5:59 v originále: Will Trump bring chaos? Conversation with Christian Caryl

The U.S. is entering an unpredictable presidential primary season. Many say American democracy itself is on the ballot, pointing to autocratic tendencies of Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner. What could a potential Trump presidency mean for Ukraine? And what impact could Trumpism have on the West?

You can listen to a special episode of the podcast 5:59 in the audio player:

The former President, Trump, is entering the primary contests that begin on January 15th in Iowa with a lot of baggage. He is facing indictment in four criminal cases, including his attempts to overturn the results of the last presidential elections in 2020 that he lost to Joe Biden. New York state prosecutors accuse him in a civil case of widespread fraud, and Trump is also dealing with rape defamation civil trial.

Still, he is almost certain to secure the Republican nomination for the Presidency. His supporters appear to be unfazed by all of Trump's legal troubles and his controversial remarks on the campaign trail. On the contrary, they seem to love it, says American journalist Christian Caryl.

„Trump recently said he would root out, quote, the radical left thugs that lived like vermin, and 43% of likely Republican caucus-goers in the very important battleground state of Iowa said that statement made them more likely to support him,“ says Christian Caryl in an interview for 5:59 podcast. Caryl is the former editor at the Washington Post and current contributor to the New York Review of Books and other publications.

He dives into the motivations and reasoning of Trump's adherents, commonly known as MAGA Republicans, in reference to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign slogan „Make America Great Again“.

Caryl describes Trumpers as people who see in the former President a titanic figure, a crusader who is there to beat back elites, the deep state, and liberal-leaning courts - especially the Colorado and Maine judiciary systems, which have recently landed unprecedented verdicts regarding Donald Trump and his conduct. The courts removed Trump from ballots, effectively blocking him from competing in these two states.

„The problem with that (court decisions) is that you're essentially taking the choice out of the hands of voters and that creates all sorts of additional problems,“ notes Christian Caryl, who goes on to say that the verdicts only strengthen Trump's supporters' resolve to vote for Trump no matter what.

And Trump, for his part, likes to play the role of somebody who is ready to take all these attacks on himself to protect his base, adds Caryl.

Christian Caryl, who used to work for years as Moscow bureau chief for Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, is worried about what a potential Trump win in his presidential bid might do to the world, especially to Ukraine.

Trump has repeatedly stated that he would cut financial support to Ukraine if elected and that he would immediately bring the war with Russia to an end.

„He will undoubtedly radically curtail aid to Ukraine and initiate talks with President Putin about giving President Putin whatever he wants. That's Trump's version of ending the war in Ukraine,“ asserts Caryl.

Trump presidency might shake the West in another way. He might order the U.S. to withdraw from NATO.

„I think that's something (leaving NATO) that he has very strong feelings about. I think he's ready to move ahead on that, and it's going to be very destabilizing,“ concludes Christian Caryl.

How is the current U.S. government retooling its strategy towards the war in Ukraine? And how is the U.S. handling the volatile situation in the Middle East and a potential conflict with Iran? Listen to the whole interview via the audio player at the top of the article.