川普要把世界帶到那裡？

2024 年選舉之後，川普以「捲土重來」之姿，再次走進白宮，成為美國史上少見的非連任回鍋總統。 從那一天起，整個世界都在問同一個問題：這一回，他要把美國，乃至全世界，帶向何方？

短短幾個月，他一連串的政策與言論，如同一陣陣強風，把原本就不太穩定的國際秩序，吹得更亂。對內，他高舉「再一次讓美國偉大」的旗幟，強調邊境、移民、關稅、治安，言辭越來越尖銳；對外，他在盟友與對手之間擺盪，一方面要別人多付軍費，一方面又揚言重談各種貿易與安全協議。世界領袖們表面上握手寒暄，心裡卻都在重新算盤。

有人期待他能打破僵局，用「非常規手段」逼出新的平衡；也有人憂心，他的衝動與好惡，會把地緣衝突推向更難挽回的一步。從烏克蘭戰火、中東局勢，到美中競逐，每一個火藥桶旁邊，都多了一雙不可忽視、卻又難以預測的手。今天一句貼文、明天一紙行政命令，足以讓全球股市震盪、匯率翻飛、油價飆漲，平凡小民的日常，往往就被這些遠方的決定悄悄改寫。

對我們這些在美國打拼的移民而言，川普不只是電視上的人物，而是實實在在影響簽證、邊境、貿易、社會氣氛的掌權者。他的話語，可以助長偏見，也可以平息仇恨；可以鼓勵團結，也可以撕裂族群。當年疫情期間反亞裔的陰影還未完全散去，我不禁問自己：在他的世界觀裡，我們這些外來移民，是「讓美國再偉大」的一部分，還是被犧牲的籌碼？

然而，歷史從來不是某一個人的獨角戲。即使是一位性格鮮明、作風強烈的領袖，能走多遠，仍然要看制度能否制衡、媒體是否敢言、公民 society 是否清醒。川普也許可以左右一時的輿論、改變幾年的路線，卻無法單獨決定人類文明的方向。真正決定世界走向的，往往是千千萬萬個看似微小的選擇：科學家要做什麼研究、企業家怎麼投資、老師怎麼教導下一代、公民願不願意為公平與真相發聲。

今晚寫下這一句：「川普要把世界帶到那裡？」其實更像是在問自己：**在這樣一個充滿不確定的時代，我願意把自己帶到哪裡？**是選擇恐懼，還是選擇理性？是被煽動牽著走，還是保有獨立思考？世界的未來，也許有一部分握在那些看似遙不可及的權力者手中，但另外一部分，仍然握在我們每一個清醒而有記憶的人心。

Where Is Trump Leading the World?

Since the 2024 election put Donald Trump back in the White House as a rare “comeback” president with non-consecutive terms, the whole world has been asking the same question: this time, where does he intend to take America—and the rest of us—next? 

In just a few months, his return has felt like a series of strong gusts hitting an already unstable global order. At home, he once again wraps himself in the banner of “making America great,” sharpening his focus on the border, immigration, tariffs, crime, and cultural battles. Abroad, he pressures allies to pay more for defense, threatens to rewrite trade and security arrangements, and talks openly about sweeping crackdowns and new trade wars as part of his second-term agenda. 

Every one of the world’s flashpoints now has his shadow across it: the war in Ukraine, the fragile Middle East, the tense rivalry between the U.S. and China. A single late-night post, an off-the-cuff remark, or a sudden order from Washington can rattle stock markets, push currencies around, and send oil prices soaring. Headlines shift, but the result is the same: ordinary people, far from the halls of power, find their daily lives quietly rewritten by decisions they’ll never be invited to make. 

For immigrants like us, living and working in America, Trump is not just a distant figure on a television screen. He is a policymaker whose words affect visas, borders, trade, and the social climate on the streets we walk every day. His rhetoric can encourage prejudice—or help calm it. It can unite—or further divide—a country that already feels stretched thin. The memory of anti-Asian hostility during the pandemic still hasn’t fully faded. So I can’t help but wonder: in his vision of a “greater” America, are we immigrants part of that greatness… or a convenient bargaining chip to be spent and discarded?

And yet, history is never a one-man show. Even a powerful, polarizing leader doesn’t control the entire script. Institutions still have some capacity to restrain, courts can still review, journalists can still investigate, citizens can still organize, vote, and speak. Trump may shape the mood, set the agenda, and dominate the conversation, but he cannot, by himself, determine the ultimate direction of human civilization.

The world’s future is also shaped in quieter rooms and smaller lives: in the research projects of scientists, the choices of investors and entrepreneurs, the lessons teachers give to the next generation, and the courage—sometimes very fragile—of ordinary citizens speaking up for fairness and truth. These forces are slower and less visible, but they do add up.

So when I write tonight, “Where is Trump leading the world?” I realize I’m really asking another question:

In such an uncertain age, where am I choosing to go?

Will I let fear dictate my reactions, or will I hold onto reason? Will I be pushed around by anger and propaganda, or will I insist on keeping an independent mind? Part of the world’s direction may be steered from the Oval Office. But another, equally real part is decided in the hearts of millions of awake, remembering people—people who refuse to surrender their humanity, no matter who sits in power.