Words of healing

However, the January 20 date of Trump’s swearing-in ceremony now allows enough time for the best bilateral efforts to work out a smooth handover of power and to assuage anxious segments of the US electorate.

Fortuitously, despite perhaps the most bitter campaign within living memory of US presidential elections, both Trump and Clinton, plus outgoing President Barack Obama, have each called on the electorate to heal its divisions.

Trump’s victory speech was conciliatory, praising Clinton’s hard work and service to country, and calling for unity among all, as he morphs from political bruiser into a President of all Americans.

“Now is time for America to bind the wounds of division. We have to get together,” said Trump. “To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all Americans, and this is so important to me.

“For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.” The Trump camp yesterday called on America to wipe the slate clean of recent political spats to now make a fresh start and give Trump a chance.

Clinton, in a concession speech of grace and magnanimity, urged a peaceful transition to a new Trump administration.

“We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our President,” she advised. “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. We don’t just respect that. We cherish it.” President Obama on Wednesday lamented Clinton’s loss but urged all to be Americans first and patriots first, ahead of party loyalties.

“We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” said Obama of Trump. “We all want what’s best for this country.

That’s what I heard in Mr Trump’s remarks last night. That’s what I heard when I spoke to him directly.

And I was heartened by that.” This goodwill from the three leaders must be digested by electors in a deep introspection as to the nature of US society.

While Trump’s loose rhetoric in the campaign was pinned down by liberal media to tar him as racist, sexist and a religious bigot, leading to a narrative whereby his election win is the US electorate shifting towards a more intolerant, xenophobic stance, we can only hope for an alternative and less pessimistic narrative.

This alternative is of a not-so-intolerant electorate who in backing Trump simply did not believe him to be as bad as painted in the popular media, however much he himself had played up a bad boy image.

Time will tell.

Meanwhile, we salute Obama and Trump for the conciliation that characterised their White House talks yesterday.

Trump hailed Obama as “a very fine man,” while Obama told Trump, “If you succeed, the country succeeds.” “My number one priority in the next two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President- elect is successful,” Obama pledged.

Trump replied, “Mr President, it was a great honour being with you and I look forward to being with you many, many more times.” If little TT can boast of peaceful handovers of governance, we are confident the US, with maturity forged from hundreds of years as a country, can now do so too. An unstable USA is not good news for Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and, indeed, the whole world.