Fear and bubbles as the world Business conflicts reacts to Trump’s rise to power remain a problem
Raucous Champagne toasts in Russia, prayerful wishes from the Vatican, late-night yawns in China and defiant protests in central London: the world has greeted Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States with apprehension, anxiety and a smattering of glee – much like the swirl of mixed emotions that accompanied his improbable march to power.
In living rooms and cafes, nightclubs and bars, millions across the globe tuned in to live coverage of the new American leader taking the oath of office, the capstone of a day of inaugural pomp in Washington, DC. Many said they hoped for the best, but feared the worst; others welcomed a break with the past.
In China, already roiled by Trump’s rhetoric over trade and Taiwan, the state clamped tight controls on media coverage of fresh utterances from the fledgling president. In France, yesterday’s lead headline in the left-leaning daily Liberation – accompanied by a photo of Trump leaning into a stiff headwind – read: ‘‘Here we go!’’
As Trump assumed the presidency, there were some pockets of pride. Sevnica, the Slovenian home town of Trump’s third wife, Melania, has declared three full days of celebration built around her husband’s inauguration. In the Middle East, the mayor of Jerusalem expressed inaugurationeve hopes for a speedy fulfillment of Trump’s controversial pledge to move the US embassy to the contested city.
In his inaugural address, Trump initially appeared to signal inclusiveness towards those watching from outside America. ‘‘People of the world, thank you,’’ he intoned. But he quickly pivoted to vociferous declarations: ‘‘It’s going to be only America first, America first . . . America will start winning again.’’
That struck a sour note with overseas listeners like Briton Nicola Frith, a professor at the University of Edinburgh.
‘‘It’s the most nationalistic address I’ve heard since . . . I don’t know when,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s like Donald Trump has just flooded the whole nation with his personality.’’
The inauguration galvanised demonstrations in European capitals such as London, where protesters draped signs on bridges reading ‘‘Build bridges, not walls’’, and Berlin.
Many Germans were rattled by an interview last weekend in which Trump threatened to slap heavy duties on German car makers and suggested that he placed equal trust in Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the closest US allies.
But not all Germans shared the sense of Trump-generated angst. Friedrich Merz, a senior figure in Merkel’s party, warned against a ‘‘hysterical reaction’’ to the new president. ‘‘It’s quite possible that this president could be good for a number of positive surprises,’’ he said.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis offered good wishes and prayers for the new president, but appeared to allude to concerns about Trump’s harsh antiimmigrant stance and to fears for the fate of social welfare programmes under his administration. ‘‘May America’s stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door.’’
Though Trump refrained in his speech from specifically blasting Mexico – a topic that for months was a campaign staple – his inauguration has generated a new wave of worry among Mexicans. A small group gathered to chant protest slogans in Mexico City’s Plaza de Angel.
‘‘God bless America,’’ said Carlos God bless America, and God bless Mexicans, because we are Trump’s No 1 enemy. Matias, a 49-year-old small business owner. ‘‘And God bless Mexicans, because we are Trump’s No 1 enemy.’’
Trump’s use of his first speech as president to vow to eradicate ‘‘radical Islamic terrorism’’ caused a ripple of unease across the Middle East, although the comments were in keeping with his previous statements.
In Jordan’s capital, Amman, one bar extended its happy hour because ‘‘we were all glued to the TV’’, and to mark ‘‘the global tragedy’’ of Trump’s inauguration, said patron Jared Kohler.
The opposite sentiment prevailed in a bar near the Kremlin and at nightclubs elsewhere in Russia, where revellers cheered and popped Champagne corks to mark Trump’s swearing-in.
Already, Trump’s image is ubiquitous across Russia: his swoop-haired image adorns traditional matryoshka nesting dolls for sale at tourist shops across Moscow, and silver and gold commemorative coins reading ‘‘In Trump We Trust’’ have been struck in Zlatoust, a city east of Moscow.
Putin and his lieutenants have expressed eagerness to work with the new US administration and have vehemently denied US intelligence findings that Moscow used cyberattacks to try to sway the election towards Trump.
Russian observers are already looking ahead to Trump’s first encounter with Putin as ‘‘a defining moment in history’’, Russian senator Alexei Pushkov tweeted.
In Beijing, the inauguration ceremonies were shown in a handful of late-night establishments. At one French-themed bar, only a few patrons glanced up as footage of Trump’s limousine filled the TV screen – the sound drowned out by a James Brown song – then returned to their whiskeys.
Chinese officials, though, were wary about new post-inaugural outbursts from Trump and of any equally freewheeling coverage.
Official censorship instructions leaked to China Digital Times, a California-based watchdog group, warned that ‘‘unauthorised criticism’’ of his words or actions was not allowed in state media, with the official Xinhua news agency being the only legitimate source of news about China-US relations.
In Israel, where the Right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Trump’s election victory with satisfaction, reaction was muted by the start of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli news reports detailed the rabbinical dispensation given to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Trump advisor Jared Kushner – who are observant Orthodox Jews – to ride in vehicles after the start of the Sabbath, an action that would normally be prohibited.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat took a parting shot at Barack Obama in a video posted on Facebook on the eve of the inauguration, disdaining the departing president’s longstanding opposition to a US embassy move to Jerusalem and calling on Israelis to greet Trump ‘‘as our friend’’.
Some people mourned the end of Obama’s tenure. In the Kenyan town of Kajiado, south of the capital, Nairobi, a bar at the Empuet Resort showed the inaugural ceremonies on TV. Obama’s father was Kenyan, and he is a widely loved figure in the country.
‘‘I’ll miss Obama so much,’’ said waitress Irene Wambua, 28. ‘‘Obama has made America a great place.’’
But she was willing to wait and learn what the future will hold.
‘‘With Trump, we’ll see. But I don’t think he’ll just make it fail – he’ll push it in another direction, like Obama did.’’ On his first day in office, Donald Trump declared on the White House website that he would roll back a clean water rule that has been opposed as bad for business by a coalition that included his own golf courses.
He also effectively became his own landlord at his District of Columbia hotel, which his company rents from the federal government – despite a lease that forbids such benefits going to any elected official.
In his official biography on the White House website, Trump bragged of the success of the business he still owns and his book The Art of the Deal, which remains for sale. Likewise, First Lady Melania Trump’s biography noted that her jewellery line is for sale on a cable TV channel.
Trump’s first day as president was full of reminders that his administration will be entangled with his personal interests in a way unprecedented in United States presidential politics.
Trump has announced that his sons will manage the real estate, merchandising and licensing concerns that made him famous. He has said he will take no role in the Trump Organisation’s operation while serving as president. But he has not divested from the company, meaning he could personally profit from any steps he takes as president that benefit it.
Asked about the potential conflicts, White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that the steps Trump had taken were ‘‘above and beyond in terms of making sure he separates himself from his business and hands it over to his kids and put in place a very, very rigorous plan to ensure no conflicts of interest occur.’’
But Trump has shown little interest in divorcing himself symbolically from his own company. He attended two inaugural events this week in Washington at the Trump International Hotel, opened this year in the Old Post Office building.
While there, he bragged about the hotel ballroom. ‘‘This is a gorgeous room,’’ he said, before adding: ‘‘A total genius must have built this place.’’
Moments after he took the office, the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced that it had filed a complaint with the General Services Administration over Trump’s ownership of the hotel.
The Democratic-leaning watchdog group also complained that Trump has already violated a constitutional prohibition against the president accepting payments from foreign officials. Trump has said his company will donate to the Treasury any profit it makes from foreign governments or officials that rent rooms at his hotels, but has provided no details on how the donation system will work or how other foreign-linked income might be treated.