UpFront

Should the world be worried by a President Trump?

In this US election special, Pastor Mark Burns defends Trump, and we debate what his presidency means for the world.

Donald Trump is the new president-elect of the United States. What will that mean for civil liberties, and for the rest of the world?

In this UpFront election special, we speak to Trump ally and campaigner, televangelist Pastor Mark Burns, who defends controversial statements and positions made by Trump during the campaign.

And in an extended discussion panel, we debate what the US and the world can expect from a Trump presidency.

Did racism help Donald Trump win?

In a victory that stunned the world, reality TV star and businessman Donald Trump edged out Hillary Clinton to secure the presidency of the US.

This triumph has many worried, particularly as he was supported by racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

“This is one of the most exciting nights of my life – make no mistake about it. Our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump,” tweeted former KKK Imperial Wizard David Duke.

Has Trump’s rhetoric attracted a particular demographic fixated on race?

In an interview with Mehdi Hasan, Pastor Mark Burns disagrees.

“Trump cannot … pick who supports him, who don’t support him,” says Burns, a longtime Trump supporter. “The KKK is a domestic terrorist group and he is not supportive of any terrorist group, foreign or domestic.

“Donald Trump’s critics are going to do what Donald Trump’s critics do, and that is to simply criticise everything that he does.”

Arena – President Trump: What now for the world?

Donald Trump’s win has left many shocked – and concerned – about the future of the US, and the world.

But what can we expect from a Trump presidency?

“The real question before us now is: Does he govern the way he ran for the presidency?” says Robert Hormats, who served as US under-secretary of state. “If he does, then we have major troubles ahead for us domestically and internationally.”

“I don’t think this is going to go well for the country,” says investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, author of The Making of Donald Trump. “Trump could have me swept off the streets … held incommunicado.”

“We have something called clause 1021 in a bill that was passed in 2012 [under Obama’s presidency] that allows this guy to hold any American indefinitely without charge or trial,” says Naomi Wolf, a former political adviser to Bill Clinton and Al Gore. “I’m extremely troubled and frightened as an American, as someone who cares about democracy.”

“I can tell you – chapter and verse – since 9/11, I have not seen New York so frightened,” says Hamid Dabashi, the Hagop Kevorkian Professor at Columbia University.

In this extended Arena, Robert Hormats, David Cay Johnston, Naomi Wolf and Hamid Dabashi debate the future of Trump’s administration.

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