DONALD TRUMP AS A CENTERPIECE IN NEW NARRATIVES OF THE GUARDIAN'S OPINION ARTICLES (DECEMBER, 2024 – JANUARY, 2025)

Abstract

Background. In 2025, the world's politics was marked with sweeping changes in domestic and international policies, caused by Donald Trump's rise to the presidency in the USA. The article approaches mass media as an influential actor capable of shaping public opinion of a politician and, therefore, impacting political processes.

Methods. The research employs Critical Discourse Analysis and cognitive narratology to explore ten opinion articles focused on Donald Trump and published in the British daily newspaper Guardian in December, 2024 – January, 2025.

Results. The research reveals that the columnists' principal means of characterization is labeling. Remarkably, the labels attached to Trump contain connotations of authoritarianism and autocracy (here belong such nominations as king, tsar, autocrat). In addition, nominations of his team members consistently imply their subordinate status in a hierarchy (e.g., lackey, henchman, lieutenant). Trump's allegedly autocratic mode of governance disagrees with generally accepted and widely proclaimed Western values such as democracy and freedom, that is why Trump is called a threat, a danger, a warrior. Furthermore, the sample contains a set of new coinages, derivatives from the president's name, which justifies assuming that Trump is currently the central figure in world politics who sets political and ideological trends: he promotes Trumpism, his supporters are Trumpists or Trumpians who may be more or less Trumpy, dissemination of his views is Trumpification and, finally, Trump-like activities are Trumpery.

The narratives emerging in the sample outline the US domestic and global processes. Within the US internal political discourse, Trump is an autocratic leader who interferes with justice at will and promotes right-wing views. This enables The Guardian's columnists to draw a parallel between Trump and fascism, which suggests the historical continuity of Trump's views and brings the narrative onto the global level. In the international arena, Trump is depicted as the initiator of an economic, ideological and cultural struggle between once-indisputable allies and partners, namely the United States, Great Britain and the European Union. Using precedential texts, the Guardian admits Europe's internal problems, yet points out the unity of European values, which may help to overcome the discord and reunite to fight the new enemy.

Conclusions. The research shows that the opinion articles use lexical means to lead their readers to a negative assessment of Trump as an opponent to the core European values, whereas precedential texts are employed to draw historical and even biblical parallels between the emerging world order and well-known events and stories of the past.