ON the stroke of midday in Washington DC, Donald John Trump, the first- generation son of a Scottish emigrant, turned the myth that anyone can be President of the United States into a reality.
The businessman never before elected to any office, the billionaire who struck gold with blue collar America, the Manhattan property developer who promises to make the rust belt gleam again, placed his hand on a Bible gifted to him by his Hebridean mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, and solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.
Rejecting the conciliatory approach of previous victors, his first speech as President was combative, nationalistic, and unashamedly targeted towards those who packed his campaign rallies and turned out last November to deliver a victory that pundits said was not possible.
“From this day forward a new vision will govern our land,” said the new President Trump. “From this day forward it is going to be only America first.”
Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families, he vowed.
Surrounded by members of a political establishment he accused of flourishing while the country faltered, he pledged to transfer power from elites in Washington DC to “the forgotten men and women of our country”.
“America will start winning again, winning like never before,” he said to the cheers of supporters. “We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth and we will bring back our dreams.”
On foreign policy, he said the US would “seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world” but with the understanding it is the right of all countries to “put their own interests first”.
Freed from the 140-character limit of his beloved Twitter, Mr Trump spoke with the polish of one who came to fame via the reality television show The Apprentice. But this was now reality, not reality television. Hillary Clinton and his critics in the media and elsewhere had been fired. He was hired, and this was now his show.
Watching Mr Trump promise to make America great again was his wife, Melania, and his five children. Seated nearby were Barack Obama, the 44th president to Mr Trump’s 45th, his defeated opponent, Hillary Mrs Clinton and assorted dignitaries, minus the 50 Democrat members of Congress boycotting the ceremony.
From the air, the crowd in the National Mall formed a succession of small ponds compared to the river of 1.8 million people who watched President Obama take the oath in 2009. As the band struck up Hail to the Chief and a 21-gun salute scattered the birds, this may have looked and sounded much like any other presidential inauguration in a rainy Washington drenched in red, white and blue.
Yet it was not. Mr Trump’s inauguration was taking place in a city where only four per cent of voters had backed him. Nationwide, he won the Electoral College but lost the popular ballot to Mrs Clinton by more than 2.8 million votes. He takes office with approval ratings hovering around 40 per cent, the lowest for at least 70 years.
Some of thosewho question his fitness for office and the legitimacy of his victory took to the streets yesterday. In Washington, where 28,000 police and security guards were deployed, peaceful demonstrators shared space with masked gangs who smashed windows and clashed with police and Trump supporters.
In Glasgow they chanted “dump Trump”, while in Edinburgh they draped banners from North Bridge declaring “love trumps hate”. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, sending her congratulations to Mr Trump, said Scotland and America shared fundamental values of equality, tolerance and human rights, adding she hoped to see those values upheld during his term in office.
Her predecessor, Alex Salmond, said of the Trump speech: “There was a lot of God it, even by inauguration standards, for someone who’s found religion comparatively recently. So maybe it’s a case of may God bless America, and may God help the rest of us.”
The protests will continue today with a Women’s March on Washington. Half a million people are expected to attend, with simultaneous protests across America and internationally. No presidency since LBJ’s at the height of the Vietnam war, or George W Bush’s after the battle of the hanging chads and the invasion of Iraq, has divided America like that of Mr DonaldTrump’s, and it is not yet a day old. One event which was certain yesterday was the departure of Barack and Michelle Obama from the White House.
The Obamas headed for a holiday in Palm Springs, leaving the Trumps to walk back through the cold to a lunch of lobster and Seven Hills Angus beef (raised in Virginia) with Washington politicians, a number of whom, including on the Republican side, oppose their new president. The America that President Obama leaves behind is a country of contradictions. It has had years of jobs growth, yet the average income of families remains below what it was in 2007. Obama extracted the country from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but he could not halt the carnage in Syria. Under the watch of America’s first black president the Black Lives Matter movement was founded. All presidents leave office with regrets. Obama, though he enjoyed historic successes such as providing affordable healthcare to millions, is no exception.
Graceful to the end, Mr Obama listened respectfully as his successor delivered what amounted to a damning assessment of his presidency. When President Trump finished, Mr Obama shook his hand. “Good job,” he said.
After the presidential balls are over, President Donald John Trump must now get down to the job of delivering on the promises he has made. The hour of action is upon us, he told America and the world. It is now.
So begins the Age of Trump, where opposites repel, verbal war disturbs the peace, and the only certainty is uncertainty.
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