Why the world will be a different place when Trump is sworn in on January

When Donald Trump takes his oath in January, the president-elect will be stepping into a world that’s dramatically changed since his last time in office.

Compared to the first time Donald Trump took the oath of office, the world will be a very different place when he is sworn in on January 20.

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are set to preoccupy his new administration – unless the President-elect can force a path to peace before he returns to the Oval Office.

That is evidently his preference. His aides and allies had said as much before he used a social media post to declare that if Hamas did not release the 100 remaining hostages in Gaza before his inauguration, there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East”.

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are set to preoccupy his new administration – unless the President-elect can force a path to peace before he returns to the Oval Office. Picture: AFP

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America,” the President-elect thundered.

Gaza has been devastated by Israel’s military in its effort to destroy the terrorist organisation, so it is difficult to imagine how much harder the strip could be hit with Mr Trump in charge.

Of course, his vague but threatening unpredictability is a core feature of his foreign policy.

Will this finally force Hamas to surrender? Possibly. The speed with which Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire after Mr Trump’s election victory seemed to signal that Iran wanted to rein in its proxies for fear of his willingness to target them more forcefully than President Joe Biden.

Compared to the first time Donald Trump took the oath of office, the world will be a very different place when he is sworn in on January 20. Picture: AFP

The other side of that coin, however, is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suspected to have been stringing out ceasefire negotiations in the hope that Mr Trump would return to power, giving him a stronger ally in Washington DC to finalise a deal on his terms.

It will need to be in the interests of Mr Netanyahu – as well as Hamas – for a ceasefire to be sealed, and for the remaining hostages of October 7 both dead and alive to finally go home.

Originally published as Why the world will be a different place when Trump is sworn in on January