Once dismissed as a fringe candidate with rant-like speeches, Trump is now a two-time President.
He carries his trademark unpredictability, isolationist instincts and anti-liberal politics into a second term.
His relationships, from Musk to Modi, swing between bonhomie and fallouts
Donald Trump was hardly taken seriously during his first presidential campaign — a seat-of-the-pants affair in which his speeches often sounded like rants. Today, he is a two-time President, winning with a majority.
His unbridled unpredictability has moved with him to the second term. If anything, he wears his isolationist policies and anti-liberal politics proudly on his sleeve.
One day he was best friends with billionaire Elon Musk — also Trump’s largest individual political donor in the 2024 campaign. Soon enough, the two were locked in a full-blown war of words.
The same volatility marks his friendship with PM Modi. Their ties appeared to fray amid trade wars and disagreements over ceasefire. The two, who famously bonded with each other at one time, now seemed upset with each other. Yet tales of their camaraderie quickly resurfaced, with Trump even calling Modi on his birthday.
With Trump, certainty is rare — except when it comes to the grandeur he associates with himself. Earlier this week, new plaques appeared beneath the portraits of former US presidents at the White House, including one that replaced former President Joe Biden’s portrait with a photograph of an autopen. For his current term, the plaque read that Trump has "defeated" inflation. But, has he?
Before his first presidency, Outlook wrote about him on March 21, 2016 in the issue ‘American Nightmare.’ One of the stories described how when Trump Towers, his only business venture in India, was coming up in Pune, he insisted on choosing the marble himself. If one wants to use the Trump brand name, they have to pay a licence fee, even though Trump has not invested but only lent his name to the venture.
Another story spoke of his businesses. His airline: Trump Shuttle, his drink: Trump Vodka, his education institution: Trump University, his website: GoTrump.com. These projects were a failure, but they instill a clear idea of the legacy he seeks in his name.
As a President, Trump has some erratic — if not irrational ideas. He launched a tariff war soon after taking office, dismantled policies, even began building a border wall with Mexico. Outlook Magazine covered the global economic upheaval in the September 1, 2025, issue ‘The Tariff Weapon’.
It takes into context the human stories; from the shrimp belt of Andhra Pradesh through Kashmir’s orchards, documenting walnut and apple growers whose fortunes depend almost entirely on the United States. The ripple effect of Trump’s tariff war was pronounced in India enough and more.
Trump barred transgender people from joining the military and succeeded in pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement.
The impact of his policies is likely to be long-lasting. Since returning to office in January, Trump has signed 221 executive orders — a contrast to the 19 signed by Biden in 2024, and even exceeding the total of 220 executive orders Trump issued during his entire previous presidency.
For better or worse, at least he keeps things interesting.
