Trump has landed

Well he is in. As of 20th January Donald Trump is the President of the United States! Words you never thought you would hear, or I thought I would say. He has been labelled one of the most controversial Presidents and he certainly seems to be living up to that title.  

In his first week as President he cut funding for international groups that provide abortions, froze the hiring of some federal workers and signed an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Trans-Pacific Partnership was put in place by Obama as part of his Asia policy to strengthen economic ties, but Trump believes it will have negative effects on US manufacturing.

The use of the Executive Order by a President is rare. It means the President can make decisions on policy without the need for Congress to sign them off. Trump has used this at least three times in his first week! Let’s hope he does not make a habit of using this ‘Trump card’ to enforce some of his more radical decisions.

His extreme style, coupled with the fact that nobody really ever knows what he will say or do, and that he is only just stamping his authority over US policy, means that market volatility is likely to stay high for the time being. However, general opinion is that the US economy is strong and that Trump may not be the downfall of the investment markets. There will certainly be scope for gains, as well as times to protect against losses. It is important to take a long-term view on this, as nobody really knows what will happen, because they, like all the guru’s predicting Clinton as president and UK remaining, have no idea!