The clock is ticking for incoming US President Donald Trump to sit in office again, just a few days away. Will he be the messiah to Make America Great Again (MAGA) or will he bring that great nation down? The situation is really unpredictable, although there are important factors to consider.

Trump has four dangerous issues to deal with: 1) the trade war with China and Russia; 2) the alliance with Israel; 3) the racist moves against Indian techies; and 4) the efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

As we’ve said previously in this column, there are no winners in a trade war. Punishing China with a trade war is punishing America more. Recently, in retaliation for Trump’s plan to increase tariffs on Chinese exports to the US, China imposed a ban on exports affecting 18 big US corporations. If these firms, which thrive on trade with China, will have to downsize or even close shop as a result, hundreds of thousands of American jobs will be lost. Trump is not even the President yet, and we are already seeing the damage of the trade war with China.

Trump is pro-Israel to the bone, which is evident from his pronouncements on Fox News. He has promised to protect Israel from Iran and involve American troops and carriers, which will expose US troops and bases in the Middle East to anti-Israel retaliation. In other words, he is committing the US to the Iran-Israel conflict on a much larger scale, which could further explode at any time.

As a result, the US is earning the ire of the entire Arab world, which would have deep geopolitical and economic consequences in ensuring US access to Middle East energy.

The Shiite Houthis of Yemen have sophisticated drones and missiles that have been very effective in hitting targets deep inside Israel, such as Tel Aviv, and harassing US carriers and warships. If just one US carrier is destroyed by the Houthis, which is now a possibility, this would escalate the war to the high heavens and increase US involvement.

Since the birth of Islam, the Arabs have been forever divided between the Shiites (Iran, Yemen, Hezbollah) and the Sunnis (Hamas, Saudi Arabia, Iraq).

They have conflicting and common interests and strategies in dealing with Israel. Saudi Arabia wants peace with Israel to protect its energy resources and trade. They have a formal but precarious alliance. But Saudi Arabia is beginning to think this alliance will not work and they will be better off opposing rather than aligning themselves with Israel.

A deadly racist storm is also brewing in Trumpland even before he is sworn in.

Indians in America dominate the US cyber world, constituting more than half of the employment in the tech industry. The industry needs these Indian specialists badly.

Musk depends on many Indian techies in his empire. He cannot live without them. They are viewed, however, as stealing jobs from the less-skilled whites. And there are moves to oust them.

America’s Trump-led pendulum swing to the far right promises anarchy and chaos. The MAGA (Make America Great Again) is evolving into MARA (Make America Racist Again), a modern bigger version of the old McCarthyism movement.

As for the war in Ukraine, even before Trump can articulate and formalize a “deal” with Russia to end the war, Putin has expressed negative reactions to this non-existent “deal.”

Trump has the illusion that he can end the war in Ukraine with the snap of a finger. He says he can do it on Day One in the office.

We are at the crossroads of the historic resurrection of Trump to manage the American empire.

Will he save America or will he cause its downfall?