‘Anxious time’ - Jamaica Observer

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WASHINGTON, DC, United States - US President Donald Trump throws a pen after signing executive orders during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo: AFP)

NEGRIL, Hanover — Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) President Robin Russell believes a second stint with Donald Trump leading America will not have a negative impact on Jamaica’s tourism sector. But hotelier and chairman of Negril Destination Assurance Council Richard Wallace isn’t so sure. He’s among those waiting to see what Trump does.

Wallace pointed out that while some Americans believe their country will prosper under Trump, others who are uncertain may reduce the amount of leisure travelling they do, which would impact Jamaica’s arrival numbers. The US is the island’s main tourism market.

“I guess we have to wait and see if he follows through with some other things that he says he’s going to do, and if he does, how will those affect the… US and in turn how that will affect travel and tourism. So, it is an anxious time. We have to wait and see because he has promised that he’s gonna make some big changes, and whether those changes will be good or bad for Jamaica, well, we shall see,” Wallace told the Jamaica Observer hours after Trump was sworn into office on Monday.

“He’s already promised to remove diversity and all these things. We will have to wait and see how that develops,” he added.

The hotelier was particularly interested in details on executive orders signed by Trump on his first day in office.

“We’ll have to go through them and see how each of them will affect not just us, but all the other countries in the world. But he has proposed some radical changes, and I know [that] in America there is great division at the moment and there are many people who are frightened about his presidency. I have never seen a time in America where there has been so much political tension,” argued Wallace.

“People are literally fearful. And you know they say if America sneezes, Jamaica catches cold. I guess that is why we should be concerned,” he mused.

However, JHTA President Russell was less worried.

“America has always been a partner of Jamaica. We have worked with this president before, and under his leadership we’ve had remarkable growth. I don’t see any unforeseen circumstances that would come up that would cause us to have a bad relationship with the US at this time,” he said.

Russell said the industry is looking forward to the continuation of a productive relationship with the US.

“We will continue to foster the relationship with our largest trading partner. We look forward to working with him and his Administration,” said Russell.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated Trump on taking office, while calling for dialogue and “respect” between the closely connected countries.

“On behalf of the Government of Mexico, I congratulate Donald Trump on his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States of America. As neighbours and business partners, dialogue, respect, and cooperation will always be the symbol of our relationship,” she wrote on X .

Sheinbaum’s remarks came after Trump announced in his inaugural speech that he would declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and begin the process of deporting “millions and millions of criminal aliens”.

Sheinbaum said earlier Monday that her government was prepared to receive Mexicans expelled by the United States, without clarifying if it would also accept foreigners.

“To our countrymen and women, I say that, first, you are not alone; and, second, that we must also remain calm and see how the process develops,” the left-wing leader said.

Trump’s pledges also included designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

Elsewhere, residents of Kyiv in Ukraine and Moscow, Russia, were divided between mistrust of Trump’s intentions and hope for a favourable outcome to the war in Ukraine.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Washington has provided vital military and economic support to Kyiv.

But during his campaign, Trump criticised this aid and promised to resolve the conflict quickly — raising fears in Europe and Ukraine that Kyiv, which aspires to join the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), would be forced to make major concessions.

But for Mykhailo Pishtoy, a 78-year-old Kyiv retiree, Trump’s business background and his aversion to “losing or being challenged” may make him just the person to impose an “ultimatum” on Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin.

Pishtoy wants to see an end to Moscow ruling Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and hopes that Trump can help end a decade of fighting in Ukraine, which began when Moscow took the Black Sea Peninsula and backed Ukrainian pro-Russia separatists in the east of the country.

Also in Kyiv, 35-year-old entrepreneur Yulia was hoping that Trump could end the current conflict — which next month will have dragged on for three years — because it is so deadly and does not “benefit”“ Ukraine.

“We have a lot of [people] dead. We have a shortage of weapons and everything else,” she said.

“We need to end it, otherwise we will not exist.”

In Moscow, music professor Irina Kharitonova also wanted an end to the conflict, saying she had hope that Trump would be “good” to Russia.

“I would really like it, honestly, because we are tired of living in these troubles,” she said.

Russia, which launched the Ukraine invasion in 2022, has portrayed the US as the guilty party in the conflict — and in the Russian capital, suspicion towards Trump is still strong.

Svetlana, a 55-year-old IT worker, called Trump an “imperialist” who “lives on the back of other countries”.

For administrator Dmitri, it made no difference who was in the White House, as the 55-year-old believed, echoing conspiracy theories, that unknown forces were behind any US leader.

Additionally, NATO chief Mark Rutte said Trump’s return “will turbo-charge defence spending and production” at the alliance.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was again looking forward to working closely with Trump “to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world”.

At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “We are strongest when we work together, and I look forward to working with President Trump,” while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “The US is our closest ally, and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship.”

— Additional reporting by AFP

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