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Provided you live in a place with internet, newspapers or a radio, you will know that the United States of America has had a presidential election and that Trump won. If you are that person, count your blessings as the rest of us have had to hear little but that for the past year, enduring the increasingly unhinged statements about him. Despite all this, Trump won a crushing landslide that can best be described as ‘Shock and Awe; Political Edition.’
And despite what you may have heard from the managerial class’s mainstream media, Trump’s victory is also one for Britain.
The first of these is security. Under the Previous US administration, the world became a more dangerous place. A second Trump administration will likely restore deterrence against Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China as his first one did. Whether he is too close to Putin, ‘The Donald’ was the only 21st-century US President not to face Russian incursions. George W Bush failed to prevent the ’08 Ossetia War, Obama famously stated it was the 21st Century when Putin annexed Crimea. Biden’s unclear statements about ‘minor border incursions’ failed to deter the ongoing ‘Special Military Operation’. Within two days of becoming the President-Elect, Putin accepted Trump’s phone call to discuss a peace treaty that does not involve a quarter of Ukraine.
While both Conservative & Labour governments have generously – and quite rightly in my opinion – provided nearly £13 billion to Ukraine, we cannot pretend it was not needed at home. We could wish the ‘Iron Curtain’ was pushed back to Status Quo Ante in Ukraine, but to blame The Orange Man is inaccurate, and there is no guarantee Kamala Harris could have militarily reset it despite great costs in Ukrainian blood and American gold. It may be in the West’s interest to bleed Russia dry of manpower, materiel, and money on the battlefield, but wars of attrition have unexpected losers, as the Kaiser discovered at Verdun. Starmer is no Pitt, and HM’s Government is not so strong as to indefinitely provide the Golden Cavalry of St George to fund the downfall of continental hegemonies: Few are the Britons who need to be reminded of our nation’s financial state.
Secondly, Trump is an anglophile and certainly a Scotophile (if such a word exists). Vice President Kamala Harris would have maintained the Democrats’ Post-Brexit Britain Policy best said by Obama: “You will be at the back of the queue”. Trump was far more willing to make a Free Trade Agreement in his first term, with a major sticking point being low American food standards. With Bobby Kennedy Jr’s likely appointment to head the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this will be mitigated. Such an FTA would boost the British economy and tie us closer to the Anglosphere. It would also make it harder for the government to surreptitiously bring us back into the EU & Single Market. Given Trump’s well-known aversion to unfair trade relations, especially China & the EU, a UK-USA would thus be a major coup for both governments and paved by shared frustration with EU protectionism.
Thirdly, winning only 36% of the vote, the Labour government is to the left of the UK’s Overton Window. While some may argue ignoring the Cass Report and raising taxes had always been Labour policy, the Special Relationship has a homogenising effect on British and American governments. Trump’s team have already made it clear they do not share their predecessor’s anglophobic position on the Chagos Archipelago. The proposed UK-Mauritius Treaty was neither finalised nor signed, and to withdraw would secure other British Territories*: The Argentine government had re-stated its claim to the Falklands within hours of the statement. Bafflingly, Kier later refused to rule out relinquishing sovereignty over any other British territory when asked in the house, further heightening the possibility of another state attempting a fait accompli against British Subjects.
Finally, we can always hope that his pugnacious approach to border security and his determination to end unlimited illegal immigration might rub off on Starmer.
Far from being Big Bad Orange, Trump has the potential to be an asset to the UK. The only question is, will our government see it?
*Some will argue that the Chagos Islands should be returned to Mauritius. While this may be the case, the proposed treaty did not consider the wishes of the exiled Chagossian people, to whom the islands must ultimately belong.
