TRUMP WINS! Good? Bad? Ugly?

So of course the biggest news sweeping the globe today is that Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman – turned politician, has become the 45th President of the USA.

Yes it seems his slogan, Make America Great Again, or MAGA, has turned his bid to become the President into a reality, which is now of global concern to many nations.

Reading the headlines and various social media channels, there is a lot of negativity towards Trump, but unfortunately it’s now happened. The American people have spoken, just as us Brits did a few months ago when we opted for Brexit. So we have to accept it, and move forward.

For the USA now it will be like peering into the unknown to a large degree, so we shall see what happens over the next four years.

Working in the travel industry, I really only know the new President as the owner of a luxury hotel chain, a TV personality, and a bloke with an unfortunate surname, so what qualifies him to run a country? Personally I believe that a strong business mind is actually a relevant string to the bow of a world leader. After all, the world now is very much reliant on trade, commerce, and ultimately, money. So the man’s background is good from this perspective. Another benefit to his leadership, is that he seems to be a man that is able to make a strong and commanding approach, this may turn into an iron fist of course, but we will have to see. It works for Putin, why not Trump?

Of course, his strong views on immigration is where it could all go badly wrong. This whole thing about building a wall between them and Mexico is surely idiotic?

Or is it?

Personally I have no idea what problems Mexico causes for the USA, so I am not educated on the subject to comment. But it seems to have a strong sense of crime prevention ultimately, so perhaps it’s a good idea. But he does seem to enjoy tarnishing the poor Mexicans with the same crime brush. Slightly harsh I think.

Will it improve relations with Canada, North of the border? And how will it affect their relationship with Russia? Some say Trump and Putin have a similarity in terms of leadership, so that can only be a good thing right? Hmmm not necessarily.

Unfortunately the people that are going to suffer most, as they are doing in a lot of places, are the Muslims. My word Islam is taking a real pounding at the moment.

What the majority of people fail to realize is that not all Muslims are nutcase, radicalized terrorists – this is a tiny minority that has given now the entire religion a terrible image globally. To say it’s unfair is about the understatement of the year.

I fear that Trump’s approach to Islam as a whole, could cause an already delicate relationship, to completely fold inside itself and cause large scale conflict in numerous countries. As if there wasn’t already enough problems on this front already!

Ultimately it’s a 50/50 at this point as to whether it will be good or bad for the USA, much the same as our Brexit situation here.

For the travel industry too, we are going to likely have to navigate through yet another difficult time of global uncertainty.

I do however feel though that relations between the UK and the USA will strengthen, so who knows, maybe the price of our holidays over there might come down!? Silver lining and all that!

It’s interesting as it is uncertain, and the world watches now to see what unfolds.

Mr Trump, the stage is yours…….

Comments and thoughts welcome! Thanks for reading, and as always, until next time…..