What a Donald Trump Presidency Means for American Muslims

Donald Trump will return to the White House as America’s 47th president – what does that mean for Muslims?

Donald Trump will return to the White House as America’s 47th president after falsely claiming the 2020 election was 'stolen' as the first convicted felon to win a presidency. His win makes him the second president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms.

While multiple states are yet to be called—Trump defeated Democratic nominee and former Vice President Kamala Harris 277-224 in the Electoral College, around 5:34 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

Trump’s presidential win came after he was named the projected winner in Wisconsin.

Trump prematurely declared victory in the presidential race, while votes in several key battleground states were still being counted early Wednesday morning while addressing supporters at his election headquarters in West Palm Beach.

“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president — and your 45th president,” Trump said.

“I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the Golden Age. This is magnificent.”

The former 2016 president won the election after securing several battleground victories, including North Carolina and Georgia at the start of the evening of Nov. 5, when states like Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were too close to call.

He won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes just before 2:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, giving him a total of 267 electoral votes— three shy of the presidency. During this time, he began addressing himself as president and thanking his supporters.

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After Being Sworn to Office Jan. 20, What Should Muslim Americans Expect?

🛩️ Reinstatement of Muslim Travel Ban

According to The Guardian, while speaking to supporters during a rally, Trump promised—that should he return to the Oval Office—he will immediately begin “ideological screening” for all immigrants, bar those who sympathize with Hamas and Muslim extremists and reinstate his “famous travel ban.”

🇵🇸 Promises to Bar the Entry of Refugees from Gaza

“I will ban refugee resettlement from terror infested areas like the Gaza Strip, and we will seal our border and bring back the travel ban,” Trump said in September. 

“Remember the famous travel ban? We didn’t take people from certain areas of the world,” Trump added “We’re not taking them from infested countries.”

He described the countries included in the ban as “very vicious, violent parts of the world” and included Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Sudan among them.

🤔🤝 Worsening Ties with Iran and China? But Friendship with Saudi?

China is no fan of Trump— under a Trump presidency the U.S. relationship with China remains uncertain. Ties with Iran were also the worst in decades but Saudi Arabia has maintained a good relationship with Trump, the countries ties with Iran however was hostile during his first term as it engaged in wars in Yemen, CNN reported.

🚐 Increased Border Control + Mass Deportations 

Trump has vowed to reinstate his first-term policies targeting illegal border crossings and to go-ahead with stricter new restrictions, including involving military if necessary 

He has pledged to limit access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and to create the biggest deportation effort in American history

🌎 Drilling Away

Trump has also vowed to increase U.S. production of fossil fuels by easing the permitting process for drilling on federal land and would encourage new natural gas pipelines. He said he would reauthorize oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

According to Reuters, he also plans to again pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, a framework for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and would support increased nuclear energy production.

👋🏽 Bye-Bye Diversity Programs

In order to allegedly "defend American tradition and Western civilization” Trump has pledged to remove diversity programs from all U.S. colleges and universities. Instead because he is NOT a racist,  he said he would direct the Justice Department to pursue civil rights cases against schools that engage in racial discrimination and have such programs. 

He also plans to abolish the federal Department of Education and leave states in control of schooling.

🚫 No Federal Abortion Ban

Appointing three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who were part of the majority that did away with away with the protections under Roe v. Wade Trump said he plans to continue to appoint federal judges who would uphold abortion limits.

He has however contradicted himself in some cases and argued that exceptions be made in some states that have “harsh” policies. 

According to Reuters, he supports policies that advance in vitro fertilization (IVF), birth control and prenatal care.

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Despite his history of Islamophobic rhetoric and hate, Trump was surprisingly supported by both white nationalists and Muslims alike.

Several Imams in Michigan supported the Republican candidate days before the historical election, claiming he was advocating for peace and would maintain ties in the Middle East.

In efforts to win over the Muslim vote in Michigan, after popularity of the uncommitted movement in the state, Trump praised Muslim Americans supporting him in his final days of campaigning and said: “ they don’t want to be in wars. They’re very smart.”

The comments followed several promises to reinstate his “famous” Muslim ban days prior.

In addition to Republicans winning the presidency, they also won the Senate majority.

At this time, the House race has not been determined, it could take a week or more before party control is officially known.

According to preliminary results from a NBC News Exit Poll, voters listed the state of democracy and the economy as their top issues as they casted their ballots today, abortion, immigration and foreign policy followed.