Making sense of Donald Trump’s win

Making sense of Donald Trump’s win

Caught your breath yet after a fast - and for many, furious - US presidential election? 

We’re going to have to pace ourselves… Donald Trump’s win is a significant development that has a direct impact on Americans in a way we can’t lay claim to here in Australia. Still, I was reflecting with Kate at the end of last week about what it means for us as a news business. 

If you can believe it (and I hardly can…), The Squiz has been around for almost 8 years, so our time has been equally split between the last 2 terms of government in America. We started up a couple of months after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, and during his first term, his unorthodox approach meant his disruption to US politics and international relations was in the news a lot. 

Then, he lost in 2020, and during the second half of our existence, I reckon if you compared the volume of Biden-driven stories, it was down by about 90%. 

Something that’s on high repeat from many international commentators all the way through to the reactions from some of my friends and acquaintances about Trump’s reelection is ‘here we go again…’ At the heart of their concerns is that during Trump’s first term, they found his unpredictability and how he seems to break every rule and get away with it dangerous and exhausting. It’s a movie they do not want to see again. 

That’s not a universal reaction. Clearly it’s not because more than half of the 170 million Americans who participated in the election voted for Trump. 

So like me, if you’re seeking to understand the result of this historic election, this week’s Club Picks are the resources I found well worth the time.

1. The Rest is Politics US episode ‘The Greatest Comeback in Political History’ was recorded 3 days after the election. Hosted by the BBC’s special US correspondent Katty Kay and entrepreneur/momentary Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci, the structure they put behind their unpacking of the cultural and economic elements at play for Americans is masterful. 

2. To the victor, the spoils, so I was hungry for a look under the Republican/Trump campaign hood. The New York Times’ ‘The Daily’ podcast delivered with an episode featuring their Trump specialists, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman. 

3. A feature of the Trump campaign was getting young men out to vote. Enter his 18yo son Barron… According to the Wall Street Journal, he persuaded his father “that the world of bros, dudes, online pranksters and ultimate fighters could be a potent political asset.” Spoiler alert: Trump’s engagement with this world goes way deeper than just appearing on Joe Rogan’s massive podcast… 

4. There are all sorts of things being said about why Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost - but this piece in the Financial Times says it was a ‘vote against inflation’. That’s happened a lot in recent times because “the economic and geopolitical conditions of the past year or two have created arguably the most hostile environment in history for incumbent parties and politicians across the developed world.” 

There’s a lot included there that will be playing on Aussie political campaigners’ minds as we head into a federal election campaign in 2025. My tip is to digest and share those Club Picks to get well ahead of it…