Curtain closes on a President who has done his job

What a week. On the whole I find myself relieved to see Donald Trump on the cusp of leaving the White House. No longer will I have to cringe at his words, actual and alleged, or witness his abrasive narcissism. Instead, I can enjoy his legacy. For despite that polarising personality, “there was no stunning repudiation of his ... presidency as so many Democrats had all but assumed” (“America’s biggest battle lies ahead”, 7-8/11). Rather, he has shown conservatives throughout the world that we can stand up to the shrill bullying of the woke industry.

Trump leaves us more positive that we can be proud of our nation, can reject the newspeak of woke activists and that we can believe in a meritocracy that rewards hard work, talent and achievement. We are left more confident that we can fight back against the message of white privilege and black victimhood, that we can expect our universities to return to their intended function of education rather than indoctrination, and that wanting law and order and strong borders makes us neither fascist nor racist. We are again allowed to celebrate the individualism, personal responsibility and small government that has made the Western world great. Trump has done his job.

The American people have long prided themselves on being the land of equality of opportunity and of success through hard work. And now, in their millions, despite the hectoring of Hollywood, Big Tech and most of the media, they have refused to slump defeated and silenced into a box-ticking culture ruled by ever-expanding woke activism.

Australia, where is our Trump?

Jane Bieger, Brisbane, Qld

I believe the public never gets it wrong in elections and as a firm Donald Trump supporter I have to accept their judgment.

Trump’s achievements are amazing. He has stopped the creeping advance of the Left, changed international politics and trade and given hope for millions sidelined in the past few decades. The public clearly thought his unpredictability and rudeness we too big a risk for another term. A period of calm is needed.

Results in the House and Senate, though, have put the “swamp” on notice that things cannot go back to where they were. The big question for both sides is the behaviour of the mainstream press and the new social media giants.

Well done, President Trump.

John Hill, Willoughby, NSW

Paul Kelly writes that Joe Biden has a Herculean task ahead of him to reunite a nation torn apart by Donald Trump’s divisive personality (“Healing a divided America”, 7-8/11). It could be said that four years of virulent opposition by the Democrats divided that nation. We watched from afar as all sorts of spurious stories were spread about how Trump had taken the election from Hillary Clinton. To aid this there has been encouragement of groups such as Black Lives Matter and the bailing of rioters. It would seem all is fair in war and, sadly, we are seeing some of this divisiveness carrying over into our country. Why are the Democrats surprised that Trump would use some of their tactics? It is interesting to see he is regarded as a sore loser when he has the temerity to question the veracity of the vote counting.

Margaret Jamieson, Carrara, Qld

The curtain has at last come down on the worst president ever to hold that office in the United States of America. Donald Trump can resort to all the litigation he wants but the truth is that the American electoral system is transparent. The people have had their say and Trump has no option but to bow out. His thousands of lies won’t count anymore as he is consigned to the dustbin of history. As famed author Bob Woodward wrote: He was just not up to the job.

His narcissistic instincts told him that people loved him as much as he loved himself. He intimated to Xi Jinping that the American people wanted him to hold office beyond the two-term constitutional limit. He craved to have the power of the dictators of Russia and North Korea where elections are decided before the first vote is cast. In the end he found to his utmost dismay that government of the people, by the people and for the people had not perished from this earth.

Frank Carroll, Moorooka, Qld

President Trump and his supporters — “the unconquerables”, as Brendan O’Neill aptly dubs them — put up a great fight.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW