The Trump Effect is Already Taking Place

Donald Trump is not in office yet, but the so-called Trump Effect is already working its magic, in good ways and bad, in this country and others.

With Biden hidden and Trump now not only the president-elect but also the de facto president, people are starting to make moves based on Trump’s anticipated policies.

Immigration

Donald Trump has put Mexico and Canada on notice regarding immigration, warning both countries that if they do not do their part, Trump will hit them with 25% tariffs on goods until they do their fair share.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau flew down to Florida to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum decided to take a tougher stance, now working on programs to counter Trump, so we will have to see how all that plays out once Trump is in office.

There is good news coming from Panama, however, as Panama’s right-wing President José Raúl Mulino has cracked down on migrant crossings coming via the Darien Gap, which are now down 40%.

This was one of the key issues during the election, so I just don’t see Trump backing down from this stance anytime soon.

Goods and Products

There has been a major shift in the private sector by companies looking to source products from countries other than China, which is the central hub for manufacturing for companies of all sorts that sell products in the United States.

Fashion company Steve Madden, for instance, is moving away from Chinese manufacturing, reportedly shifting more than 40% of its manufacturing out of China. One executive stated, “I've already started to see some volume from China shifted to Vietnam.”

That may not be enough to appease Trump, however, as he noted that the tariffs he wants to put in place will also impact allied countries.

Trump wants to promote American manufacturing and American energy, so many of these countries are already considering increasing their imports of American oil and gas once Trump takes office to appease him.

Global Impact

The area that has me curious is the impact that Trump will have on these global conflicts that were all started under Joe Biden.

For instance, Russia just launched an attack against Ukraine on Christmas, which many believe could be Russia’s last hurrah before Trump takes office. Trump has stated that he wants this war to end immediately upon taking office, if not sooner. Surprisingly, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already expressed an interest in sitting down with Trump.

The Israel-Hamas war, I would suspect, will be ended soon. There have been numerous reports of cease-fire agreements, but nothing has really taken hold. The real impact here, however, will be in how Trump allows Israel to unleash on other terror groups now involved in this conflict, such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Donald Trump may not be in office yet, but with Biden pretty much hiding out since the election, it is clearly Trump calling the shots and setting the temperature in the room, all of which will come to a head the second he puts his hand on that bible.