Donald Trump is the 45th President of America

He's more Marmite than Nigel Farage but Donald Trump managed to do something that's never been done before and become the first President of the United States who wasn't a professional politician or high ranking military officer.

A few hours ago Trump took the oath of office and became the 45th president before delivering a speech that could have been from one of his campaign rallies. A sour faced Michelle Obama looked every part the petulant, sulking socialist, trying to avoid even looking at Trump let alone engaging with him. The outgoing president, by contrast, was polite and friendly to his replacement as grown-ups should be.

While Donald Trump's inauguration was getting underway, lefties were out on the streets of Washington breaking windows and damaging street furniture in protest at the democratic process.

Donald Trump isn't everyone's cup of tea and he's said encouraging and worrying things in equal measure but one thing we know for sure is that he's different.

Why does the US want the UK to stay in the EU?

Last week President Obama told us that we must stay in the EU and that we'll be "back of the queue" when it comes to setting up a trade deal when we leave.

It has been noted that "back of the queue" is a very English thing for an American president to say. In the American vernacular he would be more likely to say "end of the line". Clearly there was some influence from this side of the pond in the president's speech.

But why would Obama be so interested in keeping us in the EU?

The US is the world's largest economy and naturally dominates world trade. Of the 15 trillion dollar economies, 5 of them (including the UK) are in the EU and have given up their seat at the World Trade Organisation and the right to negotiate their own trade deals. It is much easier for the US to dominate world trade with a third of the world's economic superpowers out of the equation.

The UK is the world's 5th largest economy and this is despite being a member of the EU rather than because of it. The last thing the US wants is for the UK to have a strong and flexible economy able to eat into the American share of the global economic pie.

But the main reason Obama so desperately wants us to stay in the EU is TTIP. The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership is a trade agreement being negotiated behind closed doors between the EU and the US. National governments, MEPs and voters aren't allowed to know any of the detail of the agreement, it is being negotiated by unelected commissioners with the help of corporate lobbyists. TTIP will remove most tariffs on imports and exports which is a good thing but it will introduce Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) which isn't.

ISDS is a mechanism that allows companies to sue national governments for doing something that harms their ability to make a profit. The US has written ISDS into its trade deals with its South and Central American neighbours and it has been a disaster for them. Columbia is currently being sued by a number of companies for loss of potential future earnings, the largest claim being for nearly £13bn which is about 20% of the country's national budget. That claim is for lost future earnings caused by the Columbian government turning part of the Amazon rainforest into a nature reserve where a mining company wanted to mine. In 2008, a quarter of such disputes being heard by international arbitration tribunals were cases brought against South American countries by US corporations.

The UK accounts for 17.5% of the EU's entire economic output. If TTIP isn't signed before we leave the EU, the agreement will lose nearly a fifth of its value overnight and American companies will miss out on the right to sue the British government for limiting their ability to make a profit. UKIP and others have tried and failed to secure an exemption for the NHS from TTIP to ensure the health service can't be forced into private hands through ISDS litigation. The big American healthcare providers will be able to sue the British government for not giving them a level playing field to compete with the NHS or allowing them to deliver services at the taxpayers' expense unless we're out of the EU before TTIP comes into force.

Obama has no interest in what is best for the UK, he is only interested in what is best for his own country which is entirely the correct attitude for the president to have. World leaders look after their own interests, not talk their country down and deliberately undermine confidence in their own economy to suit their political agenda. Cameron may think that he's pulled off a coup by getting Obama to back him up on the EU referendum but all he's done is show himself to be a weak, manipulative little man.

Keep your nose out President Obama

Obama coming to Europe to campaign for Project Fear

Barack Obama is planning to use a visit to Europe to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU.

The US president is coming to the end of his second term and isn't allowed to stand again according to the US constitution so has plenty of time on his hands for interfering in other peoples' business.

There are a number of reasons why Obama is keen for the UK to stay in the EU, primary of which are the devastating effect the EU has on the UK economy, fear of a Commonwealth Free Trade Area and the value of UK public services in the TTIP agreement being drawn up in secret between the US and EU.

Membership of the EU suppresses the UK economy and prevents us from rising up the league table and challenging the US at a time when it is under pressure from China and other fast growing economies such as India and Brazil. The reams of red tape originating from the EU and burden of over-regulation harms our competitiveness and keeps us in our place. Leapfrogging France last year was more of a reflection on France than the UK.

A Commonwealth Free Trade Area would include India, Canada and Australia - three major and growing economies in the top 12 economies in the world. Combined with the UK those four economies are worth well over $8tn - almost as much as China. The combined value of Commonwealth economies is over $11tn which is larger than the Chinese economy and is second only to the US.

The TTIP treaty being concluded in secret by the EU and the US will give American companies access to markets in the EU and open up the public sector to private ownership. American companies will be allowed to sue governments that don't allow them to privatise parts of public sector services such as the NHS or introduce measures that harm their profits. TTIP is tipped well and truly in America's favour and Obama is desperate to keep it on track.

Obama says UK in the EU is in American national interest

Barack Obama and American officials have warned that the UK remaining in the EU is in America's national interest and that if we leave we would be seen as weaker.

The Americans have taken this stance for purely selfish reasons.  They like having a poodle to do their bidding in the EU which is still, despite the best efforts of the economic incompetents in charge, one of the main competitors to the US.  The UK outside of the EU would be a significant challenger to the US, particularly with the Commonwealth Free Trade Area that UKIP proposes.  The EU without the UK bailing it out would be much poorer and unable to buy as much American tat and don't forget that this is a socialist president supporting the socialist EU empire.

You have to admire the Americans for standing up for their national interest but leaving the EU is in ours and Obama can bog off.

Yes, Obama is now the first black President – lets just hope he does a good job.

Barack Obama has finally, after years of fundraising and campaigning become the 44th President of the United States offering Change, Change, Change, Hope, Change and more Change. Regardless of your American partisan feeling, let us hope that after 4 or 8 years in office, history will judge Obama on his successes and failures in office, not on his skin colour. It can not be doubted that whoever is the President of America is, the role carries influence affecting every nation in the world. For the sake of the world I hope Obama is a success even though I admit I would have given my vote to McCain. Who cares if he is black, the world wants a President who can lead the largest economy in the world out of recession and back into economic confidence. Bringing America out of recession with an unprecedented budget deficit would be an achievement worthy of praise. If he fails to deal effectively with the economy, he will be judged as a failure and rightly so. America expects alot, and if they don’t get alot, then Obama could very well be joining the somewhat embarrassing club of single term Presidents such as Democrat Jimmy Carter.