The John Griff Column: Ask not what your country can do for you…

John F Kennedy’s line ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country…’ was intended to be a young President’s exhortation to his country’s youth to do their bit for public service. What would Kennedy have made of America in late 2024, had he still been alive to see it?

Naturally enough, we’ll never know, despite the Kennedy dynasty still functioning to this day. Nephew of JFK, Robert F Kennedy initially ran but dropped out of the Presidential race for The White House earlier this year. The surname still wields clout in elevated American circles though. Also included in that inauguration speech was a line much less frequently quoted, but aimed at a wider audience:

‘My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.’

Does JFK’s exhortation cut it today? With whom? As the world awaits the first order of business of a returned Donald J Trump and as possibly the most powerful man on the planet, the rumour mongers have been spinning up their perceptions of what could, might and will happen. Not much of it looks that positive to those outside US borders. The wider media too has been laying out its own prophecies for climate change, the future of NATO, the war in Ukraine, international trade and more. Who will be proved right? And could the speculation be wrong?

Whatever your thoughts about the man and his politics, one thing is certain. In moving to establish his new administration, DJT will have learned a thing or two. There’s been speculation about the role of Elon Musk when Trump Term 2 launches – NASA-connected? I do wonder if Mr Musk - like Mr Trump himself perhaps – might have a separate agenda to that of The White House. But perhaps the same could be said of any country and incoming administration. Nations and their governments will be rushing to bend the knee and kiss the ring of America’s comeback kid – because economically and strategically they can’t afford to do otherwise. How far Trump becomes a kingmaker from within The Oval Office remains to be seen, but presumably both parts of Congress will be monitoring developments and scrutinising the behaviour of the returnee and his retinue compared with last time. Others will be looking from behind their hands – what now for our ‘Special Relationship’ and the Paris Accord? What about Trump’s claim that he could end the war in Ukraine within a day of coming back to power? At what cost to either side? How far will Trump’s return affect the actions of Vladimir Putin, just as winter approaches and, if the reporting is accurate, Russian casualties have reached an all-time high?

It’s not just a question of international diplomacy either. In swearing the oath as Kennedy did over sixty years ago, where will Trump’s presidency take the USA on other stages? What precisely will it mean for America to be great again? In the same way as we have Great Britain? Just how United will the United States of America be in 5 years’ time?

The answers will undoubtedly hinge on how collaborative America and its allies become from where they have been under Joe Biden. In the closing of one chapter and the re-opening of a previous one, will Donald Trump have an eye on America’s place in the world order, or merely domestically instead? What will the markets make of him? Will they approach calm or stormy waters, and will Donald the Dealmaker emerge? He can only serve for this coming term – so will rumoured trade tariffs work for or against the world’s economy? And if his interest is solely domestic, how will his presidency affect international collaboration outside any American wall – real or otherwise?

This week the world paused to remember the fallen during both world wars – in Northampton we did so, silently, outside All Saints Church. Armistice Day here they call Veterans Day there. It celebrates those veterans who served America in all wars – not just those lost. Observed on the 11th November from 1919, in 1954 Congress re-evaluated and renamed it Veterans Day. On Monday Joe Biden laid a wreath at the Arlington National Cemetery in one of his last presidential acts.

Where will we all be in a year’s time – and will we need a Kennedy or a Trump by then?