Donald John TrumpDonald John Trump, the 45th American President, does not enjoy much respect or popularity here in Washington DC, the multicultural, multi-ethnic and highly intellectual capital of the United States. Nationwide, his popularity is down to about 40 percent, the lowest for any fresh American President in recent history.
The common credit many people give him is that America is still standing and the third world war has not broken out yet although he dumped a semi-nuclear weapon in Syria some weeks ago without a genuine plan or serious consultations.
Mr. Trump is seen by many people, including cab drivers who chat me up from time to time, as a lunatic, a chaotic President, an unstable man, a catastrophic mistake and a big error caused by millions voters who were so sure Hillary Clinton was going to win the 2016 Presidential election here that they did not turn out to vote on election day.
In the morning, they say, Mr. Trump may be saying he would not attack Syria, but in the evening, he might be doing just that after watching Fox News. A statement in the afternoon, might be contradicted by a tweet in the night. He watches television for hours and often tweets late in the night. He brands the media that do not support him or are critical of him “fake news”.
According to him, CNN is fake news. The New York Times is fake news. The Washington Post is fake news. In fact, journalists are all the enemies of the American people. The only person that is not fake in the United States is Donald John Trump.
It seems to many people I have spoken to that he’s so unstable that he does not think through before speaking or signing his executive orders. This is why, they say, many of them have been blocked by the courts or opposed by his own Republic members.
While campaigning, he bragged about completely changing the culture in Washington DC and giving back the power to the people. I boasted about building a wall between the United States and Mexico to keep immigrants away from his country, and ban people from several Muslim countries to fight terrorism and Islamism. He also promised forcefully to “repeal and replace Obamacare”, the affordable care act his party opposed for eight years.
With the full control of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the White House, the Republicans could not get the vote to repeal Obama care. Many Republicans were against it and President Trump did not get the vote.
Hundred days after he assumed office, his presidency has been marred by chaos and instability. The economy also seems to be getting worse. Numbers released yesterday showed that things are getting worse.
Unless President Obama and several other American Presidents who often displayed that intellectual mind and who gave a sense of direction to the American people and the world, Mr. Trump seems to have failed to connect with many people. He uses short sentences that often turn out to be meaningless. He backs autocrats and encourages nationalism and exclusiveness.
For us in Africa, it remains to be seen what he really wants to do. After winning the election, he wondered why America should help Africa when people are dying of hunger in the United States, and why the United States should even help fight Boko Haram when the Chibok girls have not been found.
It is not clear whether he has ever been to Africa or even whether he is planning to make a trip there. For years, he said President Obama, whose father was a Kenyan, was not born in the United States. Even after Mr. Obama made public his birth certificate, he continued to spread the lie.
His dislike for the African American President might affect his vision of Africa. he has greatly reduced the budget of the State Department and many programmes in Africa have by that budget been affected.
It is not clear what his message to African dictators is. Mr. Trump had said he was the President of the United States and not the world, although he bombed Syria in the Middle East and his moving troops close to North Korea in Asia.
The only thing that has become clear is that Mr. Trump was not ready to be President and may not be ready to learn fast. As an African, there is little hope for our continent coming from this American President.
Simon Ateba is the publisher of THE SIMON ATEBA NEWS. He wrote this opinion article from Washington DC