Should-Read: Gideon Rachman: Truth, Lies and the Trump Administration

Should-Read: Gideon Rachman: Truth, Lies and the Trump Administration: “Having a liar [like Donald Trump] in the White House is a disaster…

…not just for global security but also for the cause of democracy all over the world. Until now, dissidents in Russia, China or other authoritarian regimes could wage a lonely and dangerous fight for the truth, and point to the west to show that a better way existed. They could argue that lies are not the norm and that “the truth will set us free”. But the word freedom barely figured in Mr Trump’s inaugural address. And the US president is clearly indifferent to the truth…. Where else can the world turn? The German government, led by Angela Merkel, cannot do it alone. The British may be too desperate to do a trade deal with the US to take any chances with its relationship with Mr Trump….

The European democracies could still set an example, by demonstrating that most western countries do not practise the debased discourse of Trumpism. But the biggest role in protecting the truth—and therefore democracy itself—will fall to Americans. The press will need to be robust and courageous…. American institutions from the media to Congress and the courts have demonstrated their independence from the White House in the past. They are about to be tested as never before…