President Trump maintains the rage

The strident tone of Donald Trump’s candidacy has survived beyond his inauguration as President.

US President Donald Trump leaves after a visit to the CIA headquarters on Saturday. Picture: AFP

Clad in black tie and clutching the hand of his wife Melania, the new first lady of the United States, President Donald Trump pumped his fist in the air as he emerged on to the stage to the strains of Hail to the Chief.

The billionaire property mogul’s eager embrace of the pomp and ceremony of his new role as leader of the free world did not mask the fact that he had just completed a hostile takeover of the American capital.

He made clear to the raucous crowd packed into the cavernous Washington Convention Centre for Friday night’s Freedom ball that he views himself as a pitchfork-wielding radical intent on upending the established order. He denounced “the enemies”, the “phony polls” and “the dishonest media” and asked his rapt supporters whether he should defy his aides and continue to blast out his unfiltered thoughts in 140 characters: “Should I keep the Twitter going or not?”

After the cheers had subsided, Trump declared that “now the fun begins”. The band struck up a cover version of the evening’s anthem — Frank Sinatra’s My Way — as the new first couple danced, with Trump mouthing the title theatrically.

For those hoping the prospect of taking on the awesome responsibility of the presidency might cause Trump to moderate his tone, it had been a disappointing day.

His dark, dystopian inaugural address was a punch in the gut to the professional political class and a rejection not just of his predecessor Barack Obama’s soaring rhetoric of healing and unity but also that of George W. Bush, the previous Republican president. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump thundered, his finger jabbing the air. He complained of “rusted factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape” and announced that his administration would usher in a new era of “America first” in which every decision would “be made to benefit American workers and American factories”.

The bluntness of the address, which Trump had clearly crafted in large part himself, was greeted with dismay in polite Washington. The conservative columnist George Will branded it “the most dreadful inaugural address in history”.

But all along the Mall that leads from the Capitol, where the 17-minute inaugural address was delivered, to the White House, Trump supporters were almost drunk with delight.

“Trump’s not perfect but neither am I,” said Ron Calder, 54, a plumber from Erie, Pennsylvania in a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, who had travelled to Washington for the first time. “What matters is that he’s real and he’s on our side.”

Trump shares with Obama the charismatic trait of inspiring voters to project their hopes on a single figure, eliciting an almost mystical faith in one man’s ability to deliver.

Many Republican grandees view Trump as a vulgarian with suspect conservative credentials. But while his desire for infrastructure spending or trade protectionism is not a priority they share, they will stick with him if he helps deliver them conservative Supreme Court justices, tax reform and the dismantling of Obama’s healthcare reforms.

Although Trump’s cabinet picks — the head of ExxonMobil, three retired generals, several top Goldman Sachs executives and a number of members of congress — have led some to doubt he really intends to “drain the swamp”, they have reassured Republicans.

“If he governs consistent with the language with which he campaigned, I would be very concerned,” said General Michael Hayden, a Republican former CIA director. “His appointments have actually been quite heartening.”

For his opponents, Trump’s initial actions during his first 24 hours in office underlined the shock of his inauguration speech and the realisation that he intends, initially at least, to govern as he promised during his demagogic campaign.

In his first executive order, he directed government agencies to scale back as much of Obama’s signature healthcare law as possible, laying the foundation for dismantling what his predecessor intended to be the centrepiece of his legacy.

The White House website was scrubbed of all mentions of climate change — many of Trump’s top officials are sceptics — and lesbian and gay rights. The page on civil rights was replaced with a page ­titled “Standing up for our law enforcement community”. Trump also signalled that he intends to develop a “state-of-the-art” missile defence system to protect against attacks from Iran and North Korea.

Anglophiles were delighted to see that there was a Jacob Epstein bronze bust of Winston Churchill back in the Oval Office. Obama had removed a similar bust in 2009 and returned it to the British embassy.

More concretely, the prospects for deepening the Anglo-American “special relationship” are very propitious, as reflected in Theresa May’s coup in being invited to call on President Trump in the White House on Friday.

