Australia, China, and the lunacy of Trump's talk of a trade war

Bob Carr

Donald Trump represents a break in the strategic American leadership the world has had since 1945. It’s an historic shift that could tip Australia into recession

Friday 11 November 2016 | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/12/australia-china-and-the-lunacy-of-trumps-talk-of-a-trade-war

It was only a matter of time. It was inevitable.
It says something about human nature, too.
Within 48 hours of the election of a radical, unilateralist, protectionist and isolationist US president commentators are working hard to normalise things. We’re told he won’t do what he promised, he will turn out to be like Reagan, he will get good advisers, the anger that elected him was understandable.
The truth is Donald Trump represents a break in the strategic American leadership the world has had since 1945.
No American president has talked with sneering contempt about democracy itself –prosecuting his opponent, not accepting the election outcome. It’s impossible to imagine that Kennedy or Nixon, Clinton or Bush, would have belittled American allies like South Korea or Japan or Nato itself.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/12/australia-china-and-the-lunacy-of-trumps-talk-of-a-trade-war