CGTN Europe speaks to Professor Amelia Hadfield, Head of the Department of Politics, University of Surrey.
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00:00Well, let's get some more international analysis on this with Amelia Hadfield,
00:03who's head of the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey here in the UK.
00:07Thank you very much for being with us.
00:09There does appear to be a very different atmosphere in the United States
00:13this time round as Donald Trump is sworn in.
00:16However, the public's view of President Trump, certainly here in Europe,
00:19is markedly more negative.
00:21Why is there still a sense of foreboding about the new president?
00:25Thanks, Paul. It's a great pleasure as ever to be here.
00:30I think the answer is quite a simple one.
00:33He's known globally as the ultimate disruptor.
00:37And it's an extraordinary election comeback.
00:41But there is very real anticipation, very real nervous and anxious anticipation,
00:45I think, of what Trump in office 2.0 is going to actually do
00:49and what those actions are going to look like materially
00:53in terms of trade, for example, or security or defence or energy.
00:57So there's a very real worry, I think, here in the UK and more broadly across the region,
01:03the continent of Europe and the European Union,
01:06as well as other bilateral relationships,
01:08also looking nervously at the White House, China, Ukraine, Middle East,
01:12as to what Trump actually has in mind.
01:15It's difficult sometimes to disassociate the sort of knee-jerk,
01:19sometimes sporadic social media messaging that you get from Trump.
01:23And on occasion, we've had much more recently from Musk
01:25to what he's actually going to do as a president
01:28to push his administration forward and to make those key policies.
01:31It's a little all up in the air at this point.
01:34Indeed. And as we're speaking, Amelia, we're looking at some pictures
01:37from just a short time ago of President-elect Donald Trump
01:40arriving at the White House meeting the current outgoing President Joe Biden.
01:45They're on the steps of the White House just ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
01:50We are hearing, we were just hearing from Jim, our correspondent in Washington,
01:53about some of the executive orders that the new Trump team are going to be issuing
01:58and the new president will be signing soon.
02:00Just how concerned are different countries around the world?
02:03You touched on how the Europeans were worried about these new policies,
02:08but China, Canada, Mexico certainly bracing for tariffs.
02:12Can Europe expect tariffs as well?
02:14Or are we expecting a robust response that could stop that happening?
02:18You're absolutely right.
02:20I think a little bit of a distinction between executive orders and policies.
02:24I think the signing of executive orders between 100 and I've seen upwards of 200,
02:29but I think that's a stretch.
02:31Those are in the gift of the president to be able to put together very, very quickly.
02:36They've been prepped for months, obviously.
02:39And these are almost a sort of state of emergency, if you like,
02:42allowing him to be able to say something very, very quickly.
02:45And to get the machinery of government moving,
02:47it doesn't necessarily mean you'll have an instant outcome.
02:50And here, as Jim from Washington said,
02:53declaring an emergency at America's southern border,
02:56possibly ordering the start of mass deportations,
02:59which was very much part of his campaign.
03:02Orders on energy, possibly beginning the bonfire of deregulations
03:09and rowing back on equality, diversity at government level,
03:14but in also government agencies as well.
03:17And then from there, and you're right to bring this up,
03:21and that's the very real concern,
03:23particularly with trading partners of the big, scary tariffs.
03:28Are they going to be as large as possible as was mooted?
03:3210%, 20%, 60% in the case of China, possibly.
03:37Are there opportunities to row back on that, to carve out, if you like?
03:42I think Britain is very much hoping for a sort of friendly carve out, if you like.
03:45Can new ambassadors, because of course,
03:47you have a whole coterie of new ambassadorial staff
03:49flooding into Washington and trying to make their case.
03:52So there's the real question, I suppose,
03:55between the immediacy of the presidential orders
03:57that will be signed this afternoon, going forward.
04:00And then how quickly Trump pushes ahead on the very glitzy campaign promises
04:07that will now have to be translated into the form of policies,
04:10very much driven in terms of tariffs, where he's, as I said before,
04:14he's proposed tariffs of between 10% and 20% on imports from all countries
04:19with this special rate reserved for China as well.
04:22So very, very nervous, I think,
04:24anticipation as to whether he'll go through with that.