Trump’s popularity rating of about 40 per cent, compared with 78 per cent for Obama in 2009 and 62 per cent for Bush in 2001, is a warning sign. But his election victory showed voters can separate their sometimes firm disapproval of Trump as a man from a belief that he could give Washington the shake-up it needs.

It is the intensity rather than the breadth of Trump’s support, however, that is central to his strength, and he holds more sway with Democrats than the party’s leaders like to admit. He is also in the fortunate position of leading a Republican Party that is in control of both houses of congress.

Many rust-belt Democrats voted for Trump and could stay with him. In the 2018 mid-terms, Democrats have to defend 23 Senate seats — 10 in states that Trump won last November. The pressure on those 10 to make an accommodation with Trump will be intense.

One of Trump’s hallmarks as a politician is his unpredictability and there are few signs this will change. Many of his nominees seem at odds with him on fundamental issues, notably in foreign policy. Trump has spoken admiringly of President Vladimir Putin and views Russia as a potential ally, has promised to tear up the international nuclear agreement with Iran and has described NATO as “obsolete”.

However, in his confirmation hearings, James Mattis, the former Marine Corps general Trump chose as his defence secretary, described Russia as “dangerous” and Putin as possibly “delusional”. He said that while the Iran deal was flawed, America would have to work with it. He views NATO as a cornerstone of America’s security.

Rex Tillerson, the former ­ExxonMobil chief picked by Trump as his secretary of state, said NATO allies were right to be alarmed by Russia’s growing aggression and disagreed with Trump’s opinion that Japan could acquire nuclear weapons.

Trump appears to have chosen some of his cabinet largely because of the image they present. He delights in Mattis’s nickname, “Mad Dog”, even though the former general dislikes it and noted at his confirmation hearing that it had been “given to me by the press”.

If strong, independent figures such as Mattis and Tillerson stand up to Trump — Mattis has already persuaded him that torture is un-American and does not work — they could rein in some of his worst impulses.

But Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager and still a confidant, said the new President would reject his predecessor’s advice to delegate. “Trump is going to be extremely hands-on,” he said. “His style is going to be picking up the phone, shaking hands and butting heads.”

This was clear within hours of his swearing-in, as Trump could be seen in animated conversation with Democratic senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader intent on blocking some of his nominees, at a lunch on Capitol Hill.

Whereas Obama projected an air of cool detachment and preferred to play golf with aides rather than socialise with Republicans, Trump could reprise the approach of president Ronald Reagan with his political opponents.

Reagan built a rapport with the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, Tip O’Neill, which led to bipartisan support for some of his initiatives. While Obama rammed through his health law without a single Republican vote, Trump — who has shown considerable ideological flexibility — is much more likely to reach across the aisle.

Trump’s language can be extremely harsh, but he is capable of personal graciousness. Having lambasted US intelligence leaders and accused them of acting like Nazi Germany, he paid a visit on Saturday to the CIA — a sign of his realisation that he needs to build bridges with the spies on whose work he will come to depend.

“He’s the type of person that interacts with other people," says Lewandowski. “He is a dealmaker, he understands and reads people. Trump is willing to hold people accountable and make sure his agenda is being accomplished.”

This could lead to Trump overruling or undermining his cabinet. The conflicting views among his advisers could lead to creative tension or dysfunction.

Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, is an economic nationalist with a vision for transforming America. By contrast, Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff, is a former Republican Party apparatchik with close ties to the party establishment. Who wins the battle for Trump’s ear could decide the direction of his presidency.

R. Emmett Tyrrell, editor of The American Spectator and one of the first to hail Trump’s potential for victory in November, says his power lies in his relationship with working-class voters who feel dispossessed and disdained by a coastal elite. Trump, he believes, has the potential to be a transformative figure in the mould of Reagan. “I think he’s going to be a hell of a president,” says Tyrell. “The only thing is he may have taken on too much.”

The Sunday Times