Trump 2.0 is Trump unleashed. That much we know, with the Republicans on track at the time of writing for a clean sweep that will give the new president almost unprecedented power, and Trump himself seemingly unwilling to compromise on almost anything. No more of the half measures that many supporters believe stunted his first term in office. It’s undiluted Trump this time around.

Yet still we cannot be entirely sure.

Wall Street has been surging in the wake of Trump’s victory but pain could be just around the corner. Credit: AP

Some still believe, possibly as much in hope as expectation, that more cautionary voices will eventually prevail, and that in practice he’ll be forced to retreat from some of his more hardline positions. Trouble in the bond markets could, for instance, thwart his plans for major fiscal stimulus via tax cuts. Trump’s bark could, in other words, be worse than his bite.

Don’t bet on it. Criticism of politicians that don’t keep their word is part of his USP, so he’ll push hard in sticking to his promises. These point to the biggest upheaval in political and economic thinking since the days of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, marking a decisive break with the prevailing “progressively” minded consensus of recent decades.

It also leaves the UK badly out of sync with our friends across the water. While the UK shifts left towards higher taxes, a bigger state and more regulation of labour, energy, financial and consumer markets, the US is about to move unambiguously in the other direction.

Trump’s agenda is one of tax-cutting, financial deregulation, “drill baby drill” fossil fuel licences, repudiation of net zero orthodoxy and a determined crackdown on bureaucracy, state spending and immigration. There could scarcely be a greater contrast.

When Rishi Sunak jacked up UK corporation tax to help close a fiscal deficit swollen to breaking point by the pandemic, he at least........

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