It is safe to estimate that no one in the world has ever experienced a President quite like Mr Donald Trump. With his larger than life television personality, and his penchant to blithely ignore conventions of political correctness, Mr Trump has been celebrated and censured in equal part by Americans. Quick to roll back Obamacare, and withdraw American participation from climate change agreements, there have been few of Mr Trump’s own policies that have been as successful as his rallying cry against the policies of democrats, notably former President Obama, and rival Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump’s popularity is a fact, and cannot be dismissed by permutations of electoral maths. His folksy demeanour and his penchant to cater to what his audience wants to hear has proven to be a winning formula that is being replicated in other parts of the world — even Pakistan. It is a mistake to assume that the adoption of political correctness by a few, is enough to convince the many of its merits or usefulness. The insistence of adopting views that are inclusive has backfired, and world over there is a desire to reject such thinking in favour of more purely self-beneficial policies.
In the first 100 days Mr Trump has also escalated tensions with North Korea, and started a new military front in Syria. His actions in Syria won him praise even from liberal circles, whereas his diplomatic overtures were the subject of ridicule. Mr Trump’s unconventional style may raise eyebrows in world capitals, but there is no doubt that his skill at judging his voting public is unmatched. Where many would fear to tread, precisely because of fear of humiliation, Mr Trump wades in fearlessly and as a result reaps benefits unknown and unmeasured.
His dismissal of any facts except those that suit him have embedded a deep distrust of the media in the minds of his voters. The father of ‘alternate facts’, he has convinced his voters that the media are biased toward liberal politics and therefore unfair to him. This creates a deep divide between readers and news outlets, the latter being beholden to facts, and the former treating facts as tailormade to fit any situation.
In these circumstances Mr Trump has so far triumphed. He may continue to have surprising successes, but his rhetoric of division is an unhealthy one, and is anathema to exactly what makes America great, and the envy of the world. It remains to be seen if Mr Trump will continue to be able to coast on these sentiments, or whether they will hurt him more than they are helping him right now.