Ahead of the upcoming January 20 inauguration of 46th President Joe Biden to take place at the US Congress, downtown Washington is divided by temporary metal and concrete barriers. As far back as a week before Biden's inauguration ceremony, US security forces blocked a considerable part of Washington, almost completely choking off access of the general public and transport.
Besides, it was decided to send about 21 thousand soldiers of the US National Guard to the US capital, and the authorities issued a call to abstain from visiting the city during the inauguration ceremony. Windows and glass entrance doors of administrative buildings, shops and public catering establishments located in downtown are already covered with wooden shields as a precaution. The central business district became deserted. The American capital, with its previously imposed state of emergency, resembles a military camp rather than a festivity place. It's no coincidence that ABC called the city "Fortress Washington."
Security measures to this effect are being taken to avoid new riots like those of January 6, when supporters of still-incumbent President Donald Trump seized the US Congress building and created havoc there. Five people were killed in those riots, and the FBI is now going after those who stormed the Capitol.
The Democrats cast all the blame for these riots on Donald Trump, at which point January 14 saw the House of Representatives vote overwhelmingly in favor of impeaching the current head of state – for the second time in the course of his presidency. According to Politico, the Senate will come over to considering this issue on January 20, just an hour after Joe Biden's inauguration. At the same time, as the outlet notes, it won't be smooth sailing to the Democrats to muster support of Republican Senators: many will consider impeachment unconstitutional over Donald Trump's ceasing to be president-in-office by that moment.
It should be noted here that Trump is under a lot more political pressure from other directions. As The Washington Post recently reported, the Prosecutor General's Office of the metropolitan District of Columbia summoned Trump Jr. to question him on the issue of inaugural committee fund diversion by his father in January 2017. In December, the same case forced the prosecutor's office summon Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka. And the Fox News channel, citing a source in the US Senate, announced plans to declassify an array of documents related to the investigation into Donald Trump campaign's possible associations with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.
However, such a ruling will unlikely harm Donald Trump, given his shaky position even among his Republican Party colleagues. Although it needs to be recognized that the democratic authorities may still spoil his future life, particularly as a businessman, by blocking a number of bank accounts and getting at his business partners.
Speaking about the current situation in the United States, one cannot but mention Donald Trump's legacy left to Democratic President Joe Biden and America as a whole. It is clear that during the four years of his presidency, the American leader has tried to completely destroy the legacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama, both as regards domestic and foreign policy. Healthcare reforms and migration policy got caught in the crossfire, among other things.
Foreign policy changes were no less important. Over the last four years, Trump has pulled out of a number of international agreements negotiated under the Obama administration. Those are the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, the Paris Climate Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership.
At the same time, it is highly relevant that not only the Obama-related agreements were dismantled, but also the fundamental arms control documents like the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and the Treaty on Open Skies. In both cases, America's withdrawal was allegedly provoked by "Russian violations", although Moscow had repeatedly denied all of Washington's suspicions. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) due to expire in February this year is also in jeopardy.
During his years in the White House, Trump has quarreled not only with China, but also with US partners in Europe, where there is already talk about the need for more independence and shift away from relying on Washington.
We record the following fact. During his first election campaign and later throughout his presidency, Donald Trump constantly spoke about willing to improve relations with Russia and even had a number of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the positive rhetoric did not really comply with the American leader's actions. The United States kept routinely impose anti-Russian sanctions, accuse Russia of violating international agreements and call Moscow its strategic enemy. As a result, Russian-American relations have hit an all-time low during the four years of Trump's presidency.
In conclusion, we must emphasize that Donald Trump will apparently go down in history as one of those to blame for the serious split in American society. He destroyed the already fragile bipartisan consensus in the United States, and no one knows how to restore it. None of Trump's predecessors, whether a Democrat or a Republican, witnessed such a negative attitude with liberal America. The present-day antagonism against the President has become perhaps the most sweeping in America's years-long political life. At the same time, there is no denying Trump's phenomenon, a flamboyant occurrence which has already been dubbed "Trumpism" and which the authorities led by Democratic President Joe Biden are going to combat.
