Why Sunderland is worried about Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States

It was once a well-used expression on these shores when yet another ludicrous lawsuit or mad invention surfaced from across the pond.

It was usually accompanied by a wry smile and an exasperated shake of the head. Whether it was a customer suing McDonald’s for serving coffee that was too hot or the unveiling of the world’s biggest hamburger, America once cornered the market on the weird and wonderful.

The rise of the internet and the resulting footage of the bizarre and ridiculous from all over the world pretty much consigned the expression to history.

Until Donald Trump!

We thought Brexit was a shock, it has nothing on the election of Trump as President of the United States.

A billionaire reality TV show host with a fashion and gravity-defying hairstyle is now the most powerful man on the planet.

And given the outlandish views expressed during one of the most vicious campaigns in US election history, it’s little wonder our readers are worried.

A poll today reveals 60% of Echo readers fear for their future under Trump.

That a man with such a chequered past (and present for that matter) has his finger of the nuclear button is a particular concern . A crumb of comfort can be taken from the fact that there have been plenty of morally questionable presidents who have had their fingers on the big red button, and none of them pressed.

That said, their indiscretions emerged either in office or after they left.

Trump’s outspoken views, blatant lies and outrageous behaviour appears, from the outside, to have been the traits that got him elected. Worried? You bet.

Only in America...