When Donald Trump first won the presidency in 2016, much of the world reacted with disbelief. However, many assumed the system would self-correct, that the episode would be contained, even reversed. That assumption now looks less like analysis and more like wishful thinking. Trump 1.0 was treated as an anomaly. Trump 2.0 forces us to confront the possibility that it was a pattern. In 2016, Trump did not emerge in a vacuum. He tapped into frustrations that had been building for years.

What has changed in the second coming is not the man, but the ecosystem around him. Trump 1.0 was improvisational. It thrived on disruption, often without a clear governing framework. Institutions - courts, bureaucracy, media - acted as buffers, sometimes restraining, sometimes absorbing the shocks. There was resistance not just from opponents but from within the system itself. The presidency oscillated between bold declarations and uneven execution.

Trump 2.0 appears more structured. The spontaneity remains but it is increasingly complemented by preparation. The networks around him........

© The Express Tribune