Inside Story Podcast: Uncertainty reigns at dawning of Trump era

Observers waiting nervously for indications of how President Donald Trump will govern

President-elect Donald Trump  arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, ahead of his inauguration as President of the United States. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, ahead of his inauguration as President of the United States. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

“Now you’ve got a showman who appears to be completely untethered by conviction, by policy knowhow, by a lot of the conventions of the US presidency. Who has said things that, if acted on, would completely tear up what we consider to be the world order.”

After the relative predictability of President Barack Obama, observers at home and abroad will spend weeks and months simply trying to figure out what kind of leader Donald Trump is going to be, says our Foreign Correspondent Ruadhan Mac Cormaic.

On this week’s Inside Story podcast, Ruadhan talks to Hugh Linehan about some of the major unanswered questions, including the actions of his cabinet, his foreign relations and the threat to the status of migrants.

Listen to Inside Story Podcast here on iTunes, Stitcher or or Soundcloud.

Declan Conlon

Declan Conlon

Declan Conlon is head of audio at The Irish Times