You wouldn’t be alone in asking yourself whether you can learn from such a person in the first place -  but this is the problem. We often have trouble learning from people we don’t respect.

That needs to change.

If we are the compassionate people we claim to be, then we have to understand, reflect on and even admire the likes of Donald John Trump. His unorthodox presidency can serve as an example of good when we look past the fake tan and obnoxious lies. As a president who achieved more votes in history than all but one other, it’s time to stop focussing on his faults, and turn an eye to his strengths.

Where better place to start than where Trump came from? He was born to a father who had German immigrants for parents and to a mother who came from the ‘well-known’ Scottish town of Tong. His family’s rise to wealth, fame and the presidency is thus one which bears uncanny resemblance to the long-lost American Dream.

Why does this even matter? It matters because he is a symbol of hope, and that is more powerful than any lie he tells or policy he decrees. America is a large country with forgotten states full of communities who have failed to see the American Dream materialise. It was Trump who succeeded in changing the attitudes of many living in them. He visited them and gave them a reason to work, live and be proud. They weren’t a part of Obama’s America, but they found dignity in Trump’s.

For all his arrogance and flamboyance, this 74 year-old understood where and why people were unhappy and he promised them a solution. This should be a lesson for all politicians across the globe: look and understand the grievances of the different communities, classes, regions and workers you serve. Only with such an outlook can you represent them truly.

Does Rishi Sunak know what it is like to live off furlough? To lose your small business? To work from home with young children?  Of course not, but like Trump, he could try to understand the struggles of his voters and adapt his approach to reflect that.

Donald Trump’s message was clear: “Make America Great Again”. Whether he achieved that, is far more debatable - but this message told his voters that he put them first.

Not only this, but it tells us Donald Trump spoke his mind. ‘What you get is what you see.’ Who wouldn’t like to finally get that from a politician? We need clarity from our leaders and we need to be able to trust them. That trust cannot be built when all we hear are half-truths and rebuttal for the sake of rebuttal.

Donald Trump may have shaken the Overton Window but in so doing, he sold the American people an unedited and politically incorrect image of a person in which they could see themselves. Psychology teaches us that people tend to vote for leaders in their own image after all. This means that some of Trump’s characteristics simply reflect the personalities of a lot of Americans. Could the same be said of Boris Johnson for the Brits?

Maybe it’s time we had a leader who not only listened and understood us, but was in fact like one of us.

From an early age we are all taught to never give up, yet this has failed to translate into politics. Theresa May for one left Downing Street crying about not getting her way with Brexit or the Tory party. Would Donald Trump have done the same?

In short, no. Two impeachment trials, an election defeat, numerous scandals later and he can still be heard closing off the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to cheering crowds. He’s a man who goes for what he wants and often gets it.  The border wall, the Abraham Accords, the killing of an ISIS leader and the infamous Tax Bill to name just a few examples. Trump is not a man of compromise but rather steadfast positioning.

The firm approach is summed up by Trump’s dismissal of NAFTA and the signing of USMCA; a North American Trade agreement which benefits Americans more than Reagan’s agreement ever did. One can’t help but wonder how the Brexit trade agreements could of played out with a man like Trump at the helm.

It is also noteworthy that Trump was never afraid to go against the policies of Republicans of the past like Reagan. Perhaps the Tory leaders in the UK should finally step out the shadow of Thatcher, and carve out a new conservative path.

Trump’s lack of fear is simply inspiring. Whilst this has shaped his approach to negotiation and political correctness, it has likewise allowed him to handle criticism well. In contrast to the prevaricating politicians we have grown accustomed to, Trump faces criticism head on and he never appears to be fazed by it.

Current and future world leaders would do well enhance this approach and directly face opposition. Naturally, what they must also do is acknowledge and reflect on valuable criticism, but they should not get lost in petty fights, such is currently the case with Alex Salmond and ‘conspiratorial’ Nicola Sturgeon, nor wound up by trivial challenges. In turn, this will force the opposition to offer more relevant and significant counter-arguments, preventing the spiral into irritable, unimportant counters for the sake of it – an hour of Prime Minister’s questions is all you need to understand that concept.

Politics has been poisoned and as much as we try to deny it, Trump has offered an antidote.

The time therefore is not to disregard his presidency; let us instead adopt and adapt what he did so well. In doing so, we can create a political landscape where there exists hope, understanding and resilience. The past five years have illustrated that politicians not only trade in money, goods and ideas but in emotions, with the latter being more powerful than the former. No community should feel left behind and Trump must not be the last leader to recognise that.

So to finish, I adopt and adapt the words of the formidable man himself. With the benefit of hindsight, and the lessons of the 45th President of the United State, let’s “Make Politics Great Again.”

 Elliot Wood