Don't expect an Obama Administration II with Biden

IT IS no surprise that US President Donald Trump's address to the nation on Wednesday, in which he detailed his administration's effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus, was framed as a nationalist battle cry, of Us versus Them.

Warning of a "foreign virus" posing a threat to the American people, the "America First" advocate seemed to place the responsibility for the pandemic on China where it had started, criticised the Italians for not taking the necessary steps to halt the spread of the coronavirus that is now ravaging their country, and suggested that the most effective way to fight the menace is by shutting down US borders to foreigners and building more walls around America.

The American president - supposedly the "leader of the free world" - said very little about cooperating with partners around the world in confronting Covid-19 and failed to do the minimum that was expected from the head of the Western alliance, including not giving advance notice to the allies across the Atlantic that he would be announcing on Friday last week the suspension of all entry into the US for most Europeans.