Does it feel like the Trumpian nightmare has been around forever? How and when will it end? Does Trump’s second term signify the end of the neoliberal order? Is his cronyism unique in the history of US capitalism? And why is the wannabe emperor of the world preparing to strike Venezuela?

Political scientist, political economist, author, and journalist C. J. Polychroniou takes a crack at these questions posed in the interview below by the French-Greek independent journalist and writer Alexandra Boutri.

Alexandra Boutri: Donald Trump’s second term in the White House began on January 20, 2025. Yet, although he has been in office for a little over 10 months, it already feels like he’s been there forever. Do you have that same odd feeling? If so, why is that?

C. J. Polychroniou: Yes, sometimes it does feel like he’s been in power forever because his actions as President during the relatively short time since his return to power have been appalling, marked by depraved cruelty, moral blindness, and unprecedented corruption. He has unleashed something utterly terrifying, chaos by distraction around the world and terror on the USA. The first tactic is part of his wish to reassert US dominance in global capitalism. The second tactic is part of his plan to spread fear and oppress all those who stand on his path of constructing a neofascist, white Christian America run by oligarchs. He is not just a pathological liar and the biggest con artist in US history, traits which the liberal media frequently applies to him, but also a malignant narcissist, a sadistic and tyrannical buffoon who believes he can do whatever he pleases, that is, operate outside his legal and constitutional authority, by virtue of the fact that he is in charge of the world’s most powerful nation. Trump hates democracy and the idea of an open society and detests the rule of law. Trump’s second term is indeed so much worse than the first, and I fear that we haven’t seen anything yet. The Trumpian nightmare is really just underway, and it will take a lot more resistance than what has already taken place to stop the dictator’s attacks against civil society, his destruction of the environment, and the acceleration of the climate crisis.

Alexandra Boutri: Trump’s approval ratings are sinking. Is this important? Can we subsequently hope to see a shift in some of his policies on account of the fact that his approval rating is dropping even among core Republican voters?

C. J. Polychroniou: I have looked closely at the latest data on Trump’s job approval rating and popularity. According to the most recent Gallop poll, Trump’s approval rating was at 36%. However, RealClear Polling shows that 42% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, which is utterly shocking considering the horrifying consequences of his actions. It is something that makes one wonder whether the real problem is Trump himself or a rather huge chuck of the US electorate. While I don’t know how important these job approval ratings really are, it is probably more important to look at Trump’s approval rating by state. There, we find that Trump’s popularity remains positive in Republican-dominated states, although the Gallop poll mentioned earlier also shows that Republicans’ approval has slipped by eight points. Equally worth noting is that Trump’s disapproval rating (55.3%) is not far off from what it was during his first term (54.9%), according to statistician and political analyst Nate Silver. In sum, Trump’s base is still very much with him and the main issue dividing his MAGA movement appears to be over the Epstein files! I do not have hopes for a shift in any of his odious and outright evil policies.

Alexandra Boutri: It has been said that Trump’s turn to protectionism is a death blow to neoliberalism and that what best describes his regime is cronyist state capitalism. What are your own thoughts on these matters? Has Trump abandoned neoliberalism?

C. J. Polychroniou: Politics and economics aren’t black and white. Politics is more of an art than science, and economics is definitely not a hard science. As academic disciplines, both politics and economics are regarded as social sciences. But while hard science is based on concrete laws, social science, though it can follow the scientific method, lacks universal laws and subjectivity all too often enters rather freely into analyses. As Richard Feynman once quipped, “Social science is an example of a science which is not a science….They follow the forms…but they don’t get any laws.”

To be more specific, there is no such thing as a “free market” and no such thing as a “pure” capitalist system. Neoliberalism, which relies heavily on free-markets and advocates privatization and marketization, has always depended on the state to carry out its anti-social agenda. The state not only shapes and enforces rules for markets but most of the major technological developments and innovations have been fueled by the federal government. Global neoliberalism itself has been a state-driven enterprise. It was initiated by the United States sometime around the mid-1970s and revolved around a regime of an unimpeded movement of capital, good and services.........

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