Donald Trump is returning to the White House – and the world is holding its breath.

No one doubts that Trump 2.0 means business, and it’s not business as usual. The real question is whether the second Trump administration will be defined by a form of constitutional and political “hardball”, or else a “wrecking ball” strategy.

Donald Trump has begun his second term. Credit: Dionne Gain

Constitutional hardball, Harvard Professor Mark Tushnet suggests, involves conduct that seeks to shift existing constitutional practices, and is in tension with existing understandings as a result. But it is still within the general bounds of existing constitutional doctrine – even if many scholars disagree with its merits and legitimacy.

Think of Trump’s threat to buy Greenland, against the backdrop of hardball tactics such as a pharmaceutical tariff war with Denmark (designed to drive down the price of any land purchase).

Or think of Trump’s threat to retake the Panama Canal by force, most likely as a means of forcing Panama to offer the United States better shipping rates. Threats of this kind undermine Panama’s sovereignty and stability in the region. They are also deliberately designed to reshape understandings of how America uses force. But they are arguably within the bounds of past understandings of the scope of American military power.

A wrecking ball strategy, in contrast, is about disrupting existing practices – to destroy existing norms or institutions. Applied to politics, a wrecking ball strategy has the capacity to do........

© The Sydney Morning Herald