Perspective with Ryan Bridge: What will Trump's border crackdown do to tourism?

Donald Trump has every right to crack down on the American border. There are problems there that we, down here in little old New Zealand, just don't understand.

Illegal migration sounds to us like a far away and non-threatening concept because, well, it is. Thank you, ocean.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Trump does deserve credit for the Gaza agreement

So, what happened last night is remarkable.

Before the deadline of 10pm New Zealand time, 20 living Israeli hostages - who had been held for 2 years, who had been forced in some cases to dig their own graves, spend unknown lengths of time in tunnels underground, and go without much in the way of sustenance at times - were handed over by their captors back into the care of Israel, which is their home.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I don't think voters are rejecting Trumpism

After Albo’s massive win across the ditch on Saturday, I can see a lot of commentators are tempted to blame it on Trumpism - in the same way they blamed the Canadian election upset on Trumpism.

But I'm not convinced they’re right - at least not in the way they think they are.
What these commentators are saying is that Trump has given Canadians and Australians the ick so badly that they voting against anything that looks like him: Dutton in Australia, Poilievre in Canada or just right-wing-ism in general.

Matt Ridley: Trump takes on the Climatecrats

No one should mourn America’s withdrawal from the ridiculous Paris Agreement.

Donald Trump has pulled America out of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord for the second time. Bizarrely, like some dodgy insurance scam, the rules of the climatocracy say it takes a year to withdraw, so not till next winter America will be free of its obligations to reduce its own emissions.

Barrie Davis: The Leadership of President Trump

Donald Trump, now in his second presidency, is doing what he was elected to do by putting his country first. No longer prepared to be fettered by bureaucracy, he has already issued hundreds of executive orders which are intended to remove the waste and make America great again. While the contrary Supreme Court is trying to stop him and the subversive media is trying to vilify him, the erstwhile exploited Americans are liking Trump.

Sam Karnick: Trump’s Colorblind Agenda

The biggest story of the past week was, of course, Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his quick action on numerous policy fronts through a flurry of sweeping executive orders and other initiatives.

Trump implemented reforms all across the federal government in just one week, taking an even bolder course than he did upon assuming office in 2017. Trump’s first week of work this time was nothing less than the start of an organized and comprehensive effort to reform the federal government to reflect and promote traditional American values.

Ian Bradford: Instant action from a President who seems to know the truth about climate change

Donald Trump has just been inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.  This is his second term and he has wasted no time in signing off a number of executive orders.  An executive order is a directive from the president that manages operations of the Federal Government. It has the force of law and does not require any action by congress. 

We will just look at a few that involve climate.

President Donald Trump: Inauguration Address

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very, very much. Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and my fellow citizens.

The Golden Age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer during every single day of the Trump administration. I will, very simply, put America first.

Clive Bibby: Dead Man Walking

I suppose it is too much to expect those who have spent the last nine years devoted to the proposition that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy to finally admit his misdemeanours pale into insignificance compared to the Biden family and all who promoted that lot as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Clive Bibby: Triumph over adversity - Who would have thought

If nothing else is learned from Donald Trump’s impressive comeback election victory, the overriding takeaway is that if your case is based on the truth, it will ultimately prevail. 

In spite of the false charges laid during repeated attempts to destroy him politically, emotionally and physically, Trump has remained true to himself.

In the end, his fight against the tyranny and corruption of the establishment was vindicated in a way that few before him have achieved. 

Clive Bibby: Sifting through the ashes - looking for signs of rebirth

After all major cataclysmic events throughout history that involve the wipeout of a large section of humanity or some other form of the animal species, those that remain are forced to sift through the ashes looking for signs of life that will mark a rebirth of something better than what we had before - more in tune with what is required to withstand the pressures of modern society. 

My guess is that this is the position the Democrat Party in the United States and all who supported them over the most recent election cycle will find themselves in.

Barry Soper: There's no accounting for America's political taste

There's no accounting for public taste - and that would surely have to apply to the American public with the election of Donald Trump.

Despite seeing himself as pulling off the biggest political comeback in the history of the world, he shows that he's no historian.

And we'll find out over the next four years whether he's the peacemaker he claims to be after he calls his buddies Vladimir and Benjamin and tell them to stop fighting their wars.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Let's put Donald Trump's win into perspective

Let me tell you, it was absolutely no surprise to me to see my Facebook friends going crazy over Trump winning the election last night - and there's been plenty of hysterical predictions now that he's won.

My absolute favourite one was from my husband, who said that Trump would take us to the brink of war. Hello - the world is already at war, we don't need to be taken to the brink, we're already there.

Clive Bibby: A time for healing - then anything is possible

At the time of writing, Donald Trump has been called the winner of the US Presidential election although by how much is as yet undecided. The final count may not be announced for another day or so.

Whatever - we know enough now from the votes that have been counted to surmise that the final vote will look like a landslide with Trump doing what no Republican candidate has done for decades - win the popular vote by a sizeable margin.

We can read a number of things from this incredible victory.

Penn Raine: Party tonight at Mar A Lago!

One November afternoon in 2016 I came out of a three-hour meeting shocked to find that the world’s greatest power had elected the world’s most obnoxious man as its President.

I expected the USA to sink immediately beneath a tsunami of blood. I’m not exactly sure why, just that it seemed that the democratic process had slumped to the level of a TV game show. Of course, that that was before Ardern was elected.

I say I was shocked, but I was not surprised. It was obvious to anyone who listened to anything out of the States beside Oscar acceptance speeches, that John and Jane Doe wanted something done about the creep of the rust belt, the war on traditional values and the deluge of illegal migrants through its porous border.