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It's Trump's World Now, The Hindenburg (Research) Implodes
Kenyan Wall Street
January 20, 2025
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It’s Trump’s World Now
Today, Donald J Trump will return to the White House, and all indications are that he will kick off his final term with a busy schedule.
Among his first acts in office will be a sweeping number of executive orders, which he estimated at about 100, covering everything from immigration to the fate of TikTok in the United States.
A significant number will be designed to undo outgoing president Joe Biden’s executive orders, some of which undid Trump’s policies in his first term.
In the months to come, Trump 2.0’s global agenda will become clearer, with particular focus to competition with China, the rising influence of BRICS, and the reshaping of American geopolitical influence across the world.
“I’m thrilled to be back with so many friends, supporters and true American patriots on the eve of taking back our country,” Trump said at a rally on Sunday.
Among the sticky issues for East Africa include the fate of the breakaway region of Somaliland, which almost ignited a new conflict in the Horn of Africa after Hargeisa signed a memorandum with Addis Ababa in late 2024. Also on the roster is how Washington will relate to its traditional ally, Kenya, under a second Trump presidency.
In his appearance before a Senate committee, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, indicated that the US would continue supporting the Kenya-led mission to stabilise Haiti. The Biden-era plan, which Washington has already funded upto US$600 million, has so far not sat well with Trump’s side of the aisel. “”You’ve got to establish some baseline security, and it’s not going to come from a U.S. military intervention,” Rubio said.
The Biden administration had also shelved a Free Trade Agreement between Nairobi and Washington, replacing it with a deal that has yet to be completed. To geopolitical analysts, Nairobi could benefit from a looming showdown between the new Republican administration and South Africa over the latter’s geopolitical stances on issues concerning Russia, Ian, China, and Israel.
Pretoria expects an “increasingly transactional” relationship between Africa’s biggest economy and Washington. “Kenya would bring its importance as a regional economic hub and partner in fighting terrorism,” the Institute of Security Studies said in a recent analysis.
But Trump’s policies towards Africa will likely be shaped by Washington’s perspective of value. For example, among the last acts of the Biden administration was to slap the two sides in the Sudan conflict with sanctions. Sudan is an important country in the larger context of Middle Eastern policies-in his first term, Trump removed sanctions on the country once it agreed to recognise Israel.
Now that his second term will kick off with implementing the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Middle East politics and maintaining any semblance of balance in the region will undoubtedly shape how Washington approaches its interactions with East Africa and the Horn.
Stay updated on this on The Kenyan Wall Street.
“Economists are often asked to predict what the economy is going to do. But economic predictions require predicting what politicians are going to do– and nothing is more unpredictable.”
-Thomas Sowell
The Hindenburg Implodes
Hindenburg Research, the US short seller whose targeted reports have caused severe market value losses, has been disbanded after 7 years of operation, Founder and CEO Nathan Anderson said in a statement.
The research firm gained prominence in Wall Street for exposing alleged corporate fraud and misrepresentation through detailed reports, which simmered indictments against individuals and expensive legal battles while wiping billions from market values of companies.
The Heindenburg shutdown saw Adani Group shares surge 9% on Thursday – 2 years after fueling a US$100 billion share selloff in the Indian conglomerate’s market value.
In January 2023, the short seller published a targeted report against Adani Group accusing the conglomerate of stock manipulation and accounting fraud – “pulling the largest con in corporate history.”
“I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research,” Hindenburg CEO Nathan Anderson wrote in a statement, “Nearly 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators at least in part through our work, including billionaires and oligarchs. We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking.”
Founded in 2017, Hindenburg was a US investment firm focusing on short selling with whose reports targeted a number of companies including Nikola, Adani Group, Micro Computer, Clover Health, Block Inc, kandi and Lordstown Motors over the 7 years.
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