Donald Trump
ON January 20, president-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the United States of America’s 45th president.
However, the transitional period has been more intriguing, showing that in terms of governance, the US system is no different from other systems the world over.
The weaknesses so far displayed are intriguing. Electoral violence and other vices were replete and efforts to overturn the electoral result almost made Hillary Clinton’s dream a reality.
We had the losing Clinton using third parties to try and force a recount of votes in certain states. It might have been her constitutional right, she could have blocked it, considering that she had conceded defeat. What then is the difference with what the Gambian president has done — concede and then reverse the decision?
Western governments have also accused African leaders of wanting to hold on to power. Outgoing president Barack Obama’s claim that if he had contested, he would have won is pregnant with meaning. Despite showing support for Secretary Clinton, Obama wants the world to believe that he is the best president that the US has ever produced. It was a stab in the back for Clinton. Simply put, Obama is saying that if he had his way, he would have run for a third term.
During this transitional phase, we are also witnessing claims about the United States’ exceptionalism and its standing as a beacon of democracy are nothing, but a facade.
In a fortnight’s time the geo-political sphere will welcome the new player — Donald Trump, and depending on which report and analysis you want to believe — the next four years will be interesting.
Some are already painting them as doom and gloom, with the potential of the breakout of a Third World War, while others believe that Trump’s presidency will signal the demise of US influence on the world stage, just like what the UK did after Brexit. Only time will tell!
But one thing is for sure. International mainstream media are ratcheting their reports to build a case against president-elect Donald Trump. Although he won the elections on the mantra of “making America great again”, the thinking in the international media is that his way of conducting business leave a lot to be desired.
He is unconventional and he continues to demonstrate that he is anti-establishment. This paradox will stand the test of his presidency, and also the test of the United States’ place in geo-political issues. Will Trump’s approach have takers or it might alienate the US, like the UK again?
There is no denying that the president-elect is a Twitter fanatic, but after January 20, will he continue to issue official statements through social media, without due regard to their impact on national security?
The incoming president’s communication preferences are ruffling feathers not only among US citizens, but its international partners as well. He is creating an atmosphere of wild guesses about how he would run issues, if Twitter and social media are his modus operandi, unless of course if he wants to institutionalise open societies.
How will his use of Twitter translate into a policy-making instrument?
But the rebuke from the Chinese news agency Xinhua, in their commentary is worthy reflecting upon. They warned Trump that his continued use of Twitter was an unhealthy development, saying that “diplomacy is not a child’s game”.
What a description — Twitter reduced to a child’s game, for locally, we have witnessed unparalleled obsessions with this social media platform, an obsession that has exposed Zimbabwe. The concerned individuals have been warned time and again, but to no avail. It will be interesting to see whether they will change after January 20.
If the US Secret Service limited Obama’s love of his Blackberry phone, they will do the same with Trump and Twitter, for running a country is not playing games.
As the world awaits, it has also been disappointing to see that the majority of reports around the Trump presidency are centred on the alleged hacking of Democratic and federal systems by Russia and Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks.
China has also featured a number of times and so too the European Union. But, it is as though the rest of the world is non-existent. Maybe the media has taken a cue to Trump’s distaste of globalisation!
But that Russia and President Putin in particular are taking a major chunk of what we expect to see in the Trump foreign policy, as the outgoing administration are working day-and-night to keep Trump away from Putin, is telling. Obama cannot have him wreak his legacy.
Until Trump acknowledges that Russia is an enemy, Africa will have to wait. But we still hope that when they finally do, Trump will adopt a humane Africa policy.