Biden versus Trump 2.0 is certain – the current situation in the US in 7 points Romanian President Iohannis wants to become Secretary General of NATO

The candidates will be officially chosen during the Democratic and Republican party conventions in the summer. The deeply divided US now faces a bitter election campaign in which two deeply unpopular opponents in the opposing camp will engage in a brutal head-to-head race for the White House. The election outcome is likely to be groundbreaking for the US and will also determine the role of the world’s largest economy and military power.

Georgia, Mississippi and Washington finalize the results

Anyone who wants to become a presidential candidate in the United States must first win the internal party votes in the various states. In the preliminary round, Democrats and Republicans voted on Tuesday evening (local time) in the states of Georgia, Mississippi and Washington, among others. A week earlier, Biden and Trump had made significant gains on the important election day ‘Super Tuesday’. Then Republican Nikki Haley dropped as Trump’s last remaining opponent. From the start, Biden had no serious competition in his party.

Earlier in the evening, Biden broke the 1,968 delegate vote mark needed for Democrats. Trump reached the Republican threshold of 1,215 delegates a few hours later. At the party conventions in July and August, delegates usually have to adhere to the voting results in the primaries and cannot simply vote for another candidate.

The first new edition in 70 years

The race between Trump and Biden is the first rematch for the White House with the same candidates in about seventy years. The last time Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democrat Adlai Stevenson faced each other in such a constellation was in 1952 and 1956. Eisenhower was elected US president both times.

Although Stevenson admitted defeat at the time, Trump would not be certain if he lost the election. After losing the 2020 election, the Republican attempted to overturn the election results. To this day, he spreads the myth of election fraud and remains silent on whether he would recognize the official results of the presidential election this time. This could represent a new test for American democracy.

Trump with wind at his back – Democrats worried

But a Trump victory would also pose a decisive test for political institutions and could tear the country apart. He makes no secret of his admiration for autocrats and has already threatened his political opponents with revenge. Most recently, he courted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has ruled with authoritarian methods and undermined the rule of law in his country, at his Florida property. If there was chaos in Trump’s cabinet during his first term, he will likely be better prepared the second time around and rally loyal aides around him.

Western allies are also concerned about a possible second term for the Republican, who relies on isolation. At stake is continued support for Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia, as well as the role of the US as a reliable partner in international alliances such as NATO. Trump also imposed a number of tariffs during his time in the White House, including on products from the European Union. If the Republican returns to the White House, he could reignite trade conflicts.

Biden warns about his competitor…

Biden issued a strikingly sharp warning about his political opponent on Tuesday evening. “The threat from Trump is greater than ever,” he warned his fellow countrymen. Donald Trump glorifies dictators and wages a campaign of hostility, revenge and retaliation that threatens the very fabric of the United States.

However, the 81-year-old sitting president himself is not without flaws: he is already the oldest American president of all time, and doubts continue to arise about his mental fitness. At the start of a second term he would be 82 and at the end of his presidency he would be 86. Biden frequently gets confused during appearances, fumbling for words and confusing people and places. But Trump is no longer young either. If the 77-year-old is re-elected again, he would be the oldest politician ever to move into the White House.

…and has more problems…

Biden has another problem: during the primaries in the states of Michigan and Minnesota, for example, it became clear that some voters punished him for his support for Israel in the Gaza war. A significant number of party supporters there refused to vote for Biden. The two votes were seen as an important test of sentiment because relatively large numbers of Muslims live in the two states. But younger, left-wing Democrats also criticize the president given the many civilian casualties of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.

…but so does Trump

Trump, on the other hand, is facing all kinds of legal problems. The ex-president is accused in four criminal cases. This has never happened before in American history. He uses legal maneuvers to try to delay or completely prevent the trials against him. The procedure is tough: it involves attempted election fraud, the alleged illegal storage of secret documents and possibly illegally registered hush money payments to a porn actress. Trump maintains his innocence in all proceedings and portrays the investigations against him as an attempt by the Biden camp to sideline him.

What happens next

Trump will now have to decide who he wants to have at his side as vice president-elect in the election campaign. It is still unclear who will be chosen; a number of names are circulating, including that of his former competitor Haley. When it comes to Biden, it will probably come down to his current Vice President Kamala Harris, who, however, has quite low popularity ratings.

It is also unclear whether, in addition to the nephew of former American President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, another celebrity will throw his hat into the ring as an independent candidate – and possibly reshuffle the cards. An independent candidate will not win the race, but could cost Trump or Biden crucial votes. (con/sda/dpa)