This new Trump presidency will have an enormous impact on life in the UK
Donald Trump will be the next US president... again, just four years after he was beaten back to the White House by Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
After a tense presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, which saw assassination attempts, further suggestions of rigged votes and a brief interlude for a Brat Summer, almost all of the votes are in and the reds have come out on top once again.
That a convicted felon who was twice impeached has managed to make such a return has been a source of heated debate (and you can read more about that here), but those in the UK may be breathing a sigh of relief that this morning, they aren't waking up as US citizens. Alas, sadly we cannot sit this one out: a new Trump presidency will have impact on us here in the UK too. A big one.
Need a quick recap? From this side of the Atlantic it might have looked like Democratic candidate Harris had it stitched up; she’s a brilliant, powerful woman with a huge fundraising drive to prop up her campaign. Harris is an unashamed “cat lady”, with a one-line retort for every insult slung at her. Hell, she’s even got a formal endorsement from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, should that sort of thing sway you.
Initially though, it was current president, Joe Biden, now in his eighties, standing against Republican candidate Trump – but following a string of pretty disastrous (and confusing) public appearances, it looked like Trump was being handed the presidency on a platter. At one stage, after Biden’s bungled national debate in July, Trump was even ahead by a huge six percentage points.
However, when Biden stood down in July and handed the ticket over to Harris, it looked like it was all over for Trump. But as the polls closed in, it was clear that Donald Trump’s brand of populism was proving incredibly successful in an America where the huge gulf between rich and poor means many are suffering — and Trump was telling struggling Americans on both ends of the economic spectrum that he was their answer.
Although she pulled off an amazing campaign, Harris had been a relatively invisible vice president to Biden. Which could explain why she simply wasn't able to convince enough voters she’d be an effective president either.
So, as we face down the barrel of a Trump return, why should any of this matter to you?
How a second Trump presidency will impact women’s rights
Trump’s appointment of a series of super right-wing judges to the US Supreme Court (who have power until they either die or retire, which they rarely do) – America’s highest court – is what led to the overturning of ‘Roe vs Wade’, the ruling which previously made abortion legal in every state in the US. Millions of Americans have lost the right to an abortion, and the number of abortions performed in the US has significantly dropped.
How much worse could it get? A lot.
Another Trump presidency is dangerous news for women rights across the world, including here in the UK. American author and feminist Lee Randall - who marched on Capitol Hill for women’s rights in the 1970s and who now lives in Scotland – believes there will be further clampdowns on women’s rights, and that women will feel controlled by political forces which “keep women down and out of the workplace, in the shadows”.
Think she’s exaggerating? Just look at the hilarious ‘joke’ recently made by former Trump advisor John McEntee: “We want male only voting. The 19th [amendment] might have to go.” Yes, he’s talking about removing women’s right to vote. Not funny, just terrifying.
And what happens there, matters here. Since Trump’s first term and the rise of the tradwife, reproductive and workplace rights have faced a hit in the UK too. Our former prime minister Liz Truss has made a name for herself as a speaker and agitator among far right American culture, turning up at a number of political rallies, and the British right is becoming more radical in its views about women.
Figures like former Conservative MP Miriam Cates have campaigned loudly against the full decriminalisation of abortion. Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of the Conservative Party, has said she thinks maternity pay is “excessive”, has voted against exclusion zones preventing protesters campaigning in front of abortion clinics and, in her first interview in post, claimed that Rachel Reeves becoming the first female chancellor of the United Kingdom was a “very low glass ceiling” to break.
How Trump could impact the UK economy
As part of his “American First” strategy, Trump plans to slap a massive charge on imports to his country. Who cares? We do: for every £100 worth of goods and services Britain sells, the US buys £22 of it. Meanwhile, in case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve totally blown up our trading relationship with European countries thanks to Brexit. Nice one.
Top economists think that Trump in the White House will give the world money markets a massive panic too, leading to a global economic downturn. Some predict that GDP, private spending and public services — including the state of the NHS — could all be damaged by a Republican victory, both because of a lack of investment from the US in UK products and services, and because of a hit to the global economy which will affect the UK’s pursuit of rapid economic growth too.
All this to say: yes, you’re going to feel this new presidency in your own pocket. Trump could stop Britain’s economy from growing — and stop you from getting that salary rise you really need.
How will Keir Starmer work with Donald Trump?
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has congratulated Donald Trump on his predicted victory in the US election, saying: "I look forward to working with you in the years ahead. As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise," and said that he knows that "the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper [...] for years to come."
While Starmer of course had to make such a statement, it seems obvious he doesn’t want to hang out with Trump. Though he did make a cautious attempt to reach out to Trump during a visit to America in October, but in return the former president decided to file a completely wild legal case against the UK Labour Party for letting its activists campaign for Harris. (Spoiler: this is completely normal behaviour and Labour activists have worked on Democrat campaigns in every US election in modern history.)
So now that Trump is headed back to the Oval Office, the UK will certainly lose its influence in the White House and have less bearing on global affairs.
Meanwhile back in the UK, Trump’s apparent “close personal friend” Nigel Farage, leader of Reform (which now has four MPs in parliament), will be emboldened by his second presidency. Remember that 56% of Reform voters have a favourable opinion of Trump (compared to just 16% of Conservative voters), and 78% think that multiculturalism has made Britain worse.
Donald Trump and global affairs
The most important global impact of this election is what happens next for Russia and Ukraine. The US is the largest donor of military support to Ukraine in the conflict, but the $50bn pledged in future support looks much less likely to continue under Trump, who has already claimed he would be able to end the conflict within 24 hours of re-entering the Oval Office.
Vladimir Putin is less often challenged in public by Trump, and the pair have a questionable relationship. It recently emerged that Trump did send Russia a huge consignment of Covid-19 tests during the pandemic, despite previously having denied this claim. Ukrainians fear that Trump will be happy to appease Putin and let him off the hook.
Meanwhile, although Trump has called for peace in the Middle East he has also reportedly told Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu to “do what you have to do” in his war on Hamas in Gaza, in response to the terrorist attacks on 7 October 2023. Harris has also supported Israel’s war on Hamas, but has pledged humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza – which Republicans supporting Trump have attempted to block in the US Senate.
Democrat Bernie Sanders, who does not support the Israeli war, said: “Trump has said that Netanyahu is doing a good job and Biden is holding him back. He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. It is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.”
To learn more about the US election, read Cosmopolitan's 101 guide here
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