Dear Editor,

The recent success of the controversial Donald Trump at the United States polls reflects the sort of uncertainty and unpredictability of the American people. Certainly, the expectations and the results have confounded many who thought the win was a foregone conclusion for the Democrats; however, the people have spoken and have demonstrated that things are not as alright as many had thought.

The factors that led to Hillary Clinton’s defeat are immense and should be used as a yardstick to measure future election results.

Trump is a relative unknown to various nations politically, and his rise to the presidency will be viewed with much scepticism and varied expectations. Take China, for example, one of America’s most valuable trading partners that generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually by way of imports and exports between both the countries. The relationship could blossom into one of ‘I gain from you and you gain from me’, so let’s keep it that way as we both need each other. With regards to Russia, Trump and Vladimir Putin appear to have amicable ideas of each other, so the possibility of a more cordial and reachable understanding of accords between both countries could create more hope for world peace. Japan should also be in good stead, too, as a better path of economic cooperation could develop, with America seeing that a binding agreement already exists for defence of their country since the end of World War II — Trump will respect that.

Generally, the reception of foreign leaders to the ‘new kid on the block’ will hopefully rebalance the relationships, which may change the international environment.

Looking at Trump’s legacy at home: His party has enormous clout in the Senate and the House of Representatives. There should not be too much resistance or hindrance to pass legislation on issues. This will only aid his declared ambitions to generate four per cent economic growth annually. On education, we observe that Trump is placing an emphasis on technical education; this should go a far way in developing able and skilled personnel for the future.

Let us see if how he operates will help to shape or reshape the planet on which we live.

Patrick “Capo” Johnson

Pat.Johnson 34 @ yahoo.com