Global politics will become noisier on Monday when Donald Trump takes office
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Editorial: But the great disruptor was not the end of the world last time, so Keir Starmer should hold his nerve. The mood surrounding Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday is very different from the first time round. In 2017 there were liberals in the United States and around the world who behaved as if we were in the end times. They braced themselves for all manner of wickedness – and then the world continued to turn on its axis; nothing much changed.
Mr Trump did not impose tariffs on imports from other countries. He did not build very much of the wall on the southern border of the US. Mexico did not pay for the 47 miles that he did build. He did not shut the US’s borders to Muslims. He did not withdraw from Nato.
As a result, the anticipation of Mr Trump’s presidency is calmer this time – as the president-elect himself has noticed: “In the first term everybody was fighting me. In this term everybody wants to be my friend.”. The danger is that the world is making the opposite mistake of underestimating the risks of the great disruptor.
Even so, the nervousness in capitals around the world is palpable. In Kyiv the fear is that Mr Trump will be so keen to bring the war to an end – and to secure a peace dividend for the American taxpayer – that they will be forced to accept the loss of one-fifth of their territory with no guarantees for the future.
