November 10, 2016

Summary

The Trump presidency that has shocked the world. Real estate mogul Donald Trump wasn’t supposed to win this election. He now has.

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The Trump presidency that has shocked the world

The Trump presidency that has shocked the world

The world is still coming to terms with the historic shocker that the outspoken business mogul, Donald Trump, is now America’s president elect.

Trump had been written off by pollsters, condemned by the media and jeered at by the public both in and out of the US and social media was always a buzz with memes and gifs in mockery of the controversial reality TV star, who has been branded all sorts of names ranging from a misogynist, racist, sex pest and foul-mouthed just to mention a few.

In an unexpected move that even stunned his supporters, Trump went ahead to claim swing states in the just conclude US elections, winning the key battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania with the remarkable victory in Wisconsin putting him over the 270 out of 538 electoral college votes needed to win the race to White House.

Trump’s campaign run against foreign trade, foreign wars and immigration restrictions as he promised to put the interests of America first as enshrined in his slogan; Make America Great Again.

He had said that he would deport immigrants and Muslims, build a wall along the southern border with Mexico to deter illegal immigrants and review America’s trade agreements. Trump particularly singled out the North America free trade agreement (NAFTA) signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, which lowers trade restrictions between the US, Canada and Mexico, saying it was the worst trade agreement ever signed by the US , blaming it for killing American jobs.

Trump also promised to label China as a currency manipulator and compel the Chinese government to rewrite trade agreements.

Not only did the republicans win the White House but also the Senate and held onto the house of congress, which gives Trump’s administration a mileage to implement his protectionism policies.

Kenya should take notes from the US Elections

Kenyans have been following the 2016 US elections keenly and took to social media to express their reactions on the outcome of the polls, which saw favourite Hillary Clinton lose to Trump.

Kenya goes into elections in 2017, in what has also been touted as one of the highly contested polls in the county’s history and US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec has urged Kenyans to pick lessons from the US polls.

Godec said that the startling US elections should provide lessons to Kenyans on “how to use polls to renew our faith the democracy”.

“[Y]our dreams are within your reach, a successful democratic election will help you realise them but it requires commitment by all Kenyans to take part in the national dialogue, about what Kenyans want from the government, about how to move your country forward, a dialogue about how to keep the promise of the 2010 constitution,” said Godec, adding that the US elections is a reminder of fruits of democratic values, which Kenyans must continue to support.

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