Trump's first steps bode poorly for US leadership, competitiveness

THE prudent consensus following Donald Trump's election as the 45th president of the United States was that one should wait and see what the man actually does in office before passing judgment.

The first few days of the Trump presidency do not bode well. If the early trend persists, the strong likelihood is that Mr Trump will actually carry out some of the poorly thought-out economic and social policies that he advocated during his campaign. That would mean a US retreat from global leadership, a loss of competitiveness for US businesses, persistent inequality in US society and a four-year setback, at least, for sound climate change policy.

One of the most concerning signs is his administration's casual disregard for the truth, as evidenced by the brouhaha over the White House's insistence on inflating the viewership of Mr Trump's inauguration, despite all evidence to the contrary. Reason falls when it has no facts to stand on, and a White House that operates on what it calls "alternative facts" is unlikely to make sound policy. And if Mr Trump and his team will not accept inconvenient facts that contradict their beliefs, it seems unlikely that they will be able to effectively self-correct, making it unlikely, in turn, that the Trump administration will be as calibrated as the optimists had hoped for.