By Jeff Fountain - Posted at Evangelical Focus:
Published January 19, 2026
What we have always known to be a welcoming refuge for the world’s tired, poor, ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’, symbolised by the Statue of Liberty, now projects official hostility towards foreigners and migrants.A year ago last week, the 47th president of the United States was inaugurated, supported by millions of Christians seeking stability, prosperity, moral renewal, or protection from forces they feared were eroding the nation they loved.
A year later, many are wondering if the adminstration they got was what they voted for.
Normally it would be none of my business, as a European, to comment on American politics. Unfortunately, it has become our business too.
What has been happening in America this past year has deeply affected our lives and futures in Europe. For the worse. Not the least in Ukraine. And also for billions globally.
We have watched from afar with growing disbelief and horror as a nation we have held in great esteem all our lives appeared to have descended rapidly towards autocracy, where courts, news media, universities and cultural institutions were bent to the will of one man unashamedly aligning himself with other strongmen past and present.
While some trends towards ‘lawfare’ and of weakening democracy may have already been underway, the current administration has broken norms on unprecedented levels.