Donald Trump’s attempt at a statesmanlike persona is too little, too late

What will not change in the foreseeable future is pressure the Trump administration will come under because of unanswered questions about his behaviour in the 2016 presidential election

Wednesday 31 January 2018 17:10 GMT
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Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address in the House chamber of the US Capitol
Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address in the House chamber of the US Capitol

In his first State of the Union address, President Trump stuck to his script, failed to insult any minorities of political opponents, neglected to call his opponents liars, dispensed with the usual diatribe about “fake news”, much to the surprise, and, for some, disappointment of his audience.

Instead his audience in Congress, America and the world beyond witnessed a statesmanlike performance of a kind that would not have disgraced any of his predecessors (though this was hardly an FDR or an Eisenhower up there at work on the rostrum).

Mr Trump’s disdain was reserved for troublesome figures abroad, such as Kim Jong-un. Even the most liberal-minded Democrat might find it hard to quibble about opposition to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Trump talked of togetherness, reaching out to Democrats for bipartisan action to tackle America’s crumbling infrastructure. The President sought to build bridges rather than walls. A tiny hand of friendship was offered “across the aisle”.

It follows a remarkably restrained interview with Piers Morgan, where, albeit with some lack of credibility, Mr Trump claimed to have “tremendous” respect for women and Muslims, and support from them. It is tempting to hope that, after a first year “shaking things up” in Washington, as Mr Trump described his first chaotic year to Morgan, there has been a conscious gear change. The key question: can it last?

Unfortunately, there are solid reasons to suspect it cannot. After all, in between the ITV chat and the keynote address came Mr Trump’s effective firing of the deputy head of the FBI. Just as Brexit dominates everything in British politics, so too do Mr Trump’s links with Russia subsume everything else that is going on in the Trump administration. In point of fact most, if not all, of the extremely heavy loss of staff and close advisers Mr Trump has suffered over the past year have been more or less directly linked to the allegations about Russian collusion – as were the most explosive revelations in the Fire and Fury book. The Mueller investigation grinds on, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions the latest to be caught by its scythe, and the questions are moving inexorably closer the White House.

Donald Trump falsely links violent crime to immigration in State of the Union address

Whether Mr Trump decides to cooperate or to push his resistance to the constitutional limit or beyond, the Mueller probes will continue to distract Mr Trump, and undermine what little chance there is of his building some kind of support for his policies among Democrats. Mr Trump’s freshly moderate tone may also have something to do with the coming midterm elections, and the need to show something more than some tax cuts and a booming stock market for his time in office. Despite some delivery on the real economy, especially in employment, Mr Trump suffers from poor poll ratings, and he needs to appeal to more than his base in order to preserve his political support in Congress (where many traditional Republicans have always viewed him with suspicion and worse).

So the “New Trump” may not last much longer than his next bad-tempered breakfast-time tweet about why the FBI won’t lock up Hillary; or perhaps as long as November when the midterms are over and he can safely revert to type. What will not change now or for the foreseeable future – whatever humour Mr Trump happens to be in – is the pressure the Trump administration, and especially close members of his family, will come under because of unanswered questions about his behaviour in the 2016 presidential election. He has tried to bluster his way out of the problem, but failed. A more reasonable approach will also fail to slow the machinery of justice driving inexorably forward. It is too late for that. The “New Trump” cannot undo whatever wrongs were committed by the Old Trump in winning the White House.

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