On 15 Jan, Donald Trump won the Iowa caucus. In short, this strongly indicates that Trump will be the Republican candidate in the 2024 US Presidential Elections in November.
What is the Iowa Caucus?
A caucus is where Republicans or Democrats party leaders and members (not ordinary voters) vote for who will be their party candidate. Iowa is traditionally the earliest to host a caucus in the election season. As a result, candidates usually spend more time and money there, because there is an important snowball effect for them. For the other caucuses that follow, voters will pay attention to the first caucus and react accordingly. See highlights of Trump's victory speech below:
What does Trump's win mean?
Trump didn't just win. The 77-year-old won by a landslide with 51% of the votes. His opponents Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (45 years old) had 21% of the votes, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (51 years old) had 19% of the votes.
It indicates that Trump is by far the most favoured candidate, and that voters do not seem bothered by his ongoing criminal charges over the 2020 election.
Who does Singapore prefer?
If you recall, Lee Hsien Loong's 2016 Facebook message when Trump won in was considered slightly disrespectful.
In comparison, see his Facebook message when Biden won in 2020.
You have your answer ;)
Regardless of who wins, Singapore is able to look out for our own interests
During Trump's term, Singapore hosted the Trump-Kim summit, which gave us a lot of international fame and reputation. We were seen as neutral international ground, seen as a safe and secure space, and were able to demonstrate our efficiency and ability to execute things properly.
During Biden's term, US was more willing to take up leadership in the region. In May 2022, he launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to counter growing Chinese economic and political influence in the Indo-Pacific region. IPEF included 12 partners: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In the coming years, we will need shrewd political leadership to be able to turn any situation into an opportunity for Singapore.
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