The Biggest Challenges Trump Faces in His Second Year

At the same time, Trump’s years of self-aggrandizing his abilities as the dealmaker-in-chief are running into the harsh reality of some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians, Israelis, and their foreign interlocutors are at an impasse over how to implement phase 2 of Trump’s vaunted 20-point peace plan. And Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to refuse to accept any credible security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a hoped-for peace deal.

Domestic politics and the prospect of Republicans losing their monopoly over government in Washington are likely to take up more of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attention this year. That will give him more to worry about than the early days of 2025, when he and his allies confidently proclaimed they had received a strong mandate by American voters for sweeping change.

Domestic politics and the prospect of Republicans losing their monopoly over government in Washington are likely to take up more of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attention this year. That will give him more to worry about than the early days of 2025, when he and his allies confidently proclaimed they had received a strong mandate by American voters for sweeping change.

At the same time, Trump’s years of self-aggrandizing his abilities as the dealmaker-in-chief are running into the harsh reality of some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians, Israelis, and their foreign interlocutors are at an impasse over how to implement phase 2 of Trump’s vaunted 20-point peace plan. And Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to refuse to accept any credible security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a hoped-for peace deal.

All of this adds up to what could be a particularly difficult year for Trump and his foreign-policy ambitions. Here are some of the biggest challenges he faces heading into the second year of his second term.

The U.S. Midterms

People stand hunched over high top tables surrounded by privacy screens that read "VOTE" and depict a bald eagle against an American flag backdrop.

The reality of Trump’s—objectively historic and noteworthy—2024 electoral victory is that although he won the popular vote, he did so by a much smaller margin than other recent U.S. presidential winners.