling the deeply divided country?

Hunter: It is well and right that Biden defines this as the central task of his presidency. The strong polarization between the political camps is the basic problem of all problems in American politics. The two camps are often not even in a position to argue about a matter, let alone find a compromise, because they cannot even agree on what the matter actually is. This polarization has arisen over decades and is mainly sustained by completely different media. Left and right only follow channels, radio stations and newspapers that confirm, but not question, their worldview. If the US wants to overcome this polarization, it would have to change this information policy.

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Can Biden become a strong president under these circumstances?

Hunter: Already from his time as a senator it can be said that Biden is someone who always likes to sail in the middle of the zeitgeist. That got his career good. As a moderator, it is a good prerequisite for bringing together different interests and for finding compromises. But it is not the best way to be a strong president. But many reinvent themselves in this office. So we have to wait and see what kind of guy President Joe Biden becomes. In a few weeks you will know more when he presents his cabinet. His speeches so far are very general, but he always emphasizes reconciliation. This is a very important point for American society, but Biden now has to be specific.

Many speculate that Biden will also appoint Republicans to his cabinet. Could that be a concrete gesture?

Hunter: That wouldn’t be unusual at all. The Democrats, in particular, have frequently appointed Republicans as defense ministers. However, many democratic security politicians are already scratching their feet behind the scenes. Biden has to be very considerate of his own party because he needs their votes with the narrow majority in parliament. One mortgage is that the Democrats were not drawn into the election with the more detailed program. Internal party disputes are now foreseeable.

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Becomes Kamala Harris considering Joe Bidens Age play a more important role than Vice President?

Hunter: At the moment hardly anyone knows what it actually stands for. Her own presidential candidacy failed in the primary campaign because she was unable to make any positions clear. Kamala Harris is a professional politician, which means that deep convictions do not prevent her from taking flexible positions. From the start, she will hardly be a politically strong Vice President. Biden is likely to make her role something like it
Barack Obama did with him: As an independent mind who accompanies the political processes and occasionally contradicts them in order to keep the White House from always thinking in one direction.

How hard it will be for Biden if the Republicans have a majority in the US-Senat to keep?

Hunter: That makes almost all of his planned projects more difficult, especially since the Democrats, as it now looks like, not only miss a majority in the Senate, but have even lost seats in the House of Representatives. Like Barack Obama, Joe Biden can react a lot with presidential decrees. But his big trump card over Obama is that Biden is very well networked in the Senate on the Republican side. Biden has mediated for the Democrats here for decades and has close ties. One has to wait and see whether that helps him and whether he can make compromises as president.

Which does ______________ mean Trumps Defeat for the Republicans?

Hunter: The other side of Joe Biden’s victory is that Donald Trump didn’t crash the election, just narrowly lost it. And that means 70 million Americans voted not only for Trump, but also for his national populism. Of the Republicans, only declared Trump opponents such as Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney Biden, who no longer play a role in the Republican Party, have initially congratulated. In other words, the Republicans and their officials are still standing by Trump. And he will remain the main identification figure for most of the Republican electorate. Politically, Trump’s national populism will continue to determine the mainstream of the Republican Party in the future. Whoever wants to lead the party will only be able to do it together with and not against Trump.

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How dangerous for Trump the trouble with the judiciary?

Hunter: The American media has already speculated that Trump could resign in the last few days of office in order to then be pardoned by Vice President Mike Pence. Many expect Donald Trump’s route out of the White House to lead straight to courtroom after court. But even a pardon should be of little use to him because it only applies to violations of federal law. Perhaps that would apply to a threatened obstruction of justice lawsuit. But there are a whole series of proceedings pending against Trump as an entrepreneur and private individual in New York that could be dangerous for him.

To person: Thomas Jäger, 60, the America expert teaches as professor for foreign policy and international politics at the University of Cologne.

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