America under Trump: A more demanding, less reliable partner in Asia

There is no room for doubt now. When Mr Joe Biden beat Donald Trump four years ago, it was easy for America’s friends and allies in Asia to believe that Trump was an aberration, and that his defeat meant the the US we had always known was back. Today it seems that Mr Biden was the aberration. Unlike in 2016,

Trump on Nov 5 won a clear majority of the popular vote

and the Electoral College, and across the country his vote rose in 90 per cent of the counties that have reported so far.

The scale of his victory sends a clear message that US allies and friends ignore at their peril. The image of America as the benign leader of a liberal global order and the steadfast guardian of peace and stability around the world – Mr Biden’s vision – just does not wash with a clear majority of Americans. It is even clearer now than it was in 2016 that the United States is not the country we thought it was.