John MacDonald: I'm still feeling pretty chill about Trump

"We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. I will, very simply, put America first."  

And with that, Donald Trump —the 47th US president— probably sent a chill down the spines of truckloads of people around the world.  

And a chill down the spines of some people within America too - because, some Americans, he won’t be putting first. Which I’ll get to.  

But do you know what? There was no chill down my spine when I listened to him.  

Well, that’s not quite correct. There was probably a draught, but there was certainly no chill.   

Because just like last year when he won the election —when I said that it’s very easy to jump on the hysteria bandwagon over Trump— that’s how I’m feeling too now that it’s happened and he’s the president.   

I still generally think that. Although there are a couple of things he’s been saying today that have me thinking. But let’s see what happens. That’s what I meant when I said there was a draught down my spine instead of a chill.  

But generally, when it comes to how I’m feeling about the next four years with him in the White House, I’m more intrigued than anything.  

Yes, it will be weird at times, but that’s as bad as it’s going to get. For me, anyway, living here in New Zealand.  

That does come with a few provisos, though.   

Number one: I’m not an exporter - so I’m not going to be directly affected by any trade tariffs that he might bring in.  

I do know though that —if it happens— we will all be affected in some way, shape or form, because when exporters do well, we all do well.   

And when exporters don’t do well - we all feel it.  

But, as anyone who has exported anything knows, there are always challenges to overcome. So, let’s wait and see what comes of that.   

But overall, you’ve got to give it to him - he’s not shy on ambition.  

He’s talking already about getting an American flag on Mars. The weird bit about that is he says it’s possible because America split the atom.  

Now, this might be a bit of parochial New Zealand coming through, but I’m pretty sure it was Ernest Rutherford who did that.  

And he wasn’t American. He was born in Brightwater, near Nelson.   

He went to school in Nelson, went to university in Christchurch and then headed off overseas and did the splitting of the atom thing at the University of Manchester, in Britain.  

But Donald Trump is never one to let the facts get in the way of anything.  

He’s been banging on about the US “taking back” the Panama Canal because, at the moment, China’s operating it and there can’t be any more of that nonsense.  

I’m paraphrasing the president there but that’s the gist of it. He says: “It is time for us to act with courage and vigour”.  

And no surprises, he’s announced that he’s going to re-name the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. But he was talking about that last week, wasn’t he?  

So a lot of bluster. But here’s the bit where things get a bit ugly.   

President Trump says his government will only recognise two genders: male and female. He’s going to stop the “social engineering” of “race and gender into every part of life.”  

And he’s promising to bring back free speech by stopping all censorship.   

Which is all stuff from the “go woke - go broke” manual. And that’s the bit I’m not liking.  

Because even though I’m not part of the LGBTQIA+ community, why on earth would you refuse to recognise the way someone identifies?  

Of course, there’ll be no shortage of people cheering Trump on, on this one. There’ll be no shortage of people, either —like me— who see this sort of talk from the

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerry Wood of Morning's podcast from
News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be the golden age of America begins right now.
From this day forward, our country will flourish and be
respected again all over the world. We will be the

(00:31):
envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves
to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single
day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put
America first.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
And with that, Donald Trump, now the forty seventh US president,
he probably sent a chill down the spines of truckloads
of people around the world, and he probably sent a
chill down the spines of actually some people with an
America too, because some Americans he won't be putting first,
which I'll get too. But do you know what, there
was no chill down my spine when I listened to

(01:11):
him this morning. Well maybe that's not quite correct. There
was probably there was probably a hint of a draft,
but there was certainly no chill because just like last
year when he won the election, when I said that,
you know, it's very easy to jump on the hysteria
band wagon with Trump. That's how I'm feeling this morning

(01:32):
as well. Now that it's happened now that he's president,
I still generally think that generally, although there are a
couple of things he's been saying this morning that had
me thinking, you don't like that too much, but let's
see what happens. That's what I mean when I say
that there was a draft down my spine instead of

(01:52):
a chill, a chill. But generally, when it comes to
how I'm feeling about the next four years with him
in the White House, and this is something I'm keen
to get your take on as well, But for me,
I'm more intrigued than anything else. It's going to be
weird at times, but that's as bad as it's going
to get for me anyway. Living here in New Zealand,

(02:14):
that does come with a few provisos though. Number one,
I'm not an exporter, so you know, I'm not going
to be directly affected by any trade tariffs that he
might bring in. You know, I know that if that happened,
we would all be affected in some way, shape or form,
because when exporters do well, we all do well, don't
we And when exporters don't do well well, we all

(02:36):
feel it. But as anyone who has exported. Anything knows
you might be in this camp. There are always challenges
to overcome. So let's wait and see and see what
comes with that. But overall, I mean, you've got to
give it to him. He's not shy on ambition. He's
talking already about getting an American flag on Mars. Weird

(03:00):
bit about that is he says it's possible because America
split the atom. Now this might be a bit, a
bit of parochial New Zealand coming through here, but I'm
pretty sure it was Ernest Rutherford who did that, and
he wasn't American, and he was born in Brightwater near Nelson,
went to school there, went to university in Christchurch, and
then headed off overseas and did the splitting of the

(03:22):
atom thing at the University of Manchester. You know, Donald
Trump is never one to let the facts get in
the way of anything. He's been banging on this morning
about the US taking back the Panama Canal because at
the moment China is operating it. There can't be any
more of that nonsense. I'm paraphrasing the President there, but
that's the gist of it. He says, quote, it is

(03:42):
time for us to act with courage and vigor and
no surprises. He's announced that he's going to rename the
Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. But he was
talking about us last week, wasn't he. So you know,
a lot of bluster, a truck load of bluster. But
here's where things get a bit ugly. President Trump says
his government will only recognize two genders, male and female.

(04:06):
He's going to stop the quote social engineering of race
and gender into every part of life. And he's promising
to bring back free speech by stopping all censorship, which
is all stuff from the Go Woke, Go Broke Manual.
And that's a bit I'm not liking, because even though

(04:27):
I'm not part of the LGBTQIA plus community, why on
earth would you refuse to recognize the way someone identifies themselves.
And of course there'll be no shortage of people cheering
Trump on on this one, but there will be no
shortage of people either, like me, who see this sort
of talk from the new president of something from an

(04:50):
age long ago. But despite those things I've just mentioned,
even though there are a few things that President Trump
has said this morning that I don't like, I'm still
feeling pretty relaxed about it, or still feeling pretty chill
about it. But as in New Zealander, how are you
feeling about the next four years with Donald Trump as president?

(05:14):
And if you happen to be an American living here
in New Zealand, how are you feeling now that he's
on the job.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
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