Counter-terrorism under the Trump presidency

This article provides a brief but comprehensive analysis of the distinctive features of the US counter-terrorism policy under President Donald Trump, in the context of his wider political action. The research shows that, while he waved counter-terrorism as a key argument of his nationalist and isolationist rhetoric, in fact Trump lacked an organized approach to the problem. In practice, the Trump Administration widely resorted to pre-existing counter-terrorism tools and in doing so, it reversed Obama’s much-appreciated attempts to reinforce procedural guarantees and ensure a stronger respect for human rights. Authors argue that Trump’s stance on counter-terrorism seriously impaired America’s credibility among other countries, as a law-abiding reliable partner in the global fight against terrorism, and jeopardized the US government ability to build-up effective cooperation with Muslim communities, both at home and overseas.