John MacDonald: I'm still feeling pretty chill about Trump

"We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. I will, very simply, put America first."  

And with that, Donald Trump —the 47th US president— probably sent a chill down the spines of truckloads of people around the world.  

And a chill down the spines of some people within America too - because, some Americans, he won’t be putting first. Which I’ll get to.  

But do you know what? There was no chill down my spine when I listened to him.  

Well, that’s not quite correct. There was probably a draught, but there was certainly no chill.   

Because just like last year when he won the election —when I said that it’s very easy to jump on the hysteria bandwagon over Trump— that’s how I’m feeling too now that it’s happened and he’s the president.   

I still generally think that. Although there are a couple of things he’s been saying today that have me thinking. But let’s see what happens. That’s what I meant when I said there was a draught down my spine instead of a chill.  

But generally, when it comes to how I’m feeling about the next four years with him in the White House, I’m more intrigued than anything.  

Yes, it will be weird at times, but that’s as bad as it’s going to get. For me, anyway, living here in New Zealand.  

That does come with a few provisos, though.   

Number one: I’m not an exporter - so I’m not going to be directly affected by any trade tariffs that he might bring in.  

I do know though that —if it happens— we will all be affected in some way, shape or form, because when exporters do well, we all do well.   

And when exporters don’t do well - we all feel it.  

But, as anyone who has exported anything knows, there are always challenges to overcome. So, let’s wait and see what comes of that.   

But overall, you’ve got to give it to him - he’s not shy on ambition.  

He’s talking already about getting an American flag on Mars. The weird bit about that is he says it’s possible because America split the atom.  

Now, this might be a bit of parochial New Zealand coming through, but I’m pretty sure it was Ernest Rutherford who did that.  

And he wasn’t American. He was born in Brightwater, near Nelson.   

He went to school in Nelson, went to university in Christchurch and then headed off overseas and did the splitting of the atom thing at the University of Manchester, in Britain.  

But Donald Trump is never one to let the facts get in the way of anything.  

He’s been banging on about the US “taking back” the Panama Canal because, at the moment, China’s operating it and there can’t be any more of that nonsense.  

I’m paraphrasing the president there but that’s the gist of it. He says: “It is time for us to act with courage and vigour”.  

And no surprises, he’s announced that he’s going to re-name the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. But he was talking about that last week, wasn’t he?  

So a lot of bluster. But here’s the bit where things get a bit ugly.   

President Trump says his government will only recognise two genders: male and female. He’s going to stop the “social engineering” of “race and gender into every part of life.”  

And he’s promising to bring back free speech by stopping all censorship.   

Which is all stuff from the “go woke - go broke” manual. And that’s the bit I’m not liking.  

Because even though I’m not part of the LGBTQIA+ community, why on earth would you refuse to recognise the way someone identifies?  

Of course, there’ll be no shortage of people cheering Trump on, on this one. There’ll be no shortage of people, either —like me— who see this sort of talk from the new president as something from an age long gone.  

But —despite those things— even though there are a few things that President Trump said this morning that I don’t like, I’m still feeling pretty relaxed about it all. 

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