A Donald Trump presidency could shake the globe and result in catastrophe, according to an assessment of the top 10 “global risks” by the Economist.
“In the event of a Trump victory, his hostile attitude to free trade, and alienation of Mexico and China in particular, could escalate rapidly into a trade war — and at the least scupper the Trans-Pacific Partnership between the U.S. and 11 other American and Asian states signed in February 2016,” said a new report in the London-based financial magazine.
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The magazine also said that Trump’s “militaristic tendencies” toward Muslims in the Middle East “would be a potent recruitment tool for jihadi groups, increasing their threat both within the region and beyond.”
Trump winning the White House was ranked as the sixth biggest risk faced by the world. The Economist said a Trump presidency implies a “risk intensity” of 12, while by comparison, a hard economic landing by China is rated with a risk intensity of 20.
Its criticism that echoes other Republicans and Democrats who fret over Trump’s fiery rhetoric on “bringing jobs back” and Islam as a religion that “hates us.”
The Economist said that Trump, should he be the GOP nominee, would likely lose to presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. It said, however, that “there are risks to this forecast, especially in the event of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil or a sudden economic downturn.”
Other threats identified by the magazine include “the rising threat of jihadi terrorism,” the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and “a new ‘cold war'” prompted by Russia invading the Ukraine and Syria.
Trump remains in a three-way race for the nomination, though he has by far the most delegates.
