For all those following the inauguration of Donald Trump and his new administration across the pond, reactions will differ. One New York based expert on both US and UK politics, Pablo O’Hana, has been working with the Democrats in the Big Apple and sees Monday 20 January 2025 as an incredibly dark day in American history.
Making a claim that “Trump is going to make America a joke again”, a question arises: is a second Trump presidency just an unfunny joke or is it a harbinger for terrible times to come?
A bad joke or something more serious?
Is the new Trump administration a joke? Is it all a joke? No. Not five minutes in office and Donald Trump is seen as a “serious threat” for the UK and Europe and worryingly as such “from the perspective of the Ukraine war”. O’Hana accuses the 47th American President of “not caring about anything outside of America and therefore not caring about what is happening in Ukraine”. So, things get serious in terms of war in Europe and the potential of the European continent changing forevermore, should Putin have any measure of success.
But it’s not just out there in the world with foreign policy where things get serious. On Trump’s own American turf, it’s getting real. Pablo O’Hana covered Trump’s second inauguration and spotted many red flags for the future of American politics. Filled with “division and dark rhetoric”, Pablo said that Trump’s transfer from President Elect to President was all designed to evoke what his philosophy is which, according to Mr O’Hana, is “reinstating, reinforcing and promoting America’s racial hierarchy”. Trump’s speech was about “restoring, what he believes, is America at its core”. If any of that was meant as a joke, the watching world is certainly not laughing.
What this means for Britain
The UK stands to be affected greatly from the new Trump presidency. Trump’s threats to the UK economy and his ally Elon Musk’s interference in UK politics are two big pillars of this. O’Hana believes that not only is this bad for the special relationship but also that Trump in power represents a president who is a bad influence on the UK’s politicians. This can be seen already by the British government’s attempts to “suck up to him” and the obsession and constant promotion he receives in parliament from Conservative and Reform UK MPs. Pablo’s fear is that the UK will compromise its values with Trump as US president. “The UK at its heart is a tolerant, open, welcoming, diverse, international country that is progressive, that cares about the rule of law, that cares about democracy and transparency.” A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with. There must be no shift rightwards to appease Donald Trump. But it will not be the people or the communities of Britain who compromise this, only the politicians are in such a position to do so. The hope is that they won’t, the question is will they?
With Trump’s constant threats of tariffs against the UK, Pablo believes that the UK should prioritise trade deals with the European Union over the United States. There is an environmental effect to importing stuff to Britain from further away and Europe is closer than America. The threats from Donald Trump and his administration to Britain’s economy also play a mighty factor and the Prime Minister and his cabinet essentially have a choice between the EU whose leaders are showing great enthusiasm to work with Britain and who we know where we stand with, or an unpredictable hothead who keeps making aggressive threats against Britain. The choice seems pretty clear, but is it clear to the government?
For the second time in its history, the United States of America has woken up to Donald Trump as president. It seems that there is no shift from his last term in office, at least not a positive one. Most certainly, nothing positive for Britain. The UK’s values and economy are not at the mercy of Trump’s America but more at the mercy of its own politicians who will either make or break them, depending on how relations with Donald Trump are approached by No.10. But is, as Pablo O’Hana says, Trump going to make America a joke again? That really depends on your definition of humour, but it looks as though there’s nothing humorous happening across the Atlantic and that Britain, Europe, the world and indeed ordinary American citizens are in for a very serious four years.
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