Let’s hope a more pragmatic man emerges

In terms of the economics, Trump stuck to the campaign script in his inauguration speech and, if anything, further hardened the protectionist, “America First” rhetoric.

Those hoping for a more emollient, statesman-like tone as he takes up the reins of office would have been sadly disappointed. Gone was the conciliatory language he adopted on election night. He tore into his predecessor and the rest of the Washington establishment, standing right next to him on the podium.

Trump left no doubt; he plans to deliver what he originally promised. It was a speech without concessions, and without mercy for the foreign interests he accuses of raping American industry and jobs. In Beijing, it could easily be taken as a declaration of war.

In pledging to address the grievances of the “left behinds” and the squeezed middle classes, Trump’s message was not so dissimilar to the one our own Prime Minister, Theresa May, has sought to convey since the vote for Brexit.

But in place of her vision of a “global Britain”, a champion of free trade fully engaged with the rest of the world, Trump pointed to an inward looking, isolationist, America determined to repatriate jobs and investment “stolen” by foreigners.

“Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength,” he proclaimed in defiance of virtually all the evidence that it leads to precisely the reverse. “We’ve made other countries rich,” he insisted, “while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.” Trump left no doubt that he means what he says, but will he do as he means?

We must hope that with the realities, compromises, and responsibilities of office, a more intelligent and pragmatic Trump eventually emerges. There is much in his economic agenda which makes sense – from tax cutting to deregulation and reform of the country’s oppressive corporate tax regime.

Certainly, it should deliver a stimulus to the US economy. In the past, what’s been good for America has always been good for the rest of the world.

But if it takes place behind high protectionist walls, it will end up good for no one. Trump says he wants a weaker dollar, so as to make American goods more competitive abroad, but almost everything he promises conspires to make it stronger still.

Trump promises a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible; yet if he sticks to the two rules he promised in his speech – “Buy American and hire American” – it’s not going to be much use to us.

It is still hard to know exactly what to make of Trump, but he’s got some excellent, sensible people around him. To succeed, he must now shift from the divisive, rabble-rousing mindset of the campaign trail to one of practical government for the nation as a whole. We can only trust that he listens to the counsel he’s employed.