Tough times for Trump

Trump’s elevation to the position of President, following last Tuesday’s US general election, have triggered ongoing protests in various cities of the US as fears that the highly-controversial positions he proffered during his campaign in relation to a range of issues, including illegal immigrants, ‘Obamacare,’ foreign policy, race relations and the LGBT community, would be actualised during the next four years.

The Guardian International reported yesterday that more than 10,000 protesters had signed up for a noontime march from New York’s Union Square to Trump Tower, the billionaire businessman’s home and business headquarters. Similar demonstrations also were being planned for other cities.

Trump, who met with outgoing President Barack Obama at the White House, in Washington DC, on Thursday, has reportedly attributed the protests to the work of “professional protesters incited by the media.” The President-elect labelled the action as “very unfair.” In addition, CNN also reported yesterday that crisis and suicide hotlines in the US have been inundated with calls from seriously distressed persons in the wake of Trump’s win in the general election.

For Anslem Francis. former senior lecturer in the Institute of International Relations (IIR) at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies, the protests are to be expected based on the “anxieties and uncertainty” Trump created on the campaign trail.

However, he said yesterday in a Sunday Newsday interview that one should not only expect a fallout to the protest action.

“I think some good can come out of the marches in the sense that they are sending a message, ‘We are not going to allow you (Trump) to carry out your very extreme racist policy and if you are contemplating that, that should give you some cause for thought.’” On the flip side, Francis said Trump was “very headstrong guy,” who may not be affected by such action. “But, if it does, then one would be seeing more of what we have seen in the aftermath of the elections.” Francis reasoned that illegal immigration and deportation, one of the front-burner topics on which Trump’s campaign was hinged, will factor highly on his agenda in office, saying that the implications could be serious for Trinidad and Tobago. In the absence of figures or a system to gauge the rate of deportation. Francis suggested that the numbers could be “frightening.” “And, if that happens and he (Trump) has promised that it would, then that number could be dangerous,” he said.

An influx of criminal deportees, he said, could impact the way they settle and co-exist in this country.

It can also place additional strain on the education and health sectors, Francis said.

Francis said: “There is a difficult issue that we have to face with people who have committed crimes and actually being sent back to the Caribbean. I think we would be seeing more of that” He noted, though, that many of them may return with skills or some form of training which they could share with the rest of the country.

The international relations expert said he had no reason to doubt that Trump would not carry out his policies with respect to deportation.

“There is a body of opinion in the US that would say just that, send back all of the illegal immigrants because they are concerned with the countries of origin,” said Francis.

“The immigrants are not Europeans. They are coming from south of the border. I think this is causing concern.” He also said if the names of persons reportedly being considered for positions in the Trump administration are true, “then I don’t think the future looks bright because it is a question of if Mr Trump says jump, some of them will ask how high.” Francis said the Ministry of National Security will need to put measures in place to address criminal deportation.

“They will need to have the numbers. If not, so many things will be like guess work,” he said.

On the issue of race relations, Francis predicted that the situation in the US and the Caribbean is likely to persist with Trump in the White House.

“I think, it will deteriorate,” he told Sunday Newsday. “I think there is enough to suggest that these are worrying times as far as race relations are concerned.

They certainly would not get any better.” Basing his assessment on the controversial killings of young, African- American men at the hands of whites in the recent past, Francis predicted that racial profiling will persist.

“I think we are likely to have more of it under a Trump presidency,” he said.

He said Trinbagonians and other Caribbean nationals living in the US will feel anxieties similar to any nonwhite group.

Francis also did not see any immediate let-up in Trump’s vehement stance on the LGBT community.

“The LGBT community will be hit very hard but if there is anything he can do to reverse the situation, it should be done,” he said.

Francis said the way forward for the LGBT community should be viewed in the context of the changing composition of the US Supreme Court, which he said, would be a more confederative court.

“Already, there are a lot of concerns being expressed about LGBT rights but it is not looking good for that community,” he said.

If he were to judge Trump’s Presidency on the basis of his campaign rhetoric, Francis said “there is a lot to worry about.” Singling out foreign policy and trade, he said Trump already has signalled his intention re-negotiate a number of the existing trade deals. “That was an important plank in his entire campaign,” Francis said.

Alluding to the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ), between the US, Canada and Mexico,, Francis said Trump had placed blame for the job loss in America squarely on the Obama administration’s trade regime.

“He (Trump) has held the regime responsible for the loss of American jobs, saying he wants to bring jobs back. This is how he has framed the discussion,” he said.

On the other hand, Francis said there were persons on both sides of the political divide in the US who remained uneasy about the agreements.