Donald Trump’s sudden conversion to inclusiveness and mutual respect on winning the US election is already bearing fruit. Pledging to unite America after his shock victory, the President-elect said, “I will be president for all Americans… It’s time for us to come together as one united people.”
Isis leaders are said to be delighted with his victory (albeit because it’s likely to radicalise more violent jihadists in the West) and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan was one of the first to congratulate him. Who would have believed that such disparate groups of vile people would be prepared to set aside their differences and rejoice in the New York mogul’s ascendency? The dawn of a new world harmony? Hmm. Hardly.
Or is all this rampant populism going to take us down the slippery slope towards protectionism, class warfare, fascism and a general breakdown in civil society? More likely.