Trump strongly placed to honour campaign promises

In his third bid for the White House Donald Trump won not only the Electoral College by a decisive 312 votes against 226 for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris but also secured four million votes more than Harris at the popular level.

He is the first Republican candidate do achieve this feat in two decades. While he won the Electoral College against Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, she garnered nearly three million more popular votes than Trump.

It is significant that Trump won two races in which his rival was a woman. Writing in The Irish Times, a furious Justine McCarthy declared, “Thanks a bunch, America. You’ve left no room for doubt that, yet again, your presidential preference is for anybody but a woman... even if the woman is cleverer, younger, more energetic, more articulate...

The manosphere rules, OK. Nothing changes. Not really. Not ever.” Ireland has had two women presidents, both called Mary: Robinson and McAleese. Notable women prime ministers have included Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, India’s Indira Gandhi, the Philippines’ Corazon Aquino, France’s Edith Cresson, Germany’s Angela Merkel, New Zealand’s Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Australia’s Julia Gillard. The US, the second largest democracy in the world, which claims to be the leading democracy and seeks to serve as a model for others — none.

When Trump first ran for the presidency in 2016, he did not believe he would win but thought the exposure would be good for business.

Today Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have one thing in common: they pursue high office to keep themselves out of jail. Trump is a convicted felon on 34 counts; Netanyahu is under trial for fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.

Trump based this campaign on repudiation of the educated elite which has dominated US politics for decades. Fear of the “other.” Majority Whites fear minority Blacks, Asians, and Latinos.

All fear migrants who seek to enter the US illegally.

He relied on lies, smears, insults, and boasts.

He projected masculinity to win the votes of men challenged by the rise of women.

He denigrated women who backed Harris. He promoted divisions within US society rather than unity, as Harris did.

He used his court cases and felony convictions to claim persecution and victimhood. Once again, he proclaimed “America First” with the aim of pursuing US interests with no regard for wellbeing of the 192 other UN member countries. While Trump is to be the next US president, voters who know who he is and what he represents. Therefore, his voters are to blame for putting him in the White House for a second term. Trump himself should not be blamed. He is what he is.

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus spoke for distressed fellow citizens when she wrote she is “most worried that this country is not what I thought it was, but someplace much more cruel and nasty and selfish, both in its attitude toward our fellow Americans and in its conception of America’s place in the world.” In his victory speech, Trump stated, “I will govern by a simple motto. Promises made, promises kept.”

He has promised, inter alia, to deport illegal migrants, impose tariffs on imports, roll back measures to tackle climate change, deploy the military against critics, curb the media, fire the Justice Department officials who have mounted cases against him, and introduce loyalty tests for civil servants.

Trump’s critics and foes are gearing up to counter his destructive policies. The American Civil Liberties Union has drawn up a “battle plan” to take effect “the minute he takes office” on January 20th. Climate change campaigners have vowed to challenge his proposals in court and pressure companies and banks to commit to renewables. Gun-safety advocates will continue to demand ban on civilian ownership of weapons of war.

Trump’s two key promises — to deport migrants and impose tariffs on imported goods — are problematical. It is ironic that Trump should take a strong line against migrants. His mother was a migrant from Scotland, his grandfather from Bavaria and two of his three wives, Melania from Slovenia and Ivana from Czechoslovakia. Trump’s plan to deport record numbers of illegal migrants could face serious obstacles.

The first is that of the 11 million illegal migrants in the US, 4.4 million are US-born children under 18 who have automatic US citizenship and live with a parent or parents who would be on the deportation list.

The second obstacle is financial. It is estimated that a million deportations a year could cost $968 billion over ten years, according to the American Immigration Council.

Third, the government would have to recruit and train 10,000 border agents. Since deportations require legal approval, hundreds of new courts would have to be established. Fourth, border security would have to be tightened to reduce the flow of illegals into the US. Fifth, mass deportations of farm and vineyard workers, in particular, could cause an economic disaster.

And sixth, there could be popular opposition. While 39 per cent of voters said most illegal migrants should be deported, 56 per cent said they should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.

Trump has promised tariffs of 20 per cent on goods from most other countries and 60-120 per cent on all imports from China.

He seeks tariffs as a means to protect US jobs by raising the price of goods imported from countries with low wages. He argues this would increase tax revenue.

 While he has said his tariffs would not boost prices consumers pay, this would not be the case.

Manufacturers who import raw materials and wholesalers and retailers of finished goods would pass on the extra costs to consumers. This would fuel inflation.

Nevertheless, Trump is in a strong position to honour his campaign promises on these and other issues.

His Republican party has won the majority in the Senate and is likely to secure a majority in the House of Representatives.

During his first term, he appointed conservative, loyalist judges to the Supreme Court who could be expected to back him when and if he is challenged.