On Tuesday 25th March 2025, Politics in Pubs Manchester met to discuss whether President Trump can save the UK.  We were delighted to welcome Rob K. as our guest speaker (and favourite American) to share his observations.   Rob grew up in Texas, and moved to Britain in 2006.  He continues to follow American politics and vote in the US elections.

Introduction

Whether or not you like or support President Trump, there IS a revolution taking place in America.  Many Americans are sick to death of lies from the powers that be – highlighted especially during Covid.  Rob believes that many British people feel the same way.  But he also believes there is a reason to be hopeful that the UK will benefit from Trump’s presidency.

Trump’s emergence into US politics

When Trump first announced his Presidential candidacy in 2015, Rob was not a fan.  He saw Trump as a loudmouth, boastful, crude, brash New Yorker prone to hyperbole.  Rob much preferred Ted Cruz – in fact, anyone but Hilary Clinton.   However, as Trump began to wrench the Republican Party away from the Establishment in the face of great resistance, Rob’s view of Trump’s merit began to change.

Trump represents the working class

Part of Trump’s appeal is that he has never broken nor apologised for what he stands for – he is “as rich as f***” and wants ordinary Americans to have the opportunity to succeed and be as rich as f*** too.  When the Establishment attacks Trump via the media and the courts he never backs down – not even after the assassination attempts,.

Rob believes that Trump represents the working class – he wants Americans to be able to work, earn decent money, raise their families and voice their opinions (without being called names for not following ‘the narrative’).

A leader not a saint

Some commentators (and some ordinary folk) cannot bring themselves to separate Trump’s character traits from his effectiveness as President.  Rob voted for a leader, not a saint.  He sees Trump as a folk hero rather than a messiah, and believes that you do not need to like Trump to appreciate that there is a revolution taking place in America.

The President is moving at lightning speed to undo much of what was put in place by Obama and Biden, leaving the Establishment in a daze.  Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ideology is being dismantled in the States. Governmental bureaucracy and waste is now a target of Elon Musk, Trump’s ‘go to’ guy.  This Trump administration is a slick and very different outfit compared to his first term in 2016.

Trolling with a purpose

Trump’s remarks about the Gaza strip, Canada becoming the 51st state, the Gulf of America, Greenland, NATO, the EU, and the Zelenskyy incident in the Oval Office, are signs that he is intent upon breaking up the old Western alliances.  Rob believes that Trump ‘trolls with a purpose’ in order to change the conversation about world issues affecting America.  The President knows that ordinary people are sick of elites and the Establishment, and sees how their ‘we know best’ disdainful attitude is destroying America.  Rob believes that Trump is fast becoming the antidote to all that.

Free Speech

There appears to be no love lost between Trump and Starmer. Vice-president Vance recently spoke in Munich about the lack of Free Speech in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCOsgfINdKg.  When Vance responded to a journalist’s question about the Munich speech during an Oval Office meeting with Trump and the UK’s Prime Minister, Starmer uncomfortably retorted: “We’ve had free speech in the United Kingdom for a very very long time and, um, er, it will last for a very very long time, um……”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUkCulwzhMs

Yet we are witnessing Brits being arrested and imprisoned for ‘offensive’ tweets, for silently praying and for private criticism of a school in WhatsApp messages. Was Vance speaking to the leadership, or trying to bypass our leaders and speak directly to the people? Might the British electorate rise up?

So, can President Trump save the UK?

No – it is up to Brits to save the UK.  Could Britain reach the same tipping point witnessed in America with the election of Donald Trump?  We see polls showing the Reform party surging.  Will Britain get its own radical candidate prepared to use Trump’s roadmap?  The recent in-fighting between Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage in Reform UK has been devastating for many because, at the moment, this party is Britain’s one hope.  Rob believes that Lowe is more Trumpian than Farage.

In Rob’s opinion, the UK has lots of problems and it is becoming unrecognisable.  He says it is important to be brave and speak up about them rather than remain silent and suffer what Jordan Peterson describes as ‘death by a thousand cuts’. Rob wonders what Britain’s ‘silent majority’ are currently thinking.

In the short time since Trump took office, there have been encouraging early signs, such as the proposed ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, and the the scrapping of diversity and inclusion rules by Britain’s top financial regulators https://www.ft.com/content/84c5c6b8-95a5-4680-b047-04d95ff37825.  Rob believes this will work its way through the big corporations and that EDI will also eventually disappear from the UK’s public institutions and education system.

