For all his flaws, Donald Trump will be a better president of the USA than Hillary Clinton would have been. This is not only because his policy platform features lower, not higher taxes, less, not more regulation, an understanding of the flaws of minimum wage legislation and a hope for a less interventionist foreign policy, but because he represents a rare chance of real change.
We are no fans of Trump. We deplore his anti-trade rhetoric. He lacks understanding of the mutual benefits of free trade and is more concerned with protecting his constituency from the competition inherent in globalisation than embracing the opportunities offered by it. He worryingly invokes Dwight D. Eisenhower, who oversaw a 30% increase in federal spending, when talking about his ‘bold, visionary infrastructure’ plan. His vision of ‘American steel in American infrastructure’ will only make Americans poorer.
But in light of the alternative, Trump offers a hope for America. He offers a timely antidote to the corrosive culture of political correctness. He has demonstrated to the Social Justice Warriors that a lewd comment made in private in the back of a bus more than a decade ago does not disqualify you from office. He taps into real resentment based on decades of a country being run for the politically connected, which has left large swathes of the nation feeling left behind. The parallels with Brexit are obvious: a disaffected electorate surprised and embarrassed the pollsters by voting against the establishments, the politically correct opinions, the outspoken celebrities, of whom a number now are presumably making good on their promises and are preparing to leave the country. A triumph for the fringes of politics. Similar to Brexit, a Trump presidency also presents an opportunity for real change, but there are no guarantees. We are not optimistic that the opportunity Brexit presents will be embraced by Theresa May. Similarly, Trump will have to prove that he is willing to take on vested interest and deliver real change. This truly is a time for change, and America has voted for it. It is now up to President Trump to deliver.