Fair play to Donald Trump for attracting a stellar line-up to perform at his inauguration. So far the Radio City Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and America’s Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho are slated to appear. It doesn’t get better than that.
Trump is not in the least bit bothered about his rejection by D listers like John Legend, Bruce Springsteen and any number of artists who have sold but a few million records in their lifetimes. Indeed, Trump tweeted: “The so-called ‘A’ list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!” I searched for an English translation to this but couldn’t find one.
More bizarre than Trump’s comments are the fact that he tweeted them in the first place. Indeed, we are living in a world where all the president’s comments are going to turn up on twitter, probably before they reach Congress or the Senate. I couldn’t help but be puzzled by the rest of his comments and especially the comment “I want the people.” Well, which people? The worst, most fraudulent US electoral campaign in history, based on out and out lies has brought about not a millionaire’s cabinet. Trump has assembled a billionaire’s cabinet. When he said he wanted the people, he forgot to mention he only wanted the seriously rich ones.
I am very tired about the phrase “post truth politics”, even though I have used it myself. Trump’s victory, just like Brexit over here, was founded on lies and people not only voted for lies, they totally embraced them. Trump lied that he would reopen coal mines and closed down steelworks. Soon he will be forced to admit he lied and my guess is that no one will care. No one who voted to leave the EU seems to care that they were lied to by Farage, Johnson, Gove and co. Different country, same story.
If you think Trump is going to give Britain favourable treatment now that he has been elected, then think again. As my son put it, “he’s going to fuck us over” once he gets into the White House. With Britain severely weakened in every way as we walk off a cliff, the signs are that Trump will exploit it in every single way. This is not some kindly benefactor, bound to our non-existent special relationship which at the best of times means nothing more than words and brings back memories from World War Two. When the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have finished belting out their ditties, it will soon be back to business with Britain at the back of the line.
We will probably have to get used to tweets about his visits overseas and declarations of war, maybe even advance warnings of nuclear attacks.
Pessimistic? You bet I am. With the far right about to assume control of the USA, along with its rise across Europe, including at home, we are entering an era of, at best, uncertainty and at worst conflict that will make the Cuban Missile Crisis look lie a Teddy Bear’s party.
The rise of Trump is about more than whether which celebrities will turn up to see him inaugurated as president. With Europe weak and divided and about to become even more so, be very afraid. We didn’t elect Trump but no one will be happier with the state of Europe than he is, not even his new best friend Putin.
