A tumultuous next four years

"If you sow the wind you will reap the whirlwind". And it is the wind that the polarised Trump campaign and the fear that it managed to sow in the society that Donald Trump will have to face and quell. Can he do it, and how will he do it, are the questions the world is asking.

One saw sizeable protests the evening following the US presidential election in many parts of the United States reacting adversely to the election results and denouncing the president elect, refusing to accept him as their future president. Obviously his conciliatory comments during the victory speech failed to resonate with, much less assuage, the feelings of many Americans who feel threatened at the prospect of Trump presidency – they are not looking forward to the next four years after 20th January 2017. 

While there is reluctance among some Democrat supporters to accept the results, a position that Trump had said he would assume if the results did not go his way, there is also a palpable disapproval of the electoral system, a system that takes little cognizance of the one man one vote which decides the winner on the total number of votes received. While this is only the second time that a candidate winning the popular votes did not get the required number of electoral votes to  get to the White House, in both cases it was the Democrat candidate who had to face the fate. The only other presidential candidate was Al Gore. 

It is not really the size of the protest that is important, it is the underlying message that the protesters are trying to convey –and that is the fear of uncertainty, particularly about the immigration policy and what Trump has said about doing with the illegal immigrants within the first 100 days of his presidency.

The international community is also looking askance too. How his comments on various economic and trade issues such as NAFTA and TPP, both of which he has strongly criticised, and other policy issues will get reflected on the ground is what his allies and economic partners are eagerly waiting to see. In short America and the world should brace themselves for a tumultuous Trump presidency.