Some of the major events that happened globally during Trump’s presidency are:

• The COVID-19 pandemic: The novel coronavirus outbreak, which was first detected in China in late 2019, spread rapidly across the world and became a global health crisis. The pandemic has infected over 260 million people and killed over 5 million as of November 2021. The pandemic also triggered an unprecedented economic recession, disrupted global trade and travel, and challenged the public health systems and social norms of many countries. Trump’s response to the pandemic was widely criticized for being slow, inconsistent, and dismissive of scientific advice. He also blamed China for the virus and withdrew the US from the World Health Organization.

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• The US-China trade war: Trump initiated a series of tariffs and sanctions against China, accusing it of unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and human rights violations. China retaliated with its own tariffs and countermeasures, leading to a prolonged and escalating trade conflict that affected the global economy and geopolitics. The two countries signed a partial trade deal in January 2020, but tensions remained high on other issues, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea.

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• The Iran nuclear deal: Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multilateral agreement that aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump argued that the deal was flawed and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional activities. He reimposed sanctions on Iran and pursued a “maximum pressure” campaign to force it to renegotiate a new deal. Iran responded by resuming some of its nuclear activities and increasing its uranium enrichment levels. The US and Iran also came close to a military confrontation after the US killed a top Iranian general in a drone strike in January 2020.

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• The Israel-Palestine conflict: Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and reversing decades of US policy. He also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a territory that Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Trump unveiled his “vision for peace” in January 2020, a plan that favored Israel’s interests and was rejected by the Palestinians. He also brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.

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• The North Korea nuclear issue: Trump engaged in a series of unprecedented summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, becoming the first sitting US president to meet with him. The two leaders exchanged personal letters and pledged to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the improvement of bilateral relations. However, the talks stalled due to disagreements over the scope and sequence of sanctions relief and denuclearization measures. North Korea resumed its missile tests and nuclear activities, and expressed frustration with the US’s “hostile policy”.