The recurring question in liberal circles during Donald Trump’s first term as US president was whether to take him seriously or literally. Seven weeks into his second term, it has so far been a close-run thing between “He did what?!” and “Doesn’t he realise that will be disastrous?”, as a series of abrupt departures from decades-long norms has broken brains on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the realm of geopolitics, it was unthinkable that the US would suddenly suspend military support from a longtime ally fighting off an invasion — until it happened. In economics, surely Trump and his team wouldn’t take action that could tank US stocks, let alone cause GDP to contract? Think again.
But the series of shock decisions — not just the rhetoric — from Trump, vice-president JD Vance and Elon Musk are less brain-bendingly inexplicable once you realise this: their version of America is operating on an entirely different set of values from the rest of the western world.