Wednesday, Jan 25, 2017

The Economist cover photo-montage this week, which shows United States President Donald Trump wearing a George Washington wig and displaying a button that reads “I’ll be Tremendous”, said it all. There’s now a narcissist-in-chief in the White House who thinks highly of himself, even if his record is chequered with a real-estate/entertainment claim to fame.

Since the founding fathers of America were serious individuals who created a nation that welcomed the tired, the poor, the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse” and, yes, even the “homeless” from teeming shores, their discourses stood in direct contrast to what Trump professes.

Instead of embracing “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” [Thomas Jefferson], instead of wishing “malice towards none, with charity for all ... to achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations” [Abraham Lincoln], instead of inviting Americans and fellow citizens of the world to “ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man” [John F. Kennedy], Trump proclaimed an “America First” policy and vowed that “January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again”.

Beyond its rhetorical value, Trump’s assertions are hollow because his 44 predecessors were not any less patriotic, as they placed America first too. To affirm otherwise is to know little of American history, which might be the case here, but this is something that everyone will now have to accept. Regrettably, and instead of offering a vision for the country, Trump pledged to “get the job done”. That is the level to which a once-great nation stooped and while wearing the American flag on one’s suit-lapel is fine, such a display does not necessarily make one more patriotic.

There will, of course, be plenty of time to analyse the new president’s words and deeds, but two issues of concern stand out at this juncture.

First, Trump declared that he wants to eradicate radical “Islamic terrorism” from the face of the earth, but since he previously claimed that former US president Barack Obama and the American Government created Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), does this mean that he will eradicate the US?

No, of course not, but he might well implement his controversial proposals to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from entering the US and, worse, to authorise the creation of a “Muslim registry” in America akin to what had occurred to citizens with Japanese ancestry during the Second World War. Moreover, and since the president made it clear that he was not an ally to American Muslims nor, for that matter, to the Arab world, few should now be surprised when he translates his support of Israel into a “single-state solution” that will surpass the Obama multi-billion-dollar endowments.

The second concern is what Trump intends to do to the US economy, starting with abandoning carefully negotiated trade agreements as well as impose strict new tariffs, ostensibly to protect jobs and repatriate outsourced factories.

In what was the ultimate insult to his surrounding audience on the inauguration platform, Trump chastised the establishment into which he was born and whose values he sheltered all his life, for allegedly only protecting “itself, but not the citizens of our country”. He added: “Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs,” which is laughable.

How his gullible supporters will absorb this “alternative fact” will need to be carefully studied given the six Goldman Sachs veterans in his administration, including his treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin, a man whose family mansion in Bel Air, California, is valued at $26 million (Dh95.62 million), but whose bank foreclosed on 36,000 homeowners for various infractions, including that of a 90-year-old Florida woman who owed, wait for it, 27 cents.

Time will tell whether corporations that have stashed money overseas will repatriate their profits and pay their taxes and whether regulations will serve ordinary citizens.

For now, and before anything else, it is right to apologise to Washington, to Jefferson, to Lincoln and even to Kennedy. Their successor, America’s 45th President, is not made of the same clothes that they were made of. They inspired Americans and created a great nation. But Trump will entertain us, insult most and enlarge the gulfs that separate nations. Those great former presidents led mankind with visions that enhanced liberty and ensured prosperity, but TRump will bank on the weaknesses of Americans that will only add to their woes. Those stalwarts forged a nation that remains a beacon on the proverbial hill, but Trump will grab it to fulfil ephemeral dreams of grandeur and, perhaps, even shut its lights out.

By Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.