Most of the world, the political left in particular, was blindsided by the results of the 2016 election. Say that some are having a hard time coming to terms with the words President Trump, and what the next 48 years will bring would be an understatement. Those who told you that a Trump presidency was impossible were quick to remix the pre-election narratives, wrangling the Donald as something of the Hitler 2.0, and attempting to position themselves as leaders of a new resistance. The proper reflection still seems to be off the table. On the other end of the spectrum, you have those who took Trump's promises, a face value, and who actually believe he will make America great again. But claiming the dawn of a new age of conservatism as a stock market rose to record highs before he actually took office. Let's just cut to the chase. Is Trump going to usher in a new era of prosperity and innovation? Or is he going to be the one standing in the center ring when the circus tent comes down? Remember some voted for Trump as a political Maltaf cocktail. Trump is a business man, you say. He's going to make things happen. Cut taxes, cut regulation, invests a trillion dollars in infrastructure, including a ginormous wall, punish companies that move factories overseas, rebuild the military, restore relations with Russia, start a trade war with China, and you know a new arms race would create jobs. There's a lot to impact there, and those debates are worth having. However, much of this hinge is on a variable that Trump doesn't control. The Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is held interest rates at near zero for close to a decade. They also engaged in quantitative easing from 2009 to 2014, accumulating $4.5 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities and treasury loans. This inflated stock and bond market bubbles of historic proportions. When a friendly face is in the White House, crashes are typically attributed to a war terrorist attack. Or some other external variable. Trump presidency however, is an excuse in and of itself. Word is the Fed is leaning towards increasing interest rates aggressively in 2017, and may engage in anti-inflationary measures to offset Trump's infrastructure stimulus plans. That means that the flow of money and credit is about to be typed. It also means the Fed is setting itself up for a showdown. If Trump plays by the rules, he'll have to wait till 2018 to replace Janet Yellen. A lot can happen within that time frame. Trump's personality is a wild card. He's impulsive. He fights dirty. Fights to win. If Trump goes to war with the Federal Reserve, this could get out of hand in ways that most can't even imagine, especially when geopolitics are factored in. As a result, the US dollar's position as a world reserve currency is going to be in play. Add to that backdrop a little social unrest on the domestic front. If recent history serves as any indicator, we can count on seeing some kind of racially charged flashpoint involving the police during the Trump administration. Probably before 2017 is over. It's also fairly safe to say that some of these protests will turn violent and destructive. The trend has been towards escalation. Having Trump in charge will take this to a new level. Trump ran on the platform of law and order in support with the police, which piggybacks on the perception that Obama was undermining law enforcement during his term. Just the belief that Trump has their back is going to influence police response. They're going to be more confident, more aggressive, and if Trump offers even so much as a word of encouragement, they will go into full crackdown mode, which would of course throw gasoline on a fire. These tensions have the potential of spinning out of control, especially in the context of an economic downturn. And again, Trump's personality is a wildcard. Trump is also about to inherit, thanks to Obama and Bush, the most extensive and technologically advanced surveillance apparatus the world has ever seen. The power to order extrajudicial assassinations anywhere in the world, and a military which has been authorized by the NDAA to detain anyone anywhere, including US citizens, indefinitely without trial. To top it off, Trump is filling his administration with former generals, some with combat and counterinsurgency experience. He has everything he needs to implement a full-fledged military dictatorship, and a left has no one to blame, but themselves. Trump did not, however, start off on a good foot with the alphabet soup agencies. He has an enemy contingent in a deep state, which wants to take him down and has a means to do it. Replacing upper management won't be enough to neutralize this threat. These agencies have black budgets and off-the-book programs that defy accountability, and lots of experience toppling up star regimes. Failure to rein them in could be fatal. The most important trap, however, will be on the geopolitical front. Years of backing sooner jihadists in Syria failed to unseat Assad, and Trump has vowed to reverse US policy. Israel was openly supporting the Sunni Axis. They wanted a full-frontal regime change in both Syria and Iran for many years. But the Obama administration tied their hands. Didn't Russia step in, tipped the balance, and a Shiite crescent not only survived, but stronger. The Israeli Sunni Axis needs another path to war, so they're changing tack. On January 13, 2017, just seven days from the inauguration, Israel bombed the Syrian government airport. This provides a glimpse of the years to come. Israel's strategy is simple. Provoke Syria and or Iran to one of them retaliates, which would of course provide cover to take territory. Turkey is likely to make another move in Iraq and or Syria as well, while the Saudis continue bombing Yemen to rubble. Israel feels confident that Trump will defend them at all costs. Indeed, he's given this oppression, but will he take the bait? Here, Russia is a wild guard. What happens if Russia moves quickly to provide Syria and Iran with the means of defending themselves? What happens when Putin and Netanyahu are competing for Trump's year? With all the other variables in play, will Trump even have the means to influence the outcome in this region? Expect alliances in the Middle East to shift rapidly during the Trump years, with unexpected consequences, in particular, watch for a play on oil that undermines the petr-dollar. Making America great again was never on the menu. Trump wasn't supposed to win. He was supposed to be the decoy. This was reality television does politics, literally. The Democrats thought he was so bad he would take attention off of Hillary's baggage. So the Clinton campaign pulled strings with their friends in the media to help him in the primaries. We know this, thanks to the John Bedouc to email these. The DNC and their corporate media lackeys didn't work to marginalize the Bernie Sanders campaign and used a secret agreement backed by leverage to prevent him from attacking Clinton. This was confirmed by the DNC email leaks. Oops, you can't un-throw a malt-off cocktail. Look at your popcorn and buckle up. Relieve the United States if you were planning to. The show is about to begin. This video is creative comments. You have permission to download, copy, and distribute it by any means. If you'd like to support our work, you can donate at stormcloudsgathering.com or slash donate. You can find the transcript, sources, and original video at stormcloudsgathering.com at the link below. For more, subscribe to StormcloudsGathering on YouTube and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.