By Jason Foster
As we look around the news, or social media, we are bombarded by world news everywhere we look, even if we do not want to be. For all you folks out there who don't care about politics, or would rather not get involved, I am terribly sorry to say this, but politics is getting involved with you, like it or not. Gas prices are going up, political instability in the world is at an all-time high, and the country just south of us is increasingly becoming an unsafe place to travel, and an even more unsafe place to live.
Nobody can be expected to monitor the news daily. After all, it's extremely depressing - but, at this point in time, if you haven't been monitoring the news and are just starting to see the scale of world events, you might be wondering to yourself: "What the HELL is going on?!"
Fortunately or unfortunately, I have spent much of my time, more than is likely healthy, monitoring world events, watching as our southern neighbour's government eats itself alive. So, for all of you out there with no context of the big picture, I will do my best to answer the question: Just HOW did we get here? How did the USA go from Canadians’ number one travel destination, to an unsafe, undesirable country to even share a border with us? Here is a broad timeline.
TRUMP IS ELECTED
On November 5th, 2024, Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States for a second time. To some, this was a shock, as his opponent Kamala D. Harris was a generally well-liked candidate who ran a campaign all across America. She was not considered to be 'the best of the best,’ simply 'the lesser of two evils,’ by most. Some were not shocked to see Trump win at all, as the election was held during the height of Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Gaza strip - and as well as being the vice president to Joe Biden who was complicit in Palestinian annihilation, her position on the matter was unclear, or perhaps just unworried. Regardless, Donald Trump made history as the first convicted felon to be made president in American history.
CAMPAIGN PROMISES
Donald Trump, during his campaign, promised cheaper groceries, a mass deportation operation to rid the country of 'illegals' (immigrants who overstayed their visa or are undocumented), to drill for oil and consequently slash inflation or "make America affordable again,” pull America out of the Paris Climate Agreement, end wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Russia, and prevent World War Three, which he frequently claimed the world was headed for, similarly pledging not to get involved in any NEW wars.
UPHELD, SO FAR?
The short answer.. about fifty-fifty. Mass deportation operations are indeed underway, with ICE agents earning federal immunity on October 24th, 2025. Environmentally catastrophic operations began shortly after he became elected, as well, such as drilling for oil in American forests being authorized just a week after Trump was elected. He did indeed pull the USA out of the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the WHO (World Health Organization). These are promises he kept - though they are not exactly positives. Ones he did not keep include the broad, vague promises to somehow end the wars in the world. The Russian 'special military operation,’ or forceful invasion of Ukraine, has now lasted over four years, as I am writing this. The bombardment in Gaza has ended, but not because of Trump - because Gazan cities, such as Rafah, have been reduced to piles of rubble. And, of course, the USA and Iran are currently involved in a fierce new conflict, escalating further and further by the day.
INAUGURATION DAY & PEOPLE'S MARCH PROTESTS
On January 18th, 2025, only two days before Donald Trump's inauguration day, protesters took to the streets all over the country, with turnout somewhere close to a hundred thousand people in three hundred and fifty different American cities. Conversely, Donald Trump's inauguration was held outdoors in near-freezing temperatures, and while numbers have not been disclosed, the venue it was held in had a capacity of about six hundred seats. Looking at videos of the day, it is safe to say that not all seats were filled - not by a long shot.
BARRAGE OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS
An executive order is a signed statement about how the President of the United States would like the government to be managed, essentially. They do not require congressional approval, and are not often overturned by lawmakers. Donald Trump, along with openly stating he will be a "dictator" on day one, put a great deal of executive orders into law, with little to no outside approval. There are many, but the two most damning ones are: 'Unleashing American Energy,’ which repealed several bills from previous administrations relating to science-based climate action, and "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History", which sought to frame American history as glorious and freedom-seeking, rather than racist and oppressive, as well as attacking museums for their 'rhetoric' and restoring Confederate statues. These two specific examples helped to lay the groundwork for the subsequent persecution of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practices, as well as the generally accepting attitude towards racism in the United States government operations.
CORPORATE SUBMISSION
As these executive orders began to be put into place, corporations and media organizations began to follow along. Following the repeal of Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 bill of Equal Opportunity Employment, which sought to end hiring discrimination against people of colour, and Trump's explicit orders to 'end DEI,’ corporate entities quickly adhered. Amazon, Microsoft, McDonald's, Walmart, Lowe's, Meta, and more quickly rolled back their DEI policies. Although, some corporations such as Ben & Jerry's and Costco stood their ground and affirmed their stance on DEI, in the wake of Trump's attacks.
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY - DOGE
This department, run by the richest man in the world and notorious ketamine user, Elon Musk, sought to improve government efficiency, according to the government. Unfortunately, similarly to what Musk did to the Twitter workforce when he purchased the company, mass firings of federal workers ensued, and entire 'inefficient' agencies were dismantled. These include, but are not limited to: USAID (United States Agency for International Development), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration), Medicare, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Education. Coincidentally, Elon Musk's companies Tesla, Neuralink and Starlink were being investigated by several US government agencies - the very same ones which were dismantled. Yup, nothing suspicious here.
ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL
No, not Bill Clinton, although I'm sure Mister Trump would disagree. This bill was a tax cut - a campaign promise from Trump, if you can believe it. Unfortunately, it was only a tax cut for the ultra rich, becoming beneficial for people whose income starts at $100,000 annually. As well, student loan relief put into place under the Biden-Harris administration was halted, and funding was cut for Medicaid, yet another nail in its coffin. SNAP benefits were also cut, and the government is expected to spend about two hundred to three hundred BILLION dollars less on them every year. SNAP benefits, to be clear, are more well known as food stamps.
ICE ACTIVITIES
One of the most disturbing, and well known, factors of the USA's steady decline is the rising militancy and brutality of ICE agents, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Forming as an organization just after 9/11, Donald Trump has begun using them to aggressively deport ‘illegals,’ undocumented immigrants… or just people with non-white skin. People are being turned away at the US border under suspicion of trying to immigrate to the US, people with no criminal record are being separated from their families, and many ICE agents are reported as being white supremacists, or proud boys (a white supremacist, neo-nazi organization).
Make no mistake; we are seeing history unfold before our eyes, a history our children's children will look back upon and study in classrooms all around the world. This, again, is a broad timeline of the rapid, recent decline of the USA, and there are many more points which could be raised. This, however, in general, is how we got here. Stay safe - stay in Canada.