Trump is now unstoppable – and he’s ready to change the world

His speech spoke of the need to unite the country. Whether he fulfils this promise or not, the fact of his election must be respected

At least it was all “thank yous” and no threats. Plenty of gratitude to his friends and family – and Elon Musk – and no mention of his enemies. At least not yet. At the very end, when Trump was clearly returning to the script, he said that it was “time to unite”: to “put the divisions of the past behind us”.
That is a truly new message. But there was no gracious acknowledgement of his opponent so there were obviously limits to this changed image. There was, though, a genuinely magnanimous tone which was unmistakable because it was so unexpected. Is this really to be the model for the second presidency?
What the policies were for his planned great American recovery are still characteristically lacking in detail but he made a point of saying that his party will almost certainly have control of both houses of Congress so whatever those plans are, they will be unstoppable.
There was the familiar promise to put an end to the wars which he has always insisted would not have happened under his presidency. But there was still an insistence that he would deport all those illegal migrants who were the chief cause of his election success.
Whether he fulfils his vows to the nation or not, there is a substantive challenge to the Western European political leaders who are appalled by this phenomenon. How exactly did what Trump (and a lot of other people) call the “ruling elites” become so out of touch with their populations that this could happen?
How could a leader profess so much hate and contempt and be so actively disliked – even by many of the people who voted for him – that he could succeed in this way? There must be something profoundly wrong with the established politics of too many Western democracies when smug leadership and officialdom becomes so removed and alien to its own people.
Whether Trump now governs like a decent democratic president, or stages a coup that makes a mockery of the Constitution, the fact of his election deserves to be treated with respect. It is an event which might change the world in ways that we – and he – never expected.