In a shocking repudiation of politics as usual, Donald Trump has ridden a wave of voter discontent into the White House, to become the 45th president of our United States. The self-aggrandizing billionaire businessman pulled a stunning upset of experienced politician Hillary Clinton after a nail-biting election night that went into the wee hours. At the end of a brutal presidential campaign, now comes the difficult job of leading a United States that finds itself sorely in need of unity.
Public governance, domestically and internationally, will be foreign territory to a businessman who has routinely rubbed elbows with the rich and famous, but has never been in public service.
Roughly half of America has elected Republican Trump over Democrat Clinton, whom most polls and pundits had predicted to win by a slim margin. But from the start, Trump’s candidacy has been wholly unconventional, steadily growing support by shrewdly tapping into voters’ anger with the status quo.
It was a stunning loss for Clinton supporters, many of them galled by a GOP candidate who too easily reached for belittling and divisive rhetoric as easily as he promised to “Make America great again.” In the end, the candidates’ qualifications to do the job of running the country seemed to matter less than choosing a straight-talking government outsider.
Trump’s battle against career politician Clinton these past few months has inflicted deep gashes in the American psyche and leaves a deep divide across communities all across the country. His razor-edge victory Tuesday night leaves a mandate vacuum. He was able to channel much of the electorate’s sense of despair and struggle, anger at government and corruption, and base fear and racism. A shrewd salesman, he successfully convinced citizens that a vote for him was a vote for citizen empowerment.
Trump won the prize of the presidency Tuesday night — but he will need to bring together a country he has helped divide with sexist comments and anti-immigration sentiments such as in his infamous speech, in which he said of Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
He’s also advocated the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, so it remains to be seen how much of his campaign promises he will be keeping — and how they will be paid for. In fact, Trump’s road to the presidency has been skimpy on policy details, let alone the strategic wherewithal to achieve goals.
It will be only now, with the presidency won, that Trump will be pressed for solutions on very real problems plaguing Americans across the country. What will he be doing in terms of the Affordable Care Act? On immigration? On funding Medicaid and Medicare?
Trump’s relationships with Republican leaders have been tenuous at best — so it will take an enormous effort to bridge divides, even within his own party. Tuesday’s election did little to change the makeup of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Republicans are expected to retain control of both chambers — and while that would seem to favor cooperation on paper, contentious roads are ahead.
Still, some of Trump’s stated positions align well with those of the Republican Party, which favors closed borders, closed trade and U.S. withdrawal abroad. In fact, a Trump presidency could retreat the U.S. from the world order of recent years, one of globalization that favors open borders, consensus, cooperation and trade pacts. Trump already has said he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, would reconsider NAFTA and rip up the U.S.-Iran deal.
Worldwide, the uncertainty over Trump’s win caused world markets to drop, reflecting unease about the future of the U.S. and its economy.
This bruising campaign has brought to power President Trump, whose unpredictability has been his sole predictable trait. Let’s hope he proves himself worthy of the office of the presidency.
