Donald Trump er præsident

I lidt over et døgn har Donald John Trump nu været USA's præsident og leder af den frie verden. Sidstnævnte er klart ikke hans prioritet. Hans eneste prioritet er USA.


"From this moment on, it's going to be America First", lød det i Trumps tiltrædelsestale.

Efter edsaflæggelse, kanonsalut og melodien "Hail to the Chief" var det tids til Donald Trumps indsættelselstale, og konklusionen er klar: 70 år med Pax Americana er forbi. USA vil ikke længere uselvist kæmpe og betale for europæernes frihed, og Kina skal ikke forvente at kunne hente amerikanske arbejdspladser uden modstand. Det var en patriotismens, protektionismens og populismens tale.

Populismens tale
What you see is what you'll get, lyder et ordsprog. Og vi får den præsident Trump, som kandidat Trump også var. Håbet blandt nogle om, at han ville moderere sig som præsident, fordampede i det disede og fugtige Washington-vejr.

Sætninger som "we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People" og "January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again" ville (hvis man ser bort fra datoen) lige så vel kunne siges af Andrew Jackson eller William Jennings Bryan. De er amerikansk histories hidtil mest populistiske politikere, men de får nu kam til deres hår af Trump.

Og Republikanerne må have haft svært ved at sluge tiraderne mod frihandel: "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American." 

For tilhængerne har det været en jubeldag. De får alt, hvad de ønsker sig. Også en præsident, der åbent erklærer krig mod radikal islamisk terrorisme. Det begreb ville hverken Barack Obama eller Hillary Clinton tage i deres mund.

Frihandel og globalisering er død
Derudover var det i øvrigt en voldsomt negativ tale. USA har lige nu rekordlav arbejdsløshed, væksten er sund, og kriminaliteten er på det laveste niveau i flere årtier. Men sådan ser Trump det ikke. "Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential."

USA som leder af frihandlens og globaliseringens tidsalder siden 1991 er forbi. Det er også tiden siden 1945, hvor USA har sikret freden i Vesteuropa gennem NATO. Nu begynder en ny periode i verdenshistorien. Og ikke engang Trump er nok helt klar over, hvordan den verden kommer til at se ud. Men skal vi plukke Trumps politiske visioner ud af talen, er det en verden i nedenståendes billede, vi står over for. Det hele kan opsummeres i to ord: America first!


"But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;

Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military;

We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;

And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.

We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.

But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.

From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.

From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.