Trump's Trials - Trump's second term marks a significant departure from his first term, analysts say

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

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If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Each episode, we bring you the latest news about the 47th president and the policy changes he is pursuing on his own terms. We know from experience that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against set ideas about what the federal government can and can't do. It all raises questions about how much Washington and the country will change over the course of this term.

NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear right after this. You're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. Hi, I'm Zach Mack. You might have heard my series Alternate Realities on Embedded. In it, my dad bet me $10,000 on 10 conspiracy theories. He lost. But it turns out he wasn't done trying. I can't believe you want to do this again.

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Up first, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR News, I'm Elsa Chang in Culver City, California. And I'm Juana Summers in Washington. From the first days of his second term, it was clear President Trump had an aggressive approach to how he would wield American power abroad. He's used tariffs as a weapon against allies, secure the release of hostages from Gaza, cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and launched a pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government of Nicholas Maduro.

Imperial White House correspondent Franco Ordonez has more on Trump's busy year and how he's reshaped U.S. foreign policy. Ladies and gentlemen, the president-elect of the United States, the Honorable Donald John Trump. On his first days in office, President Trump threatened to take back control of the Panama Canal, sees Greenland and turn Canada into the 51st state. Reflections of his fascination with expansionism and foreshadowing his determination to carve up the world between the three major powers. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth,

inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Unlike those who came before him, Trump rarely speaks about America's responsibilities of global leadership. He disdains alliances and paints European allies as weak. Stuart Patrick served in the George W. Bush State Department

and is now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He says Trump's taken aim at the global systems that he's long complained were unfair to the U.S. taxpayer. Trump's second term in office has represented a significant departure from Trump, 1.0. It's far more of a revolutionary approach to international order. And the upheaval that he's created is just monumental. Those shifts have stunned Western partners who have struggled to balance maintaining transatlantic ties while defending their own interests. Ursula von der Leyen,

the president of the European Commission, has complained that, quote, the West as we know it, no longer exists. Europe did not start this confrontation. We think it is wrong. Trump has also had to push back against domestic allies who have accused him of spending too much time abroad and straying from his America First priorities. The White House told me Trump's acting on his campaign promises to advance American interests, delivering fair trade deals, pushing allies to increase defense spending, killing narco terrorists, those are their words, while also ending global conflicts to make the world safer. I think it is really clear that the perceptions of America First, as I see, isolationist at the beginning of this administration was clearly wrong. Lori Esposito Murray is a veteran in diplomatic circles who has advised both Republican and Democratic leaders. She says the main goal of America First is not to withdraw, but to engage, to use

American economic power to reshape global trade, to press partners to carry their own weight. It's also about using American military power. And he's not hesitating to use force, But they're really carefully calculated situations. Iran, enabling Ukraine for long-range strikes into Russia, bombing the Houthis. They're carefully calculated use of force, but definitely not hesitating to use U.S. military force to achieve his goals. And perhaps nowhere is the link between Trump's domestic goals and foreign policy as intertwined as it is in the Western Hemisphere, where Trump has positioned a historic level of military assets. President Trump views the world in spheres of influence, this old-fashioned idea that's become in style again, that you divide up the globe amongst major powers, and for the United States, we're the major power in the Western Hemisphere, and he's really acted on that. Benjamin Gaddan led the Venezuela portfolio in the Obama White House. He says it's clear that the U.S. seeks to reassert its dominance in the region over other actors who have gained influence, such as Russia and China. One thing that's notable is that China became a competitor to the United States and Latin America,

not by moving an aircraft carrier into the region, but through trade and investment in infrastructure and being an appealing partner for all these countries. He says the U.S. should be working to be the partner of choice and not the partner who is feared. Franco, Ordonez, and PR News. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out

how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.