THE elites of Washington are starting to feel better about Donald Trump. A sense of relief is creeping over them after the president-elect ditched several impossible campaign promises and named conventional conservatives, including a former Goldman Sachs banker, for some big jobs, offsetting the hard-right nationalists and populists given posts in his inner circle. For a moment they thought America might have elected a true demagogue, beholden to a pitchfork-wielding mob. They wondered if the businessman meant it when he roared “Drain the swamp in Washington!” at pre-election rallies, and vowed to ban lobbyists from his government. Now they think they see a cynic like so many others in politics, who ran as an outsider but will govern as an insider. He seems more manageable than they had feared.
Mr Trump is not an ideologue, the lobbying, business, diplomatic and political classes murmur approvingly. Just you wait, they predict, he will ditch his most crazily populist ideas, from starting a trade war with China to mass deportations, while allowing Republicans in Congress to cut taxes and slash business regulations. True, if he increases spending on...Continue reading
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