Will US President Donald Trump’s second term in office in the White House have an impact on Belize?

Will US President Donald Trump’s second term in office in the White House have an impact on Belize? Tonight, Belizeans questioning whether Trump’s re-election and his plans to shake up policies in the USA will negatively impact the Jewel. The 78-year-old Republican Candidate won by a commanding margin last night, four years after claiming to be robbed of the presidency in 2020 and attempting to overturn the election results. Trump is the first convict to be elected to serve as a US President and his far-right views and proposed foreign policy changes may have far-reaching impacts beyond the US. Today, our newsroom asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca to weigh in on Trump’s victory and whether it will affect Belize’s relationship with the US. 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs: “Belize always respects the will of the people. The American people have spoken very clearly and very loudly and so you know we Belize enjoys a very very strong friendship and partnership with the United States of America. We congratulate the president elect Donald Trump and we look forward to in 2025 we look forward to working with his administration you know and we look forward to again to continuing to strengthen the relationship between Belize and the United States. It’s a very very important relationship for us and we are committed to working very closely with any US president and their administration to advance our mutual needs and interest. We enjoyed again vey good relations with the United States of America even as you said when President Trump was in office previously. And we have enjoyed very very good strong relations with them during President Biden’s term in office. That term comes to an end in January of next year and president Trump will once again be in office and we expect the same, we expect to have a good strong working relationship and partnership with his administration because we have shared goals in terms of regional challenges that we face, security issues, combating narco trafficking, combating human trafficking, combating crime and violence those are shared goals. So I expect us to have a very good working relationship.”
 

We also asked Minister Fonseca whether he believes Trump’s stance on immigration and his pledge to have a mass deportation of illegal immigrants would affect Belizeans who migrated to the US in recent years to seek asylum or reside in the US illegally. 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs: “I mean yes the president you know during his campaign made certain I think policy statements about his position on immigration. Of course you know we will have to wait and see what actually happens. But I think everyone knows that you know I think one of the great attributes of the United States of America is that it’s a country of laws, it’s a country that has demonstrated over centuries it’s commitment to the rule of law and so you know I don’t think that Belizeans who are living there should be in fear. You know obviously if you’re an illegal immigrant I expect that you’re always a bit anxious about your status so I think that will continue but we certainly hope that the new administration coming in will fully, and we expect them to, fully abide by the laws international laws as well as their own domestic laws and of course always treat immigrants with respect and dignity.”

Trump’s victory defied two assassination attempts, two presidential impeachments, his criminal conviction, and many other criminal charges.