Donald rules the American roost- a nation hold its breath.
There are days in our lives when we know that the fate of the world hinges on just one event. We look back into the distant mists of time and wonder whether things might have been any different. We can never know what the future will hold because none of us are crystal ball gazers with just a hint of foresight.
Today Donald Trump becomes the new President of the United States and when the world looks at itself in the mirror it may find that it just can't get any worse. Now let's sit down and take stock of what has just happened. America has just appointed one of the most controversial, dangerously opinionated, dogmatic and fiercely businesslike of Presidents. They now have at the very highest level of the political hiearchy, a man who, seemingly, hasn't a clue what he's doing and may have to guess and improvise as he goes along.
These are significant moments in world political history when nothing seems real and when the only things that seem to make any sense are those we take for granted such as boiling kettles for tea and coffee, waking up in the morning, and turning on either the radio or TV. These are our daily certainties but now it all begins to look slightly lopsided and not quite what the historians had in mind.
The truth though of course that Donald Trump has taken the oath as the next American president and reality will have to be suspended just for a while. Now though, there is a sobering realisation that what might have seemed totally unimaginable is no longer the case. The American people have voted for a man whose recent statements may have to be seen in an entirely different perspective. It's time to get down to business and blow away all those terrible misperceptions.
Personally I think Trump, in essence, will have to keep his private feelings to himself or just water them down for the long term benefit of his country. All of that rabble rousing hot air about walls and Mexico and that deeply offensive comment about a certain religion will just have to be buried in some compost heap of ill advised comments. But none of us know what we might get with Trump so our assessments of the man will have to be completely objective. Surely the man can't be dismissed as some oddball figure with a penchant for putting his foot in the wrong place.
As a country America will have to hold their breath for quite some time. We're dealing with a man who knows nothing at all about important political issues, is seemingly ill equipped to deal with matters that are just beyond his capability and hoping that things will just fall into place. There is a sense that Trump will have to use all his powers of improvisation to conjure up new plans and initiatives off the top of his head.
And yet in the cold light of the day you have to believe that deep within the Trump persona there is a Ronald Reagan just desperate to get out. Now Reagan also looked, to all outward appearances, slightly perplexed and apprehensive when things went wrong. We know he used to be a Hollywood film star and everything that comes with that package and here is where the comparison with Trump probably falls down.
But both Reagan and Trump seem to belong in the same category. Trump is no-nonsense, speaks straight from the hip and, let's be honest about this one, is a smouldering grenade ready to go off. He seems to rant hysterically about anything and everything when it's quite clearly inappropriate. But whereas Reagan was the governor of California, Trump knew only the fresh smell of wealth and big business enterprise. Of course Trump is smart, presentable and respectable but then so were Ford, Nixon, Carter, Reagan. Bush and Clinton and look what happened to them?
Trump looks trustworthy but you do have reservations about his manner and behaviour. Maybe he needs some private counselling or intensive media training, perhaps learn the art of diplomacy. It has to be easy surely. What can be so hard about saying the right thing at the right time? There is indeed a time and place for everything and Trump's advisors will certainly have their work cut out.
To be honest this is all very much guesswork and simple hope at the moment. It's rather like inviting some international head of state to Britain and hoping against hope that they pick up the knife and fork the right way at Buckingham Palace. This is definitely a case of protocol and etiquette and Trump must feel like a teenager on his first day at secondary or grammar school. The uniform is spotless but underneath the surface that teenager must be showing every sign of panic and nervousness.
For the whole world these are tricky and challenging times, epic and momentous quite possibly but poised to go either one way or other. After all the fuss, hullabaloo and explosive campaigning for the last couple of years Trump may have to forget about his past bluster, hot air and joky banter. It's time to roll his sleeves up and knuckle down to the serious stuff in the White House. This, after all, is the real thing, the real deal and what might have smacked of showbiz superficiality in the past has to be pushed to one side and buried once and for all.
Trump, as has been well documented, is very cool, streetwise, savvy and much cleverer than we may have given him credit for. There is a calm and restraint about him now that may not have been readily apparent before. Of course those remarks were just preposterous propaganda designed to get himself into the White House. You and I know they were very intelligently pitched soundbites that were carefully measured and craftily calculated.
In retrospect whatever came out of the Trump mouth seemed the most remarkable publicity stunt since the beginning of time. We were never likely to fall for all those hideously nonsensical promises, those quite obviously provocative remarks that couldn't have done him any favours at all but served their purpose perfectly. But you have to hand it our Donald. He succeeded in throwing the thickest smoke screen over us all, deceived us ever so briefly and, once the dust had settled, commonsense and reason are beginning to show themselves.
Behind all the froth and cosmetic war paint, it does seem that Trump is a man who will sit down at that huge desk at the White House, clear out all the old documents and papers that are probably gathering dust and then try to figure out where to go from here. This is a learning curve for everybody and the probability is that we won't really be able to form a considered judgement on Trump for quite a while. He is a work in progress and the jury has to be out.
But we must allow this gentleman to sort himself out, find out what goes where and then try to formulate long term projects without upsetting anybody. At the moment this is a complex mechanism that may take a while to get right. There are wires and components that have been left all over the place, the curtains haven't been cleaned for ages and those lights look terrible over there. Oh and don't forget to put that table and the sofa over there.
Trump will have to, quite metaphorically, find his feet sooner rather than later. We know that there lurks a steely determination within the man that knows no bounds. But the doubts hover and the questions persist and will not go away. Will Trump be the proverbial bull in a china shop and turn convention on its head? Or will he listen to the people who he trusts and kept the faith in. We are all in the dark and there is no clarity about anything. Suffice to it to say that America will look to the skies and dream about miracles. For indeed they do come true.
This morning Washington welcomed everybody to a new dawn and age. The capital city of America looked bright, cold but privately optimistic. There are the obvious anxieties and maybe a private anguish, an America that is understandably trembling and quivering but perhaps an America who just want to adopt the wise words of Martin Luther King. America has to dream because if it doesn't then this could be the lull before the storm. In America we salute you.
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