The first few weeks of the Trump administration have been marked by huge protests at home and condemnation from various quarters across the globe. Yet President Trump keeps firing verbal broadsides at Mexico, China and Germany. Democrats at home have already taken a hard line against cooperation with the new regime. But is this wise? I say yes. Were Democrats rewarded for cooperating with George W. Bush? Were Republicans punished for their strong opposition to President Obama? I say no.
Mr Trump is clearly becoming an autocrat. Does anyone doubt it? Given this reality, therefore, it's completely reasonable to worry that America will go the route of other nations like Hungary, which remains a democracy on paper but has become an authoritarian state in practice.
Mr Trump is restless. He is rich and the rich have always been a restless class, moving with the seasons or the social circuit. He is now revamping his silly campaign talk about the 2,000-mile, double-thick, very high wall along the border from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. There are already 700 miles of fencing on the border, plus watchtowers, sensors, floodlights and razor wire, patrols on the ground and drones in the air. At first, he said that it would cost $8 billion then changed that figure to $10 to $12 billion. He is also insisting that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, even though Mexico says it won't.
Mr Trump describes Mexicans and other illegal immigrants as rapist-murderer-terrorists. His plan to uproot and expel millions of unauthorized immigrants is of the utmost concern to all Americans and especially to the immigrant populations of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. These immigrants have now decided not to hide their battle against deportation but to fight publicly to draw attention to Trump's heavily advertised Migration Policy.
If Trump's new Migration Policy is implemented and thousands of all unauthorized immigrants are expelled, the cost to the American economy will be absolutely devastating.
Jos Edmond Zarb
Birkirkara