U.S. election and the return of Donald Trump

The emergence of Mr. Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America is shocking to the American Democrats, as it is to much of the rest of the world; for the basic reason that America disappointingly allowed the victory of a leader tainted with grave criminal and immoral stigma. Before the election, Trump faced four criminal charges of conspiring to defraud the government and disenfranchise voters, and corruptly obstructing official proceedings. There are other telling indictments. Americans are entitled to choose whoever they like as their leader, but they were also expected to be conscious of their country’s global leadership status; and therefore wary of a moral burden that could impede the exercise of that leadership role.

Nevertheless, the much-hyped election, held on the accustomed date of November 5, has come and gone with the emergence of a new leader to lead the country.  Donald Trump defeated her Democratic counterpart, incumbent Vice President Kamara Harris to become the 47th American President, having been the 45th. Events preceding the election raised tension in the U.S. polity. Identity politics concerning the fate of unregistered immigrants and the ways of life of the conservative traditional American society that is being daily hobbled by the ‘woke’ ideology took the front burner. Notably was the double assassination attempt on the life of Trump, the victor, before the polling that gave him victory.

It is important to note that the U.S. election and its leadership matter to the rest of the world because of the prime position that the country occupies in the international arena. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent end of bipolarity, the U.S. has remained the foremost global superpower, despite global propensity towards multipolarity and de-centred international order, and pundits would argue that such an actor is required to enforce order in the anarchical international order devoid of metropolitan democracy. The U.S. dollar is the foremost international currency of exchange and its trade and security policies have grave implications for all parts of the world. Expectedly, the global audience was interested in the character audit of the candidates who ran for the U.S. election.

Mr Trump came across as one steeped in criminal controversies with many cases hanging over his neck and with an impeachment background and accusation of inciting insurrection against American democracy on January 6, 2021, a pro-Israeli leader with disdain for the transatlantic relationship with Britain and Europe. Another side of Mr Trump was both religious and filial. His anti-LGBT, pro-life stance in his opposition to abortion, and regeneration of Christian moral life resonated with the conservative and traditional Americans. The Economist captured Trump’s antinomies thus: “On the Stump, Donald Trump makes lots of eye-widening pledges. He will deport illegal immigrants by their millions; he will launch missiles at Mexico’s drug cartels; he will use the army to crack down on the “far-left lunatics” who run the Democratic Party.”

Mr Trump’s challenger, Harris was seen as urbane and smart with a clear understanding of her proposed policies, and would perhaps treat global events with care and more diplomacy. A section of the American society and global audience equally detested her pro-abortion policy and ‘woke’ ideology that embraces gay marriages, transgender licentiousness, and the legalisation of marijuana. Beyond Harris’s electoral pledges, some were critical of Biden’s policies, and as the Economist puts it, “Many Americans find Democratic ranting about the risks of another Trump term hypocritical. They think that Democrats have weaponised the justice system against Mr Trump, not the other way around. They see Mr Biden’s tenure as a litany of foreign-policy failures far worse than anything that occurred on Mr Trump’s watch.”

All said and done, Trump won the election and was congratulated by Harris, who conceded defeat. In doing so, she underlined a basic principle of American democracy. She says, “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the result. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. Anyone who seeks the public trust must honour (it)”.

We believe that the election of President Trump with his baggage of immorality and criminal charges, represents the decline of American democracy; the rest of the world has no lesson to learn from the Americans; and that moral leadership makes a great deal of difference between war and peace globally, and is required for the growth of great nations. There is the same worry that Mr Trump, now savvier than his first coming in 2017, might fulfil his pledges. On the economic front, possible hikes in tariffs as well as tax cuts are likely and could dovetail into labour-supply shock on account of anticipated mass deportations of illegal aliens with a predictable inflationary spiral. On the foreign policy front, America did not get embroiled in major wars and the world would watch how he might manage the Israeli genocide in Gaza; and U.S. and NATO expansionism which is the subtext of the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

Equally important on the foreign scene is the one-China policy about Taiwan. Firstly, would a Trump presidency support Taiwan as the Biden administration has rabidly done? Secondly, would he ramp up the tariff war with China? Above all, would he treat the global south with disdain witnessed in his first coming? Again, the Economist offers somewhat retrospective consolation.

The medium notes that: “… Mr Trump’s tenure as president, whatever its merits or failings, was not the cataclysm that many Democrats had predicted. The economy hummed along until the pandemic struck. There were no big foreign-policy crises. And although Mr Trump tried to steal the presidential election of 2020, he failed.” Anyhow, there is the hope that whatever his excesses in office may turn out, there are institutional hedges from the judiciary, the legislature, and the omnibus bureaucracy to take care of him.

While we believe that time will tell how well a Trump second presidency would be, there are important lessons for our country and the African continent. Electoral processes are often underlined by apathy, vote-buying, and other forms of electoral malfeasance in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. The democratic process in America valourises the sanctity of the vote, and losers hardly controvert the process for selfish reasons. In other words, national interest always outplays self-interest.