Trump’s Australia by Bruce Wolpe- CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW

Review by Irina Dunn

Buying gifts is an obvious headache. So thankfully, City Hub Irina Dunn is on hand to recommend twelve books in the twelve days leading up to Christmas to give you a helping hand.

The First up,  Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism Changed Australia and the Shocking Consequences for Us of a Second Term by Bruce Wolpe.

Be warned! Trump’s return to the presidency next year could have terrible repercussions around the world, according to Bruce Wolpe, Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Wolpe should know!

An author of several political books, he worked with the Democrats during President Obama’s first term, and was Julia Gillard’s Chief of Staff, inter alia. And you would have seen him interviewed about American – and Australian – politics on Australian television.

If he becomes President in 2024, Trump will no doubt take revenge on his enemies, destroy the Department of Justice, surround himself with toadies, target journalists who write the truth, and foster the myth of white America’s decline, thus driving an even deeper wedge into the American electorate.

On the international scene, he is likely to cosy up to the increasing numbers of right-wing leaders, the latest being Argentina’s Javier Milei, and deny funding to poor Ukraine.

In Australia, Wolpe writes, our political sphere is protected by the “guardrails” of several institutions, which make Australian democracy stronger than that of the US.

We have the ABC which, despite the attacks on it by right-wing commentators et al., still provides news that Australians can trust.

We have a strong Electoral Commission, which people trust to get the right outcome in elections, and we have compulsory voting, which ensures all, or most, get to vote.

ABCTV’s Chief Political Reporter Laura Tingle writes that Trump’s Australia is “A forensic analysis of how President Donald Trump invaded Australia’s politics and prospects.”

Read it and be prepared!