Donald Trump elected US President: Foriegn policy,
immigration are big challenges
Donald Trump claimed his place on Wednesday as America's
45th president, an astonishing victory for the celebrity businessman and
political novice who capitalised on voters' economic anxieties, took advantage
of racial tensions and overcame a string of sexual assault allegations on his
way to the White House.
His vicious and brutal campaign against Hillary Clinton may
have served as a vehicle of victory on the road to the White House. Statements
like "Make America great again," and "It's time America was run
like a business" resounded well with the white middle class, who were fed
up with Washington and feeling left behind. In contrast with Trump's promises
to bring back manufacturing jobs and keeping the "bad lot" of
immigrants out of US, Clinton's experience in foreign policy and her liberal
approach towards refugee and immigrants were no match.
However, the very populist agenda that helped him cinch the
presidency may come back to haunt him as more pressing problems command the
attention of President to-be. At best, Trump will inherit an anxious nation,
deeply divided by economic and educational opportunities, race and culture.
Foreign policy
A beginner, Trump's foreign policy remains in uncharted
water owing to his impulsive reactions and contradictory statements on matters
of foreign policy.
He can tear up trade deals with Mexico and Pacific nations
and abandon US allies in Europe and Asia if they don't spend more on their own
defence — or, he may just decide to get along with Russia as well. Even with an
army of bureaucrats and specialists at his disposal, Trump's inexperience in
foreign policy is a matter of concern. A Republican foreign policy expert who
has occasionally counselled Trump, cautioned that he is more likely to make his
own decisions based on impulses than to follow the advice of his aides.
He has pledged to usher in sweeping changes to US foreign
policy, including building a wall along the US-Mexico border and suspending
immigration from countries with terrorism ties. He's also praised Russian
President Vladimir Putin and spoken of building a better relationship with
Moscow, worrying some in his own party who fear he'll go easy on Putin's
provocations.
However, beyond trade and the notorious 'Mexico wall', Trump
has suggested a few concrete foreign policy proposals that may give clarity on
his foreign policy, other than declaring China a "currency
manipulator" for keeping what he believes is an artificially strong
currency.
Trump will inherit a long list of pressing problems from his
predecessor. An unstable gulf region, a waging war in Syria, increasing
hostility with Russia and China, a rebellious North Korea, USA's self-assumed
guardianship of the South China Sea dispute are just a few names in the long
list of things.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault pledged to work
with Trump, but said his personality "raised questions" and he
admitted to being unsure as to what a Trump presidency would mean for key
foreign policy challenges, from climate change and the West's nuclear deal with
Iran to the war in Syria.
Trump, who has no foreign affairs or military experience,
will confront the absence of a national or even Republican political consensus
on how to deal with Syria, the Islamic State militant group, the rise of China
and a newly assertive Russia.
Many top Republicans have publicly repudiated him, and a
number of professional diplomats, intelligence and military officers have
privately said they would retire if Trump wins.
"If he does
everything he says he's going to do, we can kiss goodbye our leadership role in
the world," former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin told Reuters.
"So let's hope he doesn't mean it or that someone talks him out of
it."
If he does everything he says he's going to do, we can kiss
goodbye our leadership role in the world. so let's hope he doesn't mean it or
that someone talks him out of it.
Trump has suggested he could accept Japanese and South
Korean nuclear arms development, abandon the Iran nuclear deal, negotiate with
North Korea on its nuclear weapons program, and embrace Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
Trump has suggested he could accept Japanese and South
Korean nuclear arms development, abandon the Iran nuclear deal, negotiate with
North Korea on its nuclear weapons program, and embrace Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
Getting along with Russia?
Russia-US have been all-weather allies in the modern history
of the world, yet Donald Trump has been sending mixed signals when it comes to
his policy on a newly-assertive Russia. Trump has adopted an open-minded stance
towards Putin, whom many current and former US officials consider an autocrat
bent on suppressing dissent at home while bullying his neighbors and projecting
Russia's power abroad.
Russia has annexed Crimea from Ukraine, backed Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and, according to US intelligence officials, hacked
emails of prominent Democratic Party leaders and organisations.
"I would hope to have a good relationship with Russia
and I would hope to have a good relationship with Putin," Trump told Reuters
in an interview last month. "If we had a good relationship with Russia
that would be a wonderful thing."
James Dobbins, a former US diplomat now at the Rand Corp.,
said he would not be surprised to see an effort to "reset" US
relations with Russia.
Trump has taken a more aggressive tone toward China,
threatening to slap tariffs on Chinese products to show Beijing the United
States is "not playing games anymore" when it comes to leveling the
field on trade.
China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it would work
with Trump to ensure the steady development of bilateral ties.
Trump also says he could scrap the North American Free Trade
Agreement that took effect in Mexico, the United States and Canada in 1994, and
he has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 35 percent on Mexican-made goods
to help US industry.
Trump has taken aim at the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade
deal championed by President Barack Obama, calling it a "death blow"
for American manufacturing.
Immigration
The billionaire promised to "begin removing the more
than two million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas
to foreign countries that won't take them back."
He would also "suspend immigration from terror-prone
regions where vetting cannot safely occur" and carry out unspecified
"extreme vetting" of those seeking to enter the country.
In what became a mantra for his supporters, Trump has vowed
to "drain the swamp" of what he sees as systemic corruption in
Washington.
He said he'd impose term limits on members of Congress,
freeze federal hiring, and ban lawmakers and White House staff from becoming
lobbyists for five years.
He also has promised to "cancel every unconstitutional
executive action" undertaken by Obama.
Trump intends to quickly make good on his signature campaign
pledge to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, and impose a minimum
two-year federal prison sentence on any deported migrant who tries to return.
Economy
Unlike his predecessor Obama, who assumed office at a time
when unemployment was running high, Trump has recieved an economy that is pink
in health. But with a waging war in middle-east and increasing defence
spending, America continues to live beyond her means. Add to this the burden of
public spending, that America has been shying away from since the great
recession in the 2000s. Trump's call to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a
better marketplace alternative is largely popular amid his republican colleagues,
however, that is easier than done. Substituting insurance for a sturdy
healthcare programme is as it a problematic idea and Trump has taken upon
himself to make it a profitable venture as well, while keeping it in line with
his promise to improve average American's quality of life.
A stagnant economy amid burdens of promises such as
"America will settle for nothing lesser than the best" can amplify
Trump's problems. Economic growth is slow; inequality is high; education and
health care are expensive; entrepreneurship is falling. It remains to be seen
how much of Trump's Business acumen and expertise comes in handy to bring the
US economy back on track.
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