• Clare Heath-McIvor wrote on the rise of the Christian nationalist threat under the Trump administration and how it inspires the religious right in Australia.
• Elizabeth Dangerfield reflected on the fragility of liberal democracy and what is at stake as the world takes a Trumpian turn. 
• Paul Monk examined the transformation of Elon Musk from a technological innovator to a destructive force in American politics.

The first days of Trump’s second presidency have passed with a flurry of tariff standoffs and literal turf wars with Greenland, Canada, Panama, the Gulf of Mexico and now Gaza. We’ve seen restrictions on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s LGBTQA+ specific resourcing, and a revisionist rewriting of Stonewall’s history. Unsurprisingly, gender identity has landed itself front and centre in the culture wars. Now, we have an announcement that he is creating a taskforce to eradicate anti-Christian bias.

Democracy is difficult. Democracy is fragile. Democracy, in its most inclusive modus operandi, pushes the boundaries too far for many people. As Winston Churchill said, no-one pretends democracy is perfect or all-wise. “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…" But democracy is also liberating. Full democracy liberates us not just from tyranny.

Elon Musk has been a shooting star. His ambitions and his energy have been awe-inspiring to observe, from banking to electric cars to space and social media, there seemed to be nothing he couldn’t do; nothing he couldn’t transform. Five years ago, I read Anna Crowley Redding’s brief biography of the man, Elon Musk: A Mission to Save the World, and was astonished at what he had achieved. I re-read it last week and was equally astonished.

I have followed the saga of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ reviewing of Census questions. I am appalled that the religion question will, for the next Census in 2026, remain the same as it was previously – ‘What is the person’s religion?’ I had inferred from ABS reports during the public consultation period that the ABS pretty much expected the proposed question, ‘Do you have a religion?’, would go ahead, given that the ABS had highlighted the bias in the existing question. The final decision is, therefore, a complete about-face.

Many people’s heads are spinning at the rapid rate that Donald Trump has been signing executive orders since becoming president – 70 in the 30 days since he took office. This is in stark contrast to Joe Biden, who averaged 41 executive orders a year, and Barack Obama, who averaged 35 a year. Several of Trump’s executive orders, directly or indirectly, target the trans community.