On the 21st of January 2025, we, who live in the East, woke up to the news that Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.

My name is Terence and this is the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I interpret the news from a Christian perspective. Trump being Trump, he will pop up in future episodes. So I thought it would be good to put on the record my political affiliation and risk all of my listeners.

If someone was to ask me whether I support Trump, to me, that question is like asking the question whether I support Israel or the question, “How are you?”

When someone asks, “How are you?” they don’t necessarily want to know the details of your life. Most of the time, they just want you to say, “I am okay. I am good.” The question, “How are you?” is seldom asked to enquire on what the situation is at home, at work, whether you are achieving your goals in life, and so on.

When people ask, “Do you support Israel?” or “Do you support Trump?” they are really interested to know which box to put me in. Depending on which box I am in, they will know how to engage with me.

They don’t really like nuance. For example, I could answer the question, “Do you support Israel?” with the answer, “I support justice and mercy.”

“Does that mean you support the Palestinians?”
Not if that means condoning Hamas for the 7th of October attacks.

“Then you support Israel?”
I support Israel’s efforts to get back their people and ensure Hamas is unable to attack Israel again. But I don’t support Israel taking the opportunity to resettle territory because that is beyond their objectives for the war.

“So you support Palestinian claim to the land?”
I support a world where Israelis and Palestinians can co-exist instead of relying on historical claims to control territory. If you look at the South East Asian countries, you could have a variety of claims.

For example, just take Malaysia. For different parts of Malaysia, you could have claims from Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. Indonesia once went to war to assert those claims. But those days are long past, and the South East Asian countries are an example of peace and harmony, with the exception of Myanmar’s civil war.

The point is ancient claims do not need to make the present people fight a perpetual war.

See… that was a fairly complicated answer to the question, “Are you pro-Israel?” and it’s an answer that does not satisfy either party.

So it is with Trump. On one hand, if you ask me if I was happy Trump won, I would say yes. But if you stayed to listen to my longer answer, I would tell you I wish the Democrats fielded a stronger candidate. Someone who was competent and presidential material. And I hope the Democrats learn their lesson and leave behind identity politics and just choose the best person from the party for the job.

I don’t think it makes sense to support politicians or political parties as one chooses football teams. But that seems to be the thought behind the question, “Do you support Trump?” if you do, I don’t like you; if you don’t, I like you.

If you stuck around to hear my longer answer, I will tell you that I know people have strong views on Trump, and I once thought he was a buffoon. He has this strange, pompous way of conveying himself; he speaks without a filter, his character is questionable, and he appeals to the worst side of voters.

Then, I had a red pill moment.

I was watching news from a mainstream news outlet. Trump was visiting Japan. This was during his first term as president. And the reporter commented on how rude Trump was. Trump and the Japanese Prime Minister were at a koi pond, a fish pond, feeding fish. And the video showed Trump just dumping all the fish food into the pond. The reporter said this was very rude. Trump did not understand or respect the Japanese culture. And the reporter continued to pile on.

And I agreed with the reporter. I don’t think it’s right that Westerners come over and not learn the local ways. This is very poor form!

Sometime later, I read somewhere that the media had misrepresented Trump. Curious, I clicked the link and saw the full video. And I saw that it was the Japanese Prime Minister who dumped all his fish food into the pond first, then and only then did Trump follow what his host did.

So, Trump did not disrespect the Prime Minister. For this occasion, he did everything right by following his host’s cue.

How is it that the news reporter got that wrong? It’s not a mistake you can make if you have the full video, which the news people obviously have. This means these reporters deliberately misrepresented what happened. After that moment, I didn’t trust the news coverage of Trump. And I tried, where possible, to read the full story.

The news people said that if Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem, there would be war. There wasn’t.

The news people said that the border was under control. It wasn’t.

The news people said that when Trump approved the killing of the Iranian general, there would be war. There wasn’t.

How many times does the news get things wrong before you wonder whether they are either incompetent or just want to steer people to their way of thought, knowing that people will forget what they said before as the next news cycle hits? They are basically saying people don’t care what you tell them is a lie, as long as you confirm their biases.

I don’t care about being pro-Trump or anti-Trump, but I do care about the Truth. I want to be pro-Truth. So I don’t like it when the news lies to me.

So, do I support Trump? Yes, as far as his policies so far go. I support every country in the enforcement of their borders. I support the statement that men should not play in women’s sports. I support the right of every child conceived to live.

I believe every citizen should be aware of what his vote means and vote for policies and not for personalities. I believe political commentators should steer the conversation to make listeners better educated and not stir outrage upon outrage.

If I was the President of the United States today, I would not emulate Trump’s brash, rude, over the top, persona but I would take many of the positions he has taken. Except for wanting Canada to be the 51st state. Or wanting to invade Greenland. Or take back the Panama Canal.

This is the Daily Monsoon; my name is Terence, and with Trump as the President of the United States, whether you love him or hate him, we can agree it will not be a boring four years.