UBC experts on Trump inauguration and second term

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20, 2025. UBC experts are available to comment on various topics related to a second Trump presidency.  

Associate Professor, Strategy and Business Economics Division

Tel: 604-822-8484

Tel: 604-822-8503

Email: werner.antweiler@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, German

Expertise:

  • International trade (tariffs and trade wars), energy systems, environmental policy 

* unavailable until Feb. 12

Professor, Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Email: rick.barichello@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Food prices, trade policies, dairy and poultry policy, Canada-US agricultural and trade policy disputes

(She/Her/Hers)

President’s Excellence Chair in Global Migration and co-director, Centre for Migration Studies

Email: i.bloemraad@ubc.ca

Interview languages: Dutch, English, French

Expertise:

  • US-Canada relations, immigration, asylum, undocumented migration, race relations, and social movement mobilization

(She/Her/Hers)

Professor, Dept. of Philosophy

“If the second Trump presidency goes according to plan, it will threaten press freedom, academic freedom, and freedom of expression. These freedoms are mainstays of a healthy liberal democracy. We must remember – again and again – why these freedoms matter and what we can do to protect them.”

Tel: 604-827-0027

Email: kimberley.brownlee@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Political philosophy, free expression, dissent, civil disobedience

(She/Her/Hers)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Migration Studies

“During Trump’s first administration, restrictive immigration policies, policy proposals, and xenophobic rhetoric impacted the United States’ recruitment of international students, while Canada’s global share of international student enrollments grew rapidly. However, the global landscape has since changed. Major destination countries such as Canada, Australia, and the UK have all tightened their international student mobility policies over the past year. International students in Canada are currently grappling with anxiety and uncertainty due such a volatile policy environment. This time around, if international students sour on the United States, they are less likely to view Canada as an attractive alternative.” 

Email: lisa.brunner@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • International students, higher education, immigration 

(She/Her/Hers)

Assistant Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning

“What legal and political strategies are environmental groups employing to counter Trump’s deregulation efforts? In absence of federal climate action, other levels of government often step up to fill gaps, so I expect advocacy groups to direct resources to advancing state and city-level climate policy. In response to 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, coalitions like the U.S. Climate Alliance (a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors) emerged to coordinate state-level climate policy. New York’s recently passed Climate Change Superfund Act is a good example of an early legislative answer to the rollbacks expected under Trump.” 

Email: holly.caggiano@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Clean energy, climate change, environmental politics, United States 

* Unavailable Thursday afternoons 

Professor of Political Science, Dept. of Political Science, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs

“As someone who has studied the erosion of democracy in countries around the world, I will be watching closely to see how the election of a president who has faced legal consequences for actions aimed at derailing a transition of government will shape the rule of law and the integrity of democracy in the United States. Trump’s election poses a serious threat to the separation of powers and the lawful operation of the state. What he calls the ‘deep state’ is, in effect, a functioning bureaucracy that, if dismantled, will disable the rights and freedoms necessary for a robust democracy.” 

Tel: 604-822-3129

mobile: 604-827-5311

Email: max.cameron@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, Spanish

Expertise:

  • Politics, democracy, Canadian foreign policy 
Professor, Dept. of Geography

Tel: 604-822-6959

Email: simon.donner@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Climate change and energy 
Professor, Dept. of Political Science and co-director, Centre for Migration Studies

Tel: 604-822-4359

Email: antje.ellermann@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, German

Expertise:

  • Immigration, asylum, undocumented migration

(She/Her/Hers)

Professor, Dept. of Political Science

Tel: 604-822-4922

Email: kathryn.harrison@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • U.S. climate, environmental, and energy policy, the implications of U.S. policy changes for Canada 

(He/Him/His)

Professor, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media

Tel: 604-827-3540

Email: alfred.hermida@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, French, Spanish

Expertise:

  • Media and social media
Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues; Professor and Canada Research Chair, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs

Tel: 604-822-4687

Email: kristen.hopewell@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • International trade, geopolitics, international political economy, trade policy, CUSMA/USMCA, United States 

(She/Her/Hers)

Professor, Dept. of Political Science

Tel: 514-668-4576

Email: terri.givens@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, French, German

Expertise:

  • United States, U.S. politics, right-wing, radical right, race and racism, gender, immigration, impacts on Canada
Associate Professor

“President Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs could have serious negative consequences for Canada, as the United States is Canada’s single largest export market. Whether (or in what manner) the second Trump Administration imposes tariffs on Canadian goods and services will be a major source of economic uncertainty for at least the near future. In the longer term, the Trump Administration will likely seek to renegotiate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”

Tel: 604-822-3776

Email: hutchison@allard.ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, French

Expertise:

  • Business
  • Corporate Law
  • Entrepreneurship
  • History
  • United States
Associate Professor, Faculty of Forestry

Tel: 604-827-3478

Email: harry.nelson@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Softwood lumber, forest economics and policy

(He/Him/His)

Lecturer, Dept. of Political Science

Email: stewart.prest@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • Implications of Trump presidency for Canada and the world 
Professor, Dept. of Political Science

Tel: 604-822-2230

Email: quirk@politics.ubc.ca

Interview languages: English

Expertise:

  • U.S. politics, congress, presidency

(She/Her/Hers)

Professor of International History and Public Policy, Dept. of History, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs

Tel: 617-905-2321

Email: heidi.tworek@ubc.ca

Interview languages: English, German

Expertise:

  • Digital policy and platforms, online harassment, health communications