UNITED STATES

Intro: President Trump has more pressing issues to contend with than constant squabbling with his political opponents.

IT WAS IN 1987 when Donald Trump wrote in his book The Art of the Deal, ‘you can get any job done through sheer force of will’. This has come to be reflective of his attitude that is both his strength and weakness.

It got him elected President of the United States against all predictions; but it has also made the first few weeks of his tenure in the White House a somewhat surreal experience for those looking in.

The fact that Mr Trump is not a politician in the conventional sense was well known to voters before last November’s election. It will take time for him to become familiar with presidential protocols and in becoming more accommodating, rather than disdainful, of aspects of the office he now holds. Indeed, it was largely this image of the anti-libertarian and anti-establishment figure that appealed to millions of American voters.

But even though he won he continues to act as though he were the loser. He fixated for a while on the fact that Hillary Clinton obtained more votes than he did, despite the college electoral system declaring him the winner.

In recent days, he has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of authorising the tapping of his campaign HQ telephone in Trump Tower, but without providing corroborating evidence to substantiate the claim. The FBI has denied it ever happened, which is tantamount to accusing Mr Trump of lying.

It is not a healthy state of affairs for the president and his intelligence agencies to be constantly at war. Mr Trump has now signed a revamped immigration ban wholly aimed at stopping terrorists entering the US, but is becoming increasingly alarmed at the belligerence being displayed by North Korea. Its latest indiscipline includes the firing of three ballistic missiles towards Japan.

As the leader of the world’s most powerful nation there are far more important things for him to be getting on with. Mr Trump no longer needs to keep fighting opponents he has already defeated.