The newly re-elected US President Donald Trump started to make the first appointments of his new administration last week. The policies that the new appointees have announced, if and when they are confirmed by the US Senate (which the Republican party now controls), are not particularly reassuring.
Let’s start with the newly appointed Health Minister, Robert Kennedy Jr. The son of the former AG and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated like his brother, is a notorious No-Vaxer and conspiracy theorist regarding the role of big-pharma. So, not surprisingly, in his first public speech after the nomination he said that he will instruct all the mission chiefs of his department to interrupt, for eight years, research on infectious disease, to focus instead on long-term health conditions.
Anybody acquainted with scientific matters knows that, in research, eight years is like eternity. The results that can be achieved over such a time span are enormous, and the accumulated delay versus the competitors (or against the diseases themselves, if constantly evolving like viruses) cannot be easily recouped. Not surprisingly, last Friday the equity prices of some of the major pharmaceutical companies in the US collapsed.
A second curious appointment has been that of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who joined the Republican Party to back Donald Trump. As Director of national intelligence, she will oversee US intelligence agencies like the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA). Many eyebrows were raised upon her nomination, as she is considered to be quite close to Russian viewpoints.
It did not take long for this position to emerge. On the same day in which Russia made the hardest missile attack on Ukraine’s power grid near Kiev since the beginning of the war, Gabbard suggested that presidents Zelensky, Putin and Trump sit down around a table to reach a compromise in line with the Aloha spirit, so that the countries can “live in love” from now on. What a ridiculous assertion!
Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict (or overt war) for the best part of the last couple of decades, and several “compromise solutions” have been attempted and encapsulated in the various “Minsk” agreements, which have always been ignored by both sides. Tulsi proposes as the basis of a peaceful co-existence. that Ukraine remain “a neutral territory”, with no accession to NATO or the EU. But history tells us that unless Ukraine enters NATO and the EU, Russia will have an incentive to re-start its invasion at the first possible opportunity.
In reality, the only possible and lasting compromise would be for Ukraine to give up the 18% of its territory gained by the Russians thus far in the war, which will Ukraine is unlikely to be re-gain any time soon, in exchange for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the EU so that Russia will not have any incentive to re-start its invasion a few months down the road. Russia would have gained part of the Ukrainian territory (as well as Crimea), but would find itself with an expanded NATO at its border. Given this reality, even Putin warned that the idea that peace can be achieved in 1 day, as Trump claimed, is unrealistic. It will be interesting to see how Marco Rubio, the inexperienced Senator recently appointed as head of the State Department, will enter these negotiations.
In economic matters, in the race for the Treasury Department are Scott Bessent, founder of Key Square Group, and Howard Lutnick, chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. The market is betting on the former being appointed. Bessent understands markets, having been a sophisticated investor in Soros Fund Management, and he is considered to be a safer pair of hands. Lutnick is more famous for being a crypto fan. For this reason, Elon Musk openly suggests that he should be chosen rather than Bessent.
Elon Musk himself has been at the centre of controversy for posting a job ad for his Doge department in which he promised 80 hours of work per week for literally no pay. Other controversial appointments have been Matt Gaetz as Attorney General and Elise Stefanik as US Ambassador to the UN. Gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he could now lead. Stefanik has no prior experience in foreign policy.
These are just examples of Trump’s recently made appointments, and of the policies that have been proposed by these appointees. If this is the beginning then one can only imagine what the future administration will bring. So buckle up folks!
