The return of Donald Trump and why it is so significant
by Martyn Whittock, Christian Today:
In the early hours of Wednesday, November 6 an earthquake shook US and global politics. And let’s be clear, it was not a severe tremor, it was an earthquake of great magnitude. Donald Trump has become the only person other than Grover Cleveland (president 1885–89 and 1893–97) to serve non-consecutive presidential terms in the US.
However, the nature of the person who has achieved this modern triumph makes it more than just a constitutional oddity. This is not just something for the footnotes in a future book on US political, cultural and constitutional history. This is because – whatever one feels about the man in question – Trump and the MAGA movement are a phenomenon of striking character and huge significance.
And let there be no mistake, opinions will differ sharply. Even the mass of court cases built up against Trump will be assessed as either long-delayed justice catching up with the man or as a political witch hunt orchestrated by Democrats who have weaponised the justice system against him. As with everything connected with Trump, there is never one simple narrative. The plot lines are many, various and contradictory. Finding one’s way through them is never easy.
As the dust begins to settle a bit (and there’s a long way to go before the changed landscape becomes clear) we can begin to reflect a little on why this election result is so significant. We can also begin to tentatively suggest some of the possible future implications of this event. For, if this is a ‘political earthquake,’ we can expect the ‘aftershocks’ to continue for some time. Indeed, the whole US political landscape may have become an active ‘earthquake’ zone. The Trump phenomenon vividly reminds us of the fault lines in modern US – and global – politics and culture. We live in historic times.
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