Running block, as they say in American football, for his new boss in Davos this week, senior Trump transition member, Anthony Scaramucci assured the assembled that the US president- elect is much misunderstood. A protectionist, not really. Anti-Nato, no way. A climate change denier, well, sometimes. But if they want to understand him, he explained, they should not take Trump's messages on Twitter too literally because he was simply trying to communicate with ordinary people in the most effective way.
Writing in the Financial Times, ex-president of the World Bank Robert Zoellick continued in a similar vein, warning he will "break with presidential practice by speaking freely without worrying about subsequent reversals." The only certainty, we are to believe, is uncertainty.
“A foolish consistency,” Ralph Waldo Emerson argued, tongue firmly in cheek, “is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines...To be great is to be misunderstood.”
Well, no. Emerson rules should not apply to presidents. Too much is at stake in the most powerful office in the world. Things like war and peace and economic ruin, hanging on every carefully, or not-so-carefully, chosen word. A presidency in which uncertainty and untruths are order of the day is a recipe for fear and instability.
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When Donald Trump steps out in front of the Capitol building to give his inaugural address tomorrow as the 45th president of the United States, we may think we know what we're getting. And that's bad enough. But, in truth, do we? We can only hope that in his address he will go beyond the generalities and bluster of the campaign.
That he will follow precedent in reaching out beyond his base to reassure those who didn’t support him, many of whom genuinely fear his presidency. Reach out to allies deeply fearful of what they hear. We can hope, but not expect.
What we do know is troubling – in the past few days alone he has undermined the US One-China policy, denounced Nato as "obsolete", blasted Germany for accepting refugees, dissed the US intelligence services, suggested he may break with the "strong dollar", and he set in train the dismantling of Obamacare.
Each of these perhaps thoughtless asides is capable – may yet – produce far-reaching consequences: regional jitters in Asia and on the Europe-Russia border, a currency war, the stripping of healthcare cover from 18 million US citizens ...
"Trump has approached the interregnum as if he were a television wrestling star," the New York Times observes. Yet, what is it to be "presidential"? It is to be measured and tread softly. Dignified. It is to understand the extraordinary reach, influence and power of the office and to respond with understatement. Trump will be president by tomorrow evening. But there is no evidence this bull in a china shop will be presidential.