Checks and Balance newsletter: Readers’ hopes and fears for a Trump presidency

USUSUSVHSUSRINODTUSAI’ve been overwhelmed by the response to my ask in last week’s newsletter for your thoughts on the American election—overwhelmed by the sheer volume (327 replies), by the quality of the thinking and writing, and most of all by the emotional range: from being “absolutely delighted” to fearing for your job or even your life. “I feel it is no longer safe to comment online on this election, the president, and foreign policy,” one of you wrote. “Sorry.” Some felt America had been saved from destruction, others that it was doomed.Many of you told me about your experience growing up in, say, Iowa or Australia, and how it formed your ideals about America. You wrote about your spouses and children and what you learned working as an accountant, a food-truck chef, an engineer, a professor, a lobbyist, a building contractor; all to give a sense of how you arrived at the views you hold. Thank you. I’ve read all the responses and have a lot more thinking to do about them. But I promised an overview so, with great concern that I can’t give your work its proper due in one summary, long as this edition is (sorry!), here it goes.Points of overlap: Regardless of which candidate you supported, many expressed disdain for the Democratic Party as being out of touch and snobbish, and hoped it would now learn its lesson. Similar criticism was levelled at what was once called the mainstream media (I think that term can be officially ruled out of date after this campaign, mediated as it was by podcasters and other “influencers”). There was some shared hope that Donald Trump’s unpredictability might prove an asset in foreign affairs, and, interestingly, a broadly shared hope and even expectation he would not follow through on his promises about tariffs. Many look forward to tax cuts and exuberant markets, at least in the short term. Many of you used some form of “I held my nose” to describe how you voted for your candidate.Points of inversion: Some saw America’s left as being punished for its obsession with identity by an equality-minded society, while others saw the right being rewarded for its obsession with identity by a racist, misogynist society. Some saw a country rising up to punish its elites, others a country empowering its oligarchs. Some now expect more robust national security, a more effective bureaucracy, freer speech, more respect for fellow citizens’ points of view, and a better education system, while many expect the exact opposite. Some hoped for precisely what others feared: deportations, the withdrawal of aid from Ukraine, a free hand for Israel against the Palestinians, an end to efforts to address climate change, isolationism, deep cuts in the federal government, even chaos itself.Most of the hopes were expressed in broad terms—ending wars and wokeness, creating an energy boom—and so were many fears, including the emboldening of authoritarians globally, the denial of reproductive freedoms, the degradation of truth and rule of law and the coarsening of American life. But some fears were more specific, and many of you supplied lists studded with bullet points: some feared America would take Canada’s water, that inflation would spike in Australia, that measles would break out, that America would strike Iran or end support for marine renewable energy.I’d like to give a flavour of your responses by providing quotations below. I will place a “(T)” for Donald Trump or an “(H)” for Kamala Harris when I was told or could safely infer which candidate the writer preferred.“Although I find Mr. Trump to be repugnant as a person, I think he will direct our country back to the conservative, constitutional principles upon which it was founded.” (T)“Trump’s win feels like it is the result of a huge American tantrum, like that of a spoiled kid that makes a mess because he wants all of the toys when he already has most of them.” (H)“It is as if many have lost hope and feel this man is worth another gamble. If so, I am inclined to despair.” (H)“I did not vote for Trump in the primary, but how could I vote for someone who was afraid to tell us exactly who she was or what she wanted to accomplish?” (T)“We need business-minded approaches. Someone who isn’t afraid of hurting feelings and offending. We need to be offended, we need to look in the mirror, we need to see we are dysfunctional in order to fix what is broken.” (T)“The greatest fail on both sides is a lack of willingness to hear ALL sides!”“I’m anxious to see what others think.” (H)“I am heartsick for the country and for myself and my family.” (H)“Trump is a poker player and a bluffer, and many Americans see that. He is not going to slap 60% tariffs in China, nor is he going to deport 12 million aliens. He is a businessman and knows how such massive deportation would hurt the economy.”