In the initial planning process for this month’s issue of IN&AROUND, we intended to devote our current affairs section to a rather more mundane subject, albeit one of undoubted importance – the grammar school debate.
However, with the surprise rise to the presidency of one of the most talked-about figures of recent times, we couldn’t help but divert our attentions towards a certain Mr Trump and what his new position as the most powerful man in the western world means for the UK.
How will the ‘Special Relationship’ evolve under Trump?
Much has been made down the years of the US-UK ‘Special Relationship’, which takes on a new complexion in a world that has seen the shock poll victories of not only Mr Trump, but also the Leave campaign in the EU referendum.
Given outgoing President Barack Obama’s comments about the UK being at the “back of the queue” for trade talks in the event of a Brexit vote, with Mr Trump’s defeated opponent Hillary Clinton having also voiced a preference for Britain to remain in the EU, the American Apprentice star’s ascendancy should be good news for a post-Brexit UK seeking a trade deal with the US.
Indeed, Mr Trump declared the Brexit vote a “great victory” and was quickly pictured in the aftermath of his win with UKIP leader and key Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage. However, with the latter having said that Trump’s team has “reservations” about Theresa May’s government, it is yet to be seen quite how ‘Special’ the ‘Special Relationship’ will continue to be in the months and years to come.
Big implications for British foreign policy, too
There could be a big change in the balance of power in Europe and the wider world as a result of Mr Trump reaching the top job, with knock-on effects for the UK.
The president-elect has called for warmer relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for instance, suggesting that it could be “a good thing” in the fight against ISIS. However, security experts have voiced concerns over comments by Mr Trump indicating a tolerance for Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe.
He has also denied claims that he grilled a foreign policy advisor with whom he was working as to why the US could not use nuclear weapons. He has expressed contradictory views on nuclear weapons in public, describing them as the “single biggest problem” facing the world, but also suggesting that he would “never, ever” rule out using them.
A less globalised approach to defence and security
Although Mr Trump has been accused of isolationism, he has described his foreign policy stance as being about “Americanism, not globalism” – suggesting, for example, that Nato countries failing to pay their dues into the military alliance could be left unprotected by the US in the event of an invasion by another country like Russia.
This would not have a direct effect on the UK, which has met its Nato spending target. However, it has been suggested that a stronger Nato would be best for the UK as it leaves the EU. Former senior policy advisor to 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Kori Schake, has said that he thinks Mr Trump will “quickly discover how much the US gets from our allies and how important their contributions are to what the US tries to get done in the world. It’s pretty lonely out there without Nato allies.”
At the very least, certain diplomatic wounds will need to be healed in the wake of Mr Trump’s unexpected triumph, not least after he was criticised by both Mrs May and now-Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, over his suggestions last year that parts of London had become so radicalised that police did not dare enter. Whatever the coming months and years hold for the UK with Mr Trump in the White House, they are sure to be gripping ones for anyone invested in the broader direction of the western world.
