The beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidential term has most certainly been full of sound and fury. What has it signified?

As in the first Trump administration, it’s been challenging to distinguish between the controversies of the day that will soon be forgotten, and the concrete changes that truly matter and will last.

On many important issues — trade wars, the economy, the future of NATO, US-China relations, mass deportation, DOGE’s efforts to overhaul the federal workforce, potential prosecution of Trump’s political opponents, and the handling of future election results — it’s simply too early to say how things will turn out. Ultimately, it depends on what exactly Trump ends up deciding to do, how effective his team is, and how much pushback he gets.

But other Trump changes already stand out as likely to last — or at least to result in significant consequences.

The sandbagging of Ukraine will clearly have global ramifications. The dismantling of USAID will be very difficult to undo. Many of Trump’s attacks on DEI and affirmative action policies will likely stick, given a sympathetic Supreme Court. And his wholesale cooptation of the Justice Department and use of the pardon power to protect political allies sends an unmistakable message.

1) Trump’s harsh treatment of Ukraine will have global consequences

Trump’s public humiliation of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his

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