Throughout the electoral campaign, and shortly after being declared President-elect of the United States, Trump multiplied signs that he would lead a disruptive administration. In addition to promises of mass dismissals of public servants and the rapid deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants, his statements regarding the annexation of Canada and Greenland as well as the possible retaking of the Panama Canal – if necessary, by military force – provoked widespread astonishment, a mix of fear and disbelief across the globe. Written in the days leading up to the inauguration of his second term, on January 20, 2025, this text refrains from speculating about the future. Instead, it takes a retrospective view of Trump’s first administration, seeking to identify lines of continuity that connect it to the historical trajectory of US foreign policy and to the actions of his successor, the Democrat Joe Biden, to reflect on the broader significance of the Trump phenomenon for global politics.