By U.S. President Joe Biden’s own admission, defeating Donald Trump was the main motivating force of his campaign. As his administration clarifies its economic agenda, however, it’s becoming clear that Biden’s true legacy lies not in rolling back Trump’s policies but in refining them.
Of course there are many differences, in both style and substance, between Biden and Trump. Yet the underlying message of Biden’s Build Back Better program is not that far removed from Trump’s Make America Great Again mantra. Rhetoric aside, the policy rationale is even more similar.
Biden’s ambitions for clean energy, for example, are far greener than anything envisioned by Trump. Crucially, however, the underlying goal — U.S. "energy dominance,” as Trump called it — remains the same. If anything, Biden’s agenda pushes the United States further into the frontiers of global energy production.