That the torchbearers of the modern, civilised world must have had a word or two to comment on the intense brawl in Indian Parliament or Taiwanese lawmakers breaking into a water fight is a given. However, these nuggets of wisdom become scanty when questioned about the chaos of a federal government shutdown. The working-class Americans may have heaved a sigh of relief over the Christmas miracle but the ham-fisted approach of the president-elect means such nightmarish surprises would soon become the new status quo. After seeing Elon Musk practically guiding Mr Trump on how to torpedo the end-of-session budget bill without any effective plan for getting another one passed in Congress, political pundits believe only the delusional can miss the bad omens. While the press secretaries insist that it was only based on Mr Trump’s vision for efficiency, Mr Musk’s fingerprints can be seen all over, especially when he loudly proclaims that Republicans who support the deal should be “primaried,” or challenged on the right. If Republicans can be forced to walk out of a stop-gap spending bill and instead vote out programs that could benefit the welfare of the common man in a year where they are not in power, imagine the fiascos that would happen in 2025. Can chest-thumping alone make do without the use of solid, homework-backed governance? Instead of heading towards a full-on collision, shouldn’t this time around, the Trump Presidency should have worked on building conversations with Democrats so that a functioning bipartisanship could help them get the ball rolling. The mess may have been fixed for now and families of more than 800,000 are allowed to go home with paycheques but what about the next time the bomb goes ticking? It can only be hoped that the President-elect makes the most of a rare chance he’s been given to Make America Great Again. *