Why President Donald Trump might be good for the world
So long Obama. Long live 'The Donald'
On 20th January, Trump will be sworn into office on the steps of the Capitol Building and become the 45th President of the United States. Many are worried, upset, and even angry at the premise of the host of reality-TV show, The Apprentice, becoming the most important man on the planet.
But, compared to Obama, who seems to have spent his final few days in office commuting whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s 35-year sentence and exchanging BFF bracelets with Vice-President Joe Biden, Trump already claims to have created 1,500 new American jobs.
Many hope that Trump will be more effective than Obama, better educated than Bush, and won’t do a Clinton and get “overly-familiar” with an intern in the Oval office. However, pessimists are already convinced that Trump’s reign will be a disaster. These are some of the biggest criticisms of ‘The Donald’ and the ways that he could actually Make America Great Again.
Donald Trump is entering into his presidency with the lowest ever approval rating for a president-elect. In the few short months since the polls closed, Trump has actually become less popular with 52% of Americans now claiming they disapprove of the way he has handled himself after the campaign.
It’s safe to say that this has a lot to do with the influence Trump’s enemies wield. On the eve of his inauguration, before he’s even made it to the Capitol Building steps, Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Moore will have already corralled a ‘massive rally’ for anti-Trump protesters in New York.
Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin & myself will be holding a massive rally in NYC in front of Trump International Hotel this Thursday, 6pm! Come!
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 14, 2017
Likewise, in the time between the end of his campaign he has had high profile spats with the likes of Meryl Streep and former Fox news host, Megyn Kelly. With enemies like these, the president-elect doesn’t need friends. The only way he could only live up to the apocalyptic visions of Trumpageddon is if he nuked California on his first day in office.
Unlike his recent predecessors Bush, Clinton, and Obama, Trump is already so unpopular that the only way he can go is up. People might be planning to take down the new pugilist president, but in the words of one of Trump’s greatest friends and supporters, Iron Mike Tyson: ‘Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’
In his recent interview with Brexiteer Michael Gove, Trump caused a stir among journalists when he refused to say whether he trusted Vladimir Putin or Angela Merkel more. ‘I start off trusting both — but let’s see how long that lasts’, the president elect said. Many in the media are concerned that this shows a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to foreign policy.
US-Russian relations have quickly deteriorated to near Cold War levels of hostility. To the dismay of many, Trump has sided with Putin. In a conciliatory tweet, Trump wrote: ‘Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only “stupid” people, or fools, would think that it is bad!’
Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only "stupid" people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
Trump has repeatedly underplayed the role Russian hacking played in his election, calling it a media ‘witch-hunt’ in a New York Times interview in which he rejected claims that Russia was responsible for his election victory. Nevertheless, Reince Priebus, his incoming chief of staff later contradicted Trump, saying on Fox News Sunday: ‘He’s not denying that entities in Russia were behind this particular campaign’.
According to a ‘declassified version of a highly classified assessment’, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that Putin had a longstanding wish to ‘undermine the US-led liberal democratic order’, specifically by denigrating Hillary Clinton by ‘harm[ing] her electability and potential presidency.’
But it is exactly this sort of international bullying that Trump would not stand for.
Attempting to influence, or indeed hijack, the elections of another country are never going to be accepted in free, democratic states. But, before Obamaniacs get too comfortable on their high horse let’s heed the words of Barack himself, after all: ‘part of being friends is being honest.’
Putin may very well have tried to shape the US election, but Obama did it first. Don’t forget when he came to London telling Brits to vote against Brexit because it would put us to the ‘back of the queue’.
One of the biggest complaints levied against Trump is that he is unqualified, having never held political or military office. This is the biggest red herring of them all. True, before Trump only Zachary Taylor and Dwight Eisenhower hadn’t been full-time politicians – and between them there was a combined 77 years of military experience.
As you can see from the clear distain for democracy shown by Remoaners in the UK, even most liberals prefer the idea of a meritocratic leadership, where the Commander-in-Chief is qualified for the job at hand.
Trump is already being called the first “celebrity President”. On the contrary, it could be argued Obama gained celebrity status thanks to his political power.
Barack Obama entered office facing the worst of the 2009 world financial crisis, inheriting the auto bailout of $17.4 billion of taxpayers’ money that had been signed off by Bush. Obama certainly wasn’t a banker and, according to his opponents, his ideological refusal to imitate British austerity actually slowed US economic growth.
Moreover, the one way in which Obama was qualified relied on his understanding of the political apparatus of the Senate and Congress to convert his policies into law. In short, knowing how to work the system to get results – the basis of Western democracy.
Luckily this does not look like it will be a problem for Trump. According to a description of himself on his own website: ‘Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, sports, and entertainment. He is the archetypal businessman – a deal maker without peer.’
The best test of the “peerless” Donald’s presidency will be judging whether or not he can do a better job than Obama when it comes to bending Washington to his will.
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