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Trump's got a gameplan, but he keeps us guessing

If there is a question being asked coast to coast in the US it is what is President Trump going to do next? To a large extent both Republicans and Democrats have been caught off-guard as most of the world.
The first two weeks of the Trump administration have been a breakneck hurtle into his trying to keep the 'promises' he made during the campaign trail, whether good, bad or downright ugly. No one truly believed he would be serious about the wall with Mexico or banning specific Muslim nations from entering the US. Even his supporters thought it would all end up in a bit of tightening up of immigration rules and a few token send offs, but not an all out confrontation.
This xenophobic attitude, which has been manifested, upsets the American psyche. The ugly American caricature made famous by the book of the same name by William Lederer of a loudmouth, obnoxious and gaudy visitor to foreign shores is something the average Joe has fought against these past two generations. Now, suddenly, huge dollops of prejudice have plopped on to the map and smeared it. The vibrations of the first 10 days in office have been felt all over the world and more is expected as Trump hits the hi-tech world and wages battle against the largesse of the H1 visa quota. While it would rob the US of a great deal of acumen and expertise, some fashion countries like India and China, on the other hand, would discover a slowing of the brain drain and a speeding up of their own IT industry.
But it is not the fragmented decisions that are worrying the Capitol Hill where literally Trump and his frontline team are fracking it for their purposes. It is the inability to assess where he will stop. Already in Washington D. C. there are rumours of a whole new ID card and an upgraded resident registration system. While the Democrats might be jumping the gun a bit in their eagerness to paint the monster in more livid colours and give legitimacy to a nascent move calling for Trump's impeachment for going against the Constitution Representative Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who went on record as saying Trump deserved a chance now speaks for a silent majority when he says, "I'm now convinced that I was wrong. We should not give him a chance to govern. I believe he is a danger to the republic."
Is he a danger or is everyone just shocked that he is carrying out to the water the planks that made his platform and got him the presidency. He is doing what he pledged. America for the Americans. While this isolationist policy might seem impractical and even absurd, it is in its early days populist enough to keep him going under the illusion that the public is on his side. For sure, in the first few weeks that illusion will endure as Trump tweets his way into the hearts of middle America with the 'security and safety' angle and his clear hostility to sections of global society, especially the lumping together of Muslim nations with extremism in the most heavy handed way possible.
To an extent even his war on media, which to the man on the street has become 'too big for its boots', is currently working in his favour because it underscores his independent frame of mind and shines his badge of courage.
But as the US finds itself hurting in the bottom line in trade and commerce, travel and tourism, aviation, shipping, and the loss of general goodwill, the pressure on Trump will intensify.
According to the US edition of Politico, some of the more unsavoury factors could be to "create a Muslim registry, deport undocumented immigrant children, try to take oil from Daesh as he bludgeons it or kill terrorists' families."
Those campaign promises were all laughed off and dismissed by many, just like when he tweeted about sending federal enforcement into Chicago or stripping flag burners of their citizenship - or changing libel laws to sue reporters or throwing Hillary Clinton in jail.
He is running the nation through tweets at the moment and if you read between those lines governance per se is taking a second chair to grandstanding theatrics that are hurting innocent people. For most people it would come as a surprise that this is not the first time America has been aggressive about the entry of outsiders.
In 1919 the famous pied piper led the Italians depicted as rats out of Ellis island. The Chinese immigrants were depicted as locusts, who would eat up Uncle Sam. The Irish were cartooned as monkeys and the prejudice against native Indians and blacks is historical. In 1915, the US Congress passed a bill calling for a literacy test to come into the country. A kind of SAT that President Wilson vetoed but in a couple of years a list of undesirables was made.
The fear now is that Trump may re-introduce some sort of legislation designed to test the applicant and this includes checking into every opinion you may have ever expressed.
The uncertainty is palpable. Perhaps the single largest contributor to the daily litany of fragmented human rights will occur when simple, hardworking families are shown the door.
Added to this will be the dispatch of 11 million possible illegal Mexicans and a wall that can be compared favourably to Berlin, only more horrendous. At present all the attention is focused on February 28 when the Democrats will lead a protest to boycott the joint session of Congress against the repressive measures, which could stretch to making political franchise selective once more. The other confrontation on the front burner could be with the Federal Reserve as Trump attempts to cut taxes and boost spending while the Fed wants to hike interest rates. Trump may well get a bloody nose in this arena.
And then will come the criminal chaos at the airports and the seaports and more and more Muslims and brown skinned people in general will be chary about visiting a nation that will make entry a nightmare. Already this week, your Facebook page is open to scrutiny so that immigration can check out political views you may have expressed.
Fact is anything goes if they wish to stop you. Your sartorial options, your hair and beard, and unless you are a wasp or a pure white European you will come under the double security check Sierra signage, this way please.
Add to this the miasma of fear on the roads, streets, campuses, restaurants, playing fields, parks, cop car pullovers, and the sense of fear when a loved one is 30 minutes delayed or a mobile phone unanswered.And you wonder if the land of the free and home of the brave isn't chaining itself to a very short length.
Bikram Vohra is a former editor of the Khaleej Times.