In one of the most stunning victories of recent times, Donald Trump, on November 9, 2016 become the 45th president of the United States of America. A person who achieved success through his real estate business, and gathered fame through his popular reality television series The Apprentice, Donald Trump as the president of the United States is both a commentary on the diversity in US politics, and the tolerance for intolerance in the US nation. Very few would argue that Trump’s success is because of the overt racism present in his speeches or the misogynistic remarks that were uncovered later. Trump has won despite all of this as he proved the majority of American analysts and pre-election polls wrong. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Trump surprised and shocked the entire world, and his win has left many observers just speechless.
It is difficult to predict what Trump’s win means for either the United States or the rest of the world. At the centre of Trump’s election campaign was the promise of putting America before everything else. It was in a way an attack on liberal internationalism and a call for realist formulation of American self-interest. Encapsulated by the slogan “Let’s make America great again,” Trump offered change to the American public, a change that evidently the American people were looking for. The nature of this change remains shrouded in mystery as Trump has failed to articulate any blueprint of his policy for the United States. He remarks have often been contradictory, and more focused on optics than substance. Amidst all of this, Trump has displayed his ability to speak what the crowd wants to hear, and appeal to their more basal instincts for glory and prosperity. After all, what he has said is that he would improve the American economy, bring back jobs, and get a “better deal for America.” Hence, Trump’s win can be seen as a rejection by the American electorate of the same brand of tried, tested and experienced politicians. This was what Trump was essentially counting on, as he could not match Hillary Clinton in her knowledge of American politics or her expertise on its geopolitical realities. Where Clinton was smooth and eloquent, Trump was wavering and prevaricating. However, Clinton, like most American analysts, failed to gauge the level of frustration in the American public for the past policies of seasoned American politicians. It is truly baffling how mainstream media, political pundits and analysts failed to gauge what ostensibly only Trump correctly ascertained: the voter’s mood. It is as if media’s constant vilification of Trump — in reaction to his constant vitriol or past decisions — turned him into an underdog in the eyes of a large number of people. The white voter, it seems, took the ridiculing and demonisation of Trump a tad too personally, and reacted in the most potent way possible: they elected him as the next president of the United States. Trump may not have related to the American public on a personal level, as he started from a position of privilege and made himself a business tycoon out of it, but he sure presented himself as the man who can do the same with America. Trump’s card was his business acumen, and he did quite a good job at selling it. Despite all of the uncertainty regarding what lies ahead, it must be remembered that the system that is in place in the United States ensures that the president’s powers are kept in check by the legislature and the judiciary. No matter how harmful or beneficial Trump’s presidency turns out to be, the American system will persevere and continue to work. Such is the power of strong institutions and and a dynamic political system. *