Headline Roundup • October 29th, 2024
How Would Trump's Second Term Differ From His First?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
As former President Trump runs for re-election on the tagline "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" some voters are asking if his second term would be significantly different from his first.
From the Center: A Wall Street Journal (Center bias) analysis said, "As he campaigns for a second term, Trump is signaling a tougher governing style while using forceful rhetoric, delighting some supporters but alarming detractors... For decades Trump has sought to project strength, physical and otherwise, and coarse rhetoric has become a central part of his outsider political brand."
From the Left: Law professors writing for Project Syndicate (not rated) argued that a second Trump term would be more dangerous for the country. "Here’s how it tends to play out: A first-time leader or a new party gains national power, only to suffer a bitter electoral defeat after a single term. This experience has a radicalizing effect, and the party or leader becomes determined never to lose again. When the party does win a second time, it quickly moves to destroy the institutions and rules that could threaten its hold on power."
From the Right: Ross Douthat (Lean Right) for the New York Times Opinion (Left) said Trump is "campaigning on a promise to restore peace to a world that’s grown much more violent and chaotic on President Biden’s watch," and "more than a few Republican foreign policy professionals, however, believe that Trump 2.0 would be a continuation of his first term, showcasing a grand strategy forged with both Trumpian and traditional Republican elements."
Featured Coverage of this Story

Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In 2016 foreign policy was the arena where a Donald Trump presidency seemed likely to be the most destabilizing. Eight years later, he is campaigning on a promise to restore peace to a world that’s grown much more violent and chaotic on President Biden’s watch.
Many Trump critics assume that any successes during his administration were achieved by his advisers and diplomats in spite of his own reckless impulses and that a Trump restoration would give those impulses freer rein — spelling disaster for U.S. alliances and the peace of...

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Would a second Donald Trump presidency really imperil American democracy? Influential commentators suggest that the former president is too “weak,” too desperate to be popular, or simply not “smart” enough to be a dictator. But American history lacks any real precedent, and other countries’ recent experiences suggest that a political movement with autocratic tendencies will become more ruthless and effective a second time around – especially after an electoral defeat.
Here’s how it tends to play out: A first-time leader or a new party gains national power, only to suffer a bitter...

ILLUSTRATION: Cam Pollack/WSJ; Getty Images/iStock
Donald Trump grimaced and shook his head as Kamala Harris hurled another insult at their debate, claiming “world leaders are laughing” at him. Asked to respond, the former president invoked one of his biggest fans: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
“They call him a strongman. He’s a tough person. Smart,” Trump said Tuesday in Philadelphia. Orbán, he recounted, has said the world was calmer with him in office. “He said the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president.”
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