A 2020 vision, but without one of Washington’s shining lights...

THE year 2020 will be a big one in America... of course every year and everything is big, or bigger, in the US. But what will the 2020 vision be for the man (or woman) who gets the keys to the White House?

Of course, the man who already has those keys in his jinglyjangly pockets won’t give them up easily.

Some have told me they ‘will not set foot in the States while

that man is in power’. But you can’t avoid him!

Better, then, to promote all that is good about America as the Visit USA roadshow which hit Dublin this week, does, and I hope I do too.

And anyway, others’ politics have always fascinated me.

Just back from South Africa, I hope to visit Iran before the end of the year and I expect the land of the Ayatollahs to broaden my knowledge, just as a peek into the Afrikaner’s mindset did.

It’s just the inquiring (or meddling) mind I inherited which is why I baulk at any curtailment of journalist’s freedoms.

Just down the road from President Trump’s gaff is the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, which has dedicated itself for the last 12 years to a celebration of one of the tenets of US life: the First Amendment, which encapsulates ‘freedom of the Press’.

Alas, the Newseum has hit financial difficulties and is set to close by the end of the year with its supporters hyper-critical of a President who wants bundles of

cash to build a wall on the Mexican border but won’t save a bastion to Freedom of Speech.

DC will be the centre of the world, as it so often is when Americans vote for their next president next year and will make an unforgettable holiday.

DC, and its Smithsonians, are enthralling at any time, and with the US capital served directly by Aer Lingus with the added bonus of pre-clearance, more of us are going straight there rather than as an add-on to New York.

If you pick DC this year, then visit the Newseum and see Veronica Guerin’s pen, as well as other artefacts and exhibits to Press freedom from around the world.

And here’s a 2020 vision: whoever wins the White House... back Press freedom and the First Amendment.

Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com) flies to Washington from €281pp each way as part of a return trip.

I recommend the Kimpton Carlyle in Dupont Circle from €145 for a deluxe room for one night.