On 9 November 2016, America elected Donald J Trump as their president over Hillary Clinton after possibly the most unusual, climactic and unexpected presidential election in US history. As we watch Mr Trump settle into the White House perhaps we should ponder: who is the man America have elected?
Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York in 1946, making him 70 years old. His parents were Mary Anne and Fred Trump, a real estate owner, and he was the fourth of five siblings: Maryanne, Fred, Elizabeth, Donald and Robert. He grew up in New York City and attended Kew-Forest School. Interestingly he was sent to New York Military Academy at the age of 13 as he was, in his father’s words, “a pretty rough fellow when he was small”.
Was this the first emergence of the bullying personality we see today? Sending a child to a military school could suggest that in the parents’ eyes he need to be “straightened out”. It seems that this method didn’t work too well, considering the vast number of Twitter wars he’s been embroiled with! Perhaps Trump has never developed beyond his immature, younger self.
Trump’s campaign is a key demonstration of his underlying personality. Trump caused mass outcry on the internet and in the media with all his campaigning accusations and speeches at rallies. But was that all an act, a caricature to boost his fame? This might account for his change in demeanour since the election; suddenly he is acting in a calmer and more sensible manner. We even saw humility from “The Donald” in his victory speech. If this more reasonable behaviour continues perhaps our attitude towards him will have to change!
During his campaign, Trump had many ambitious and ambiguous policies such as building “The Wall”. His response to the Mexican government refusing to pay for the build was: “It just got 10 feet higher!”. Now he has backed down on the notion, admitting in an interview that: “there could be some fencing”. This kind of indecisiveness is worrying, suggesting not all of what he says can be trusted. Not an endearing quality for the president-elect of the United States of America.
One of Donald Trump’s most impressive attributes for his fans is his knowledge and experience of business, which has been promised to turn around America’s declining economy. Granted, it is an appealing idea, but one has to question if he really is the messiah of money people claim. For instance, despite having moments of success, he has had six company bankruptcies, and has accumulated up to $1.8bn of debt.
Additionally, he has had many failed and “challenging” business ventures including the Trump Shuttle airline, luxury mega yacht The Trump Princess and Trump Vodka. To summarise these examples, an analysis of Trump’s business career by The Economist states that his “performance [from 1985 to 2016] has been mediocre compared with the stock market and property in New York”.
If Donald Trump continues to be the more modest, responsible man we have been seeing post-election, as opposed to his bragging and obstreperous campaign character, then the global population will need to reconsider their attitude towards him. He could prove every opposition wrong.
