Watch: Here’s What Trump’s Administration Means For South Africa, Jordan and Uzbekistan, According To International Journalists
Lovin Malta’s @anatortell interviewed seven journalists and fact checkers from across the world while in Berlin on invitation of the German Embassy in Malta.
When Donald Trump was confirmed as the next president of the United States, she asked the public watchdogs what his administration means for their respective country.
Speaking to South African legal journalist and author Karyn Maughan, she explained that US-South Africa relations were already tense under the Biden administration and she’s concerned that the hostility will worsen. Maughan explained that South Africa was the target of a great deal of American criticism when it initiated proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice, there were threats of trade implications that never came to fruition. However, she is concerned that due to Trump’s close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the dynamic may change.
Meanwhile, Jordanian content creator Alia Hammouni shared concerns similarly stemming from Trump’s strong support of Israel. She referred to the Deal of the Century passed by Trump during his last term in office. Among several clauses, it called for Jerusalem to “remain the sovereign capital of the State of Israel” and said the US will support the establishment of a Palestinian State but only under a long list of preconditions.
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Hammouni went on to say that Trump’s decision to locate the US embassy in Jerusalem and recognise it as the capital of Israel was concerning for the Jordanian public.
Prominent Uzbek journalist and producer Nikita Makarenko stated that while he is not a personal fan of Trump, most legal Uzbek migrants in the US would have voted for him due to proposed tax cuts and a change to the migratory system that would become less of a randomised lottery and more skills-based.
He further said that he hopes for the Trump administration to take more of an active effort in fortifying Ukraine against Russia and criticised former US President Joe Biden for being too passive. He shared a similar sentiment when it comes to US help for Uzbekistan to fight Russian propaganda, saying that former US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn’t promise such aid despite being asked directly by Makarenko.
When asked about her thoughts on how Trump’s administration may affect the global approach to media freedom, Maughan was clear in her opposition to the election results. She described him as “fundamentally undemocratic” and listed different reasons she finds his reclaimed power “overtly concerning”.
Firstly, referred to his repeated accusations that voter fraud is the reason he lost the 2020 election, despite the fact that 15 different court cases found that the election was not rigged.
She continued to argue that a sizeable portion of Trump’s former cabinet said he is not fit to lead while high-ranking ministers and secretaries in his administration have described him as having “fascist leanings”.
“We have seen a retreat into the right-wing conservatism that makes it about us versus them. Amid a climate crisis and several global conflicts, humanity needs to be unified and we need to recognise the humanity in each other.”
Maughan said that Trump’s attacks on the media by using the term “fake news” often is especially concerning for journalists whose job is to “call out the lies that he so often perpetrates”.
She concluded by saying that America may need to fight for its democracy and encouraged journalists to “not be intimidated, hold the line and keep speaking truth to power”.
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