Kamala Harris is shattering precedents, but it is easier to see her as president in light of her story as a daughter of motivated immigrants and as a longtime prosecutor. She favors facts over ideology. Her guardedness, as an often prejudged woman of color, makes her aware of inequities in policy.
During his presidency, Donald Trump dissolved more than 100 environmental regulations. If elected again, he would kill any federal effort to study and fight climate change, encourage oil and gas companies to “Drill, Baby, Drill” and restrict the government agency that protects air and water.
Donald Trump says he’d deploy the U.S. military on domestic soil, including to suppress protests he deems riots, patrol Democratic-run cities he deems crime dens and hunt for undocumented immigrants. The strongman tactics would carry profound implications for individual rights and constraints on federal power.
Donald Trump wants to cut taxes in novel and potentially very expensive ways if he returns to the White House. He would instead impose broad tariffs on imports to fund the government. Taken together, his plans could remake the nation’s tax system, placing a greater burden on low-income Americans.
Harris’s ascent reflects a changing Democratic Party, one that has reorganized in the Trump era around reproductive rights, racial representation and protecting democracy. She’s kept a distance from the left wing, and united Democrats in a crisis — seeking to recreate the anti-Trump coalition that won victories in 2020 and 2022.
Donald Trump has boasted that he was able to kill Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion. He has said he would not sign a national ban if Congress passed one. But his allies in the anti-abortion movement have plans that would let him effectively impose such a ban without Congressional action.
Donald Trump says he would use the power of the presidency to order F.B.I. investigations and criminal prosecutions of his political foes. He was largely thwarted in this in his first term. But the Supreme Court has made it easier for him to succeed if he gets a second chance.
Donald Trump’s first-term crackdown on immigration looks mild compared with his new plan. He wants to mobilize law enforcement and the military for what he’s dubbed the largest deportation operation in U.S. history: He’d round up millions of undocumented people and hold them in camps to await expulsion.
Kamala Harris is not offering sweeping change, even as voters express dissatisfaction about the direction of the country. She’s an institutionalist who wants to preserve democratic ideals, and an incrementalist who believes progress takes time. That means her pragmatic approach could be frustrating to some supporters.
We’ve spent two years examining the implications of a second Donald Trump presidency. He wants to radically reshape the federal government and consolidate executive power. He tried to do much of this in his first term but was largely stymied. Now, he’s intent on hiring people less likely to say no.
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