Mansoor’s Musings: Wait and see approach best as Trump takes over White House

By Mansoor Ladha on November 21, 2024.

I couldn’t believe as the results of the U.S. presidential elections were splashed on the TV screen indicating a huge majority for Donald Trump as he triumphantly became the president-elect of the U.S.

Only in America, as they say, such a thing could happen. A convicted felon with a record of hating immigrants marched into the White House to become the 47th U.S. President on January 20. Unbelievable, isn’t it?

Political pundits and current affairs analysts have been busy doing the election postmortem to determine the reasons for such a massive victory. One commentator explained that many voters backed the former president to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza. Kamala Harris was also blamed for the devastation of Gaza – which followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – happened on the Biden-Harris administration’s watch.

A Muslim leader suggested that Trump won the hearts and minds of many Muslims by whatever he did on his campaign trail in last two months. “This guy is a Muslim-friendly guy,” said Rabiul Chowdhury, a founder of Muslims for Trump who is based in Pennsylvania.

Margret Atwood is reported to suggest that “some people will shoot themselves than elect a woman.” Ms. Harris is the second woman after Hillary Clinton to face Trump and lose the election.

Voters conveniently forgot that Trump is, of course, the same guy who during his last presidency blocked citizens of predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States and who spent years demonizing and insulting Muslim Americans. As president, he repeatedly made clear he supported the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, taking several steps, that Muslim and Arab voters found inflammatory, including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Arab American and Muslim supporters said they were ready to take a chance on him anyway in interviews during the campaign. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was one of the first to congratulate Trump and has previously called him Israel’s best ever friend in the White House.

In a recent editorial, The Globe & Mail said: “Dozens of Mr. Trump’s previous cabinet ministers, generals and staff members have said he is unfit for office; more than one described him as a fascist. This time, Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants who will gleefully mete out his retribution and implement his agenda.”

The world in the post-Trump era would be different and especially for Canada, the U.S.’s friendly neighbour and trading partner, has much to get worried. There are challenges on the horizon as Trump has promised to deport millions of immigrants and impose tariffs to safeguard American interests – both of which measures will directly affect Canada whose trade relationship is worth more than a trillion dollars.

Canada exports 75 per cent of its goods and services to the US – and Trump’s promise of blanket 10 per cent tariffs could significantly affect its economy.

The Canadian government has been issuing positive statements to allay fears but judging from Trump’s past record and statements issued by Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, that there is an “extreme national security vulnerability” along the U.S.- Canada border which he plans to deal with as soon as the new Republican administration takes over.

Human smuggling activity from Canada has risen sharply over the past two years, particularly along the border between eastern Ontario, Quebec, New York and Vermont. U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents apprehended over 19,000 individuals, from 97 different countries, through this area over a 12-month span ending Oct. 2, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics. Canada will have to tighten security on its borders and enforce the country’s immigration laws.

The democratic world will be facing more challenges. The Republican have vowed to end the war in Ukraine in a single day and has repeatedly criticized US military aid for Ukraine. Trump will also have to tackle North Korea’s growing involvement

In Russia’s invasion. Now, it’s anyone’s guess what Trump could do, especially when he is on friendly terms with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

China is bracing itself for the return of Trump as it fears that his presidency will trigger a new trade war. When Trump was president, he imposed tariffs on over $300 billion of Chinese imports. He has said the new tariffs could be more than 60 percent.

One pundit thinks that under Trump the US will “retreat” from its global superpower status while another suggested the US election fitted the Kremlin’s “overall vision of the world, “in which “liberal globalism has depleted its efficiency.”

Under these circumstances, the best approach would be to adopt a wait and see attitude, given the uncertainty and unpredictability that existed under the first Trump administration.

Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based journalist, travel writer and author of Aga Khan: Bridge between east & West, Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West, Off the Cuff and A Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims.

18
-17