These seven lessons that France and Germany should learn from the election of Donald Trump

Benoît Chervalier is an essayist, entrepreneur and teacher at ESSEC.

The verdict is in. Donald Trump largely won the American elections: presidential and legislative, with a majority in both houses of Congress. He therefore has full powers and intends to choose – in view of his first appointments – who he wants. What political lessons can be learned for any leader in France and Germany, the two economically and politically ailing pillars of Europe?

First lesson: in a democracy, it is always better to have a clear victory. It makes it possible to avoid obscure disputes, confers full responsibility on the winner and invites the opposition to a duty of introspection and humility. French political paralysis led the left to claim a majority it did not have and the RN to be excluded from all positions in the National Assembly even though it was the leading party in France. The recent fall of the Scholz government leading to early elections is the result of the carp and rabbit coalition. The lesson to be learned for political forces on the right and the left is clear: unite and send a simple and unambiguous message.

Second lesson: the distorting mirror of metropolises and the media invites us not to be mistaken in our opinion sensor. Democrats won mainly in big cities on the East Coast and California but lost in almost all of the rest of the country. Trump's victory among the electors is enlightening but it is even more so in the analysis of the vote of each of the 3114 counties, like that of Starr, the twentieth poorest county in the United States and 98 % Latinos, which gave a large victory to Trump while the Democrats were in the large majority in 2016! This echoes the European elections in France where Paris gave less than 10% of votes to the RN while the RN gathered 40% of the votes in towns with less than 20,000 inhabitants. The observation is the same between Berlin and Thuringia. Discussing politics on Avenue Montaigne does not lead to the same reading and understanding of the people and their expectations as that of the Brassac-les-Mines bistro. Let's stop using the hideous word territories in France to talk again about the province and the aspirations of the vast majority of citizens.

Third lesson: inflation and the economic situation have often been put forward to explain the poor economic record of the Democratic camp. This observation may be paradoxical to the extent that the employment situation has rarely been so favorable and the United States maintains its rank since it represents 26% of world GDP today compared to 25% 20 years ago. The European situation in this regard is exactly the opposite since its economic weight has eroded substantially, going from 31% to 17% of world GDP, equal to that of China, over the same period. In reality, the common point is that of the economic and social situation of the middle classes. What characterized Western democracies was the wealth of its middle classes, the basis of prosperity and stability. However, it is this social group which has mainly weakened over the last twenty years, whether in Europe or in the United States. The rich became richer, the poor remained poor but the middle classes became impoverished. Conclusion: it is urgent to adopt resolutely targeted and ambitious policies in favor of the middle classes and the remuneration of sovereign professions.

After the caricatures of inclusion carried by Walt Disney having offended the most progressive souls and the growing university agitations, the majority of Americans wanted to turn this page.

Benoit Chervalier

Fourth lesson: order and freedom constitute the two aspirations of the majority of public opinion in modern Western societies. Americans, just like Europeans, are deeply attached to freedom, to freedoms, but to exercise and flourish, they must
register in compliance with rules and order. However, respect for rules and order has eroded. Conclusion: democracies must be demanding in order to be fully democratic.

Fifth lesson: immigration and in particular illegal immigration was also a campaign theme. The United States and Europe diverge on this point to the extent that immigration and delinquency are less linked in the United States than in Europe. Illegal immigration to the United States
mainly on Spanish-speaking and Mexican communities in particular, while delinquency hits more black American populations, who are also the most economically fragile. This is also what Kamala Harris was accused of when she was a prosecutor in
California. There is therefore no link in the eyes of the American population between immigration and delinquency unlike in Europe where foreign populations are over-represented among prison populations and where the two populations are more confused, making any nuance more complex. Conclusion: Europeans must articulate a clear vision on the evolution of their demographics, their geographies and their economic needs in the short and medium term.

Sixth lesson: the United States is done with wokism while Europe seems to be in the middle. After the caricatures of inclusion carried by Walt Disney having offended the most progressive souls and the growing university agitations, the majority of Americans wanted to turn this page. The message is simple: tolerance, respect for difference and the fight against all forms of discrimination must not be confused with the rewriting of history, the exploitation of a few and right-thinking as a compass leading to reverse segregation. It is time for Europe and in particular the countries of Western Europe to understand this.

Finally, the last lesson is that of incarnation. Despite the detestable nature of Donald Trump's person and personality, we must recognize that he embodies a form of panache and fighter. It is even disconcerting to note the share of the female vote in his favor despite his various condemnations and attitudes towards women. But the political lesson to be learned is that a political project must always in fine to incarnate. It is not the providential man who must be expected
but the personality endowed with leadership to chart a path: that of courage, daring and risk-taking. There is urgency.