Discussion

It’s already too late for the UK with the on-going attacks on energy security, the business sector, and free speech, and the creation of regulatory bodies, and a bureaucracy on steroids.

Is Trump on the path towards removing globalism?  He certainly has all guns blazing and trained on the Establishment gravy train.  He has assembled a good team around him – like Musk, Kennedy and Leavitt.  These are exciting times in America and may aid the civil war which is already underway in the UK.

The UK Government has 120 people controlling the Civil Service – Trump has several thousand.  The Civil Service is in control in the UK whereas Trump can make massive change in the US Civil Service.

Speaking out is essential, even if it causes tension with others.  Some Americans are voting with their feet – for example, some Californians are moving to Texas to be more politically aligned.

The US economy is currently dipping – there is much squawking about Trump’s tariffs, which he uses as a bargaining chip to even out trade with countries that America does business with.   Trump is all about the USA and he wants to restore manufacturing industries like steel, lumber, pharmaceuticals and aluminium to America, partly because it is good domestic policy but also because of the risk of future war with China.  Companies are already promising to return their operations and factories to the US.

How does Trump’s attitude to the EU affect the UK’s fate?  Starmer appears to be choosing the EU over the US.  Some Americans want the UK to get out of a Europe which is dying and has imported cultural change and terrorism from misplaced ‘suicidal empathy’.   Does Farage want to get the UK out of the old treaties?

While Trump is divisive and ‘right wing’, he accepts that people can change their minds and appoints based upon merit – former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard is currently serving as the US Director of Intelligence.

Indirectly, Trump and his Executive Orders WILL save the UK.  In the words of Will Durant, “A great civilisation is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within’.

Any desire in Trump to ‘save’ the UK is probably because he wants America to produce goods and Britain to buy them.  Like every country, the UK needs to produce, be self-sufficient, and provide training and education for its people instead of importing skills from elsewhere.  Heathrow Airport is an example of where UK politicians have allowed essential infrastructure to be sold off, making us reliant upon overseas shareholders – lots of key infrastructure is in the same position.  Voters must get their MPs to radically improve the UK’s situation.

While the UK decays, losing control of its energy, food and assets, Trump has seized control, allowing failing parts to fail.  Most Trump supporters seem reasonable and balanced.  A blind eye was turned to Biden’s criminal activity because he is classed as being ‘nice’.  The American media should be tough on every politician but it is too one-sided.

Having Vance as Vice-President is good succession planning and will offer continuity if he is elected as President next time.

Can Britain and its values survive when its birth rate is going down and the nation is a soft-touch offering too many freebies?  The US still has Christianity as its bedrock whereas the UK has lost its religious foundation.  The UK should expect incomers to become British – bending to foreign cultures is very problematic.

Trump appointing his own cabinet is a good thing.  Politicians need to beware of their egos to avoid letting down their voters – Nigel Farage and Ann Marie Waters being good examples.  While Trump can be self-deprecating he also doesn’t get diverted from the job because he doesn’t care what people think – it’s a hard skill to master.

Trump boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine quickly and a partial ceasefire has been announced today.  It is Europeans who are revealing themselves to be warmongers.  Those who are pursuing war are profiting from it – but Trump will turn off the money spigot and force them to re-consider.  Trump sincerely wants to stop the killing.  He sees China as a much bigger threat.

Hungary is addressing its declining birth rate via income tax breaks.  Are there similar financial mechanisms to tackle the woke ideology in our institutions?  Yes, Trump has suspended funding to Maine University in response to its gender-related civil rights activities.  Money talks.  Though Michaela Free School is often under attack because of its headteacher, Katherine Birbalsingh. Why is Michaela being attacked when it is producing incredible results in a deprived area? Only ideology can explain this.

With Trump’s display of patriotism and delivering on his promises to the electorate – could this show UK voters what has been missing from British politicians for too long?

Politicians are too corrupt and its hard to be a fan of Trump.  Let’s hope that common sense is restored to the UK.

Politics in Pubs Manchester would like to thank Rob for leading a fascinating discussion of what is happening across the pond.  Many thanks also to our wonderful hosts at The Welcome Inn.  Cheers all!