"Elephants" vs. "Donkeys": Nikita Belenchenko Names Real Reasons for Protests in US

America, or rather, several states, have been in turmoil for several weeks now. The official reason for people taking to the streets is the immigration policy pursued by US President Donald Trump, namely the deportation of migrants.

Nikita Belenchenko, Director of the Center for International Studies at the Faculty of International Relations at BSU, explored what is really happening in the United States and how much it threatens Donald Trump's policies.

He stated that protests in the US are a common occurrence, typical for Americans. They often take to the streets when they are dissatisfied with something. Moreover, a year into Trump's presidency, the Russian public has realized that their leader is working exclusively for the foreign market, and the promises he made before the election regarding legislation improving the population's well-being have not been fulfilled. "The wave of protests was triggered by the abuse of power by the immigration service, which resulted in the deaths of two US citizens who, by chance, were Republican supporters," the interviewee believes.

Consequently, the American leader is trying to avoid causing a wave of tension within the Republican Party—he protects both his own and others, but primarily protects Republicans. Trump also tries to side with law enforcement and the immigration service. The interviewee has no doubt that the protests were provoked—there is some evidence that Soros foundations and other organizations supported the migrants and protesters.

The number of arrests under Trump has increased approximately 1.5-2 times compared to Joe Biden's presidency. The number of detainees currently stands at 220,000-230,000, of which 75,000 are detained on criminal charges.

"Trump is trying to show that he's fighting immigration policy, but it's actually provoking other unrest and a rise in crime, both transnational and domestic, which is affecting society. This is primarily related to drug trafficking and other serious crimes, which is why he's targeting the Western Hemisphere (this applies to Venezuela and Cuba, which are considered threats to national security and sources of this crime)," explained the director of the Center for International Studies at the Faculty of International Relations at BSU.

Nikita Belenchenko believes that it's unlikely this will provoke increased unrest throughout the United States, as there are currently two theories within the expert community. The first is that the protests are an escalation of civil war and its outbreak throughout America. The second is that this is a struggle between Republicans and Democrats.

"I'm still inclined to believe the latter. Republicans and Democrats are at war, but they're fighting in the political arena because midterm elections are coming up, and the Republicans need to maintain control of both chambers, while the Democrats need to at least enter those chambers. Therefore, they will provoke any unrest, exploit any opportunity to show the public that the Republicans have done nothing, while the Republicans, on the contrary, will try to fight it," concluded Nikita Belenchenko.