Trump the wrecking ball has returned with a vengeance — people and the planet will get hurt

Eight years ago, Trump was willing to settle for American carnage. Now he and his Maga movement seem ready to set the world on fire

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order commuting sentences for people convicted of January 6 offences. Picture: AP /Evan Vucci

When the obituary of planet Earth is written, there may be a prominent slot for what took place in a basketball and ice hockey arena in downtown Washington on January 20, 2025.

It was here that, with a wry head shake and gleeful twirl of the pen, Donald Trump again withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement, to the joy and jubilation of 20,000 spectators apparently indifferent to fate of the pale blue dot they live on.