Trump presidency testing the world

It has been only two weeks since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the president of the United States, but he has managed to create division and distrust not only among Americans, but also across the world. With his first few acts as president, he already disproved those who thought that leadership might change him and make him become more considerate and calculating rather than impetuous and eccentric. He also showed that he would not shy away from his campaign promises.

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25, suspending the U.S.' refugee programs and banning the admission of citizens from seven Muslim countries for three months, supposedly to prevent domestic terrorist attacks. The fact that citizens of the affected countries, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, have not been involved in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil did not matter. The detentions and restrictions started at the airports, apparently without much preparation, wreaked havoc and provoked protests across the U.S. and from the world at large.

He also ordered the construction of a wall along the southern border of the U.S. with Mexico, prompting the cancellation of a state visit by the Mexican president. What's more, as there is no money to finance the project in the budget, he needs approval of the Congress, which is not certain at the moment. It is true that the Mexico border has been the main route for unauthorized migration into the U.S., though the numbers have been steadily declining since 2007. Regardless of its usability and success, physical barriers between states are an obnoxious idea and are reminiscent of the days just before World War II. Like the Maginot Line, they rarely work and eventually crumble, like the Berlin Wall.

Another executive...