PR and Comms practitioners react to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Delighted to have commented on Trump’s inauguration for Vuelio.

“Trump’s inauguration represented the culmination of his eventful campaign in terms of style and content. From the downbeat picture he painted of an America let down by its elites through to the soaring heights of what he will achieve representing the people, this was Trump at his most populist and bombastic. Trump gave his own speech, in his own words, in his own way. What may sit longer in the memory of some will be the row over the numbers who attended the ceremony. That has brought into sharp focus the difficult relationship with the media that Trump and his team will have during his time in office.

“The Trump presidency will explain everything it does in terms of putting America first. He will spend money on infrastructure and the armed forces. He will rip up trade deals. He will continue to question climate change. He will challenge existing international relationships and international bodies. This is not business as usual.

“The implications though are far from clear. Trade wars, isolationism, and open conflict are all possible outcomes. But if Trump is to be true to ‘Buy American and hire American’ at the expense of all else then we will enter an era of global economic turmoil.

“Obama’s legacy will be held onto with reverence by all those who will never accept President Trump or anything he stands for. It will take on a mythical stature which, arguably Obamacare aside, it does little to deserve. Obama has also created a legacy for the Democrats as a party. It has to rebuild itself and discover a sense of purpose, outside of criticising Trump. If the party is to challenge Trump in 2020 and build support in critical states, then it needs to offer more than anti-Trump rhetoric. Just waiting for Trump to undermine himself and then lose didn’t work in 2016 and it won’t work in 2020.”