“I feel very fortunate not to live in America.” (H)“People voted for him because they are tired of the lies, wokism, bad economy, wars. We are super tired. I believe I even would have voted for him, despite the fact that I do not really like him.” (T)“Several states are already starting a spiral to Christian nationalistic theocracy. Here in Idaho we’re seeing small communities move more quickly in that direction.” (H)“I am extremely concerned that the is now going to relive & then relearn the lessons of the 1920-30’s.” (H)“Trump will totally shake up world geopolitics and it needs it…I’m looking forward to an end to the unwinnable war in Ukraine, exorcism of Hammas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and a stronger albeit isolationist .” (T)“I am old enough to remember when the phrase ‘American prestige’ was, much like the video recorder, a valuable and useful device understood the world over. No longer.” (H)“The real concern should not be the Democrat or Republican across the street from us, but the wealthy elite who control our world.”“If Democrats want a political future, they absolutely need to understand what Trump voters, the diehards and the tourists, heard in 2024.” (H)“I was shocked that he won and shocked that women voted for him—a man they probably couldn’t trust with a pretty daughter and who would likely be cruel to a plain daughter.” (H)“For now I’m just going to rewatch Kamala Harris’s concession speech.…That’s the most that I have ever listened to her —and she made me proud that I voted Democrat this election for the first time in many decades.” (H)“I sense a tone of condescension in the global response to Trump’s return to power. Commentators worldwide seem convinced they know what’s best for the , disregarding the voices of the many Americans who experienced life under Trump and found value in his policies.”“My fear is that we’re Troy. Beautiful, prosperous, foolish Troy. And all the Cassandras, cursed by Apollo to correctly predict the future yet never be believed, are hoarsely awaiting their fate. All because their neighbours gaslit themselves into inviting their destruction right through the front gates.” (H)“What does the election say about America? It says the simplest thing to know about Americans. We don’t like to be told what to do. We don’t like to be told who we are.” (H)“They were both rejected. The Democrats vanquished at the polls. The Republicans eviscerated by self-immolation. Trump is the true .”“It is my hope that a decisive Trump victory will be a powerful nail in the coffin of the far left in America.”“I am hopeful that his poor governance will lead to many of the ‘bros’ that voted for him to think differently about Republicans in the midterms and presidential elections to come.” (H)“I’m hopeful for a housebroken version of his last term.” (T)“I believe the Democrats deserved to lose. Why? For four years the Democrats and the media have been ‘victimizing’ . It was unbearable. Constant, mono news about his scandals, trials, deception, abuse, etc. They made him almost a martyr.” (H)“I bemoan the death of traditional conservatism in the Republican Party (of which I am a member). No longer are we the party of fiscal conservatism, or of world leadership.” (H)“Perhaps he is not the only morally bankrupt individual. The is morally bankrupt!” (H)“Much as I despise the little twerp—I think he’s the right guy for the time and that, in fact, the world is unfolding exactly as it should.” (H)“I’m terrified and considering where my little family will be safe. Top priority is medical care…. I’m disgusted that I have millions of fascists for neighbours.” (H)“I’m sick of being demonised….The current radical left are constantly trying to tell me I’m a bad person for being male, for being white, for existing.” (H)“As a Christian, I really do feel that we may well be heading towards Biblical End Times.” (H)“There are generally two possible outcomes of his second term: a majority considers his term a success; a majority considers his term a failure. Either way, the country will be a net beneficiary for having allowed the majority to have its way.” (H)“They are the party of privileged elites, censorship and mask and vaccine mandates. If the Dems don’t take a long time to retool their party and their views on war and the economy, the next election will look equally bad for them.” (Third party)“The fact that over half of our voters selected this bizarre spectacle to lead us for four years means that our education system has failed the nation. As a public school teacher, I am responsible.” (H)“I see four years of increasing prosperity for the US and hope that it will rub off on the rest of the world.” (T)“I know a bunch of Republicans, some of whom voted for Trump three times, and we’re still friends. So there’s hope!” (H)“I don’t know how this ends, but I know I’m not reconciling with Trump supporters anytime soon.” (H)“For the first time since 2015, families can look forward to a football-filled Thanksgiving with no other distractions.” (H)