Donald Trump, the President from hell, created deep wounds in America that Joe Biden must now heal – Henry McLeish

The President from hell the US founding fathers feared has all-but-certainly gone. America has drawn back from the brink and, under the new management of Joe Biden, will now end the indescribable chaos and mayhem of the last four years.

Supporters of Donald Trump protest about the vote in Nevada in front of the Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas (Picture: John Locher/AP)

For weary and exhausted Americans, some sense of sanity and stability will hopefully descend on the political fortunes of a once level-headed democracy and purposeful government.

Progressives in Europe and indeed throughout the world will breathe a sigh of relief at the prospects of once again tackling the burning issues of a much-neglected foreign affairs agenda, which has been ravaged and abused by this unhinged President.

Trump’s defeat will be a wake-up call to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his post-Brexit delusion. The US-UK relationship is strong. But in backing Trump, the inexperienced Johnson made the wrong call. Biden will see the UK as being only one of a number of US special relationships and will prioritise a trade deal with the EU over one with the UK.

Johnson has been strung along by Trump who has exported economic nationalism and authoritarianism to his form of government. Our PM will have to rethink America and accept that the special consolation prize of a trade deal with the US is, in the short term, a fantasy.

Biden, bitterly angry at the threat posed by Brexit to the Good Friday Agreement and a strong supporter of Ireland, will not easily forget Johnson’s idea of breaking international law. The UK 's soft power and international clout will be much diminished by leaving the EU. Biden will want to be much closer to the EU.

But the most immediate benefit of a Biden victory will be felt in the US which has been living a nightmare. Daily press and TV coverage reveals a country in turmoil. A disunited and unstable country, poisonous politics and bitter racial divisions require healing. This task looks impossible but Biden knows that a country at war with itself has no future. This will be his top priority.

America is going through a dark and dangerous period. Biden’s victory will not return America to anything resembling normality overnight, but the fact that he wants to do this contrasts markedly with the fear and hate-ridden legacy that Trump has left him.

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