A Complete Unknown

How does it feel?

To be on your own

With no direction home

A complete unknown

Like a rolling stone?

Next week, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Mr. Trump is the leader of the free world and the most controversial man alive. A real estate billionaire and successful TV personality, the 45th President of the United States is a womanizing felon who has twice been selected as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year.  Mr. Trump is the most famous and yet the least understood personality alive. 

— A complete unknown.

In a recent column, I compared Mr. Trump to Kali, the Indian god of death, destruction, fertility, and rebirth. Future historians will be compelled to answer the question: Why such a leader at a time like this? Is Mr. Trump "Captain Chaos” or a Déjà vu of President Grover Cleveland? 

Journalist Salena Zito advises taking Mr. Trump seriously but not literally. When he says the U.S. should buy Greenland, he may aim to negotiate favorable terms for a larger American military base. When he says America should take back the Panama Canal, he may aim for more favorable passage rates for American ships while warning China to stay away. When he invited Canada to join as the 51st State, he may have been mocking its woke Prime Minister to expedite his exit and push for a more conservative leader willing to take on greater global responsibility.

Then there is Israel and the Middle East. Trump's warning to Hamas to release the Israeli hostages lest there be “all hell to pay” was a credible and necessary red line that resulted in the release of the Israeli hostages. With the fall of Hezbollah and the Asad regime, the question becomes whether Mr. Trump is planning to negotiate with the Ayatollahs or facilitate regime change in Iran.

The outsize role Elon Musk plays as a force multiplier for Trump greatly adds to this uncertainty. Regardless of what one thinks of Trump as a person, he is undoubtedly an agent of change on the scale of a modern-day Kali.

Fasten your seatbelts and behold the forces driving what will certainly be a bumpy but potentially rewarding ride ahead.

— Sina.