Let’s imagine for a moment that Trump’s second presidency is a teachable moment. Instead of clutching our pearls, rolling our eyes, and denouncing his bully-boy belligerence, let’s look at him through a different lens. For all the tantrums and tumult, turmoil and toxicity, let’s ask ourselves: if Trump is here to inadvertently serve some higher purpose, what might that purpose be?

Across many cultures, there is a recurring figure in myth and psychology: the Trickster. The Trickster disrupts, breaks taboos, thumbs its nose at authority and exposes uncomfortable truths. They are rarely admirable, often infuriating, and sometimes dangerous. Yet their function is not simply to cause chaos. It is to reveal where systems are brittle, where assumptions are lazy, and where power has grown complacent.

Seen through this lens, Donald Trump is still deeply unadmirable. But he may be performing the archetypal role of the Trickster on the global stage, holding up a distorted mirror in which our vulnerabilities are thrown into sharp relief.

Sir Ed Davey has been robust in his attitude towards Trump, boycotting his state dinner and warning about the threat Trump poses to NATO, to the rule of law, and to the international cooperation on which Britain’s security and prosperity depend. That clarity matters. But beyond the immediate political response, there is a deeper question. What is this disruption revealing about the world we thought we lived in?

Three lessons stand out.

First, that Britain and Europe have been too comfortable in their reliance on the United States.

For decades, we have assumed that the US would always be a stable, values-aligned guarantor of global security. Trump’s transactional view of alliances, and his willingness to treat collective defence as a bargaining chip, shatters that assumption.

The lesson is not that the transatlantic relationship is unimportant. It is that strategic maturity means never putting all our eggs in one American basket. A Europe that invests seriously in its own security, energy resilience, technological capability and diplomatic reach is not turning its back on America. It is recognising that partnership is strongest when it is balanced, not dependent.

Trump the Trickster exposes the danger of complacency. He reminds us that alliances based on tradition rather than genuine partnership can quickly become fragile.

Second, that the rules-based international order only exists if we actively defend it.

Trump’s disdain for multilateral institutions, his enthusiasm for strongman politics, and his casual attitude to international law reveal an uncomfortable truth. The global system we describe as “rules-based” is not self-enforcing. It rests on shared norms and political will.

When powerful countries decide that rules are optional, the whole structure begins to wobble. The lesson for the UK is clear. We cannot be selective champions of international law, invoking it when convenient and overlooking breaches when committed by friends. Liberalism, at its best, is principled, consistent and internationalist.

That means strengthening NATO and the UN, standing up for the International Criminal Court, supporting climate agreements, and building deeper partnerships with countries that value cooperation over coercion. It also means being honest that global institutions need reform if they are to command trust in a changing world.

Trump the Trickster shows us how easily norms erode, and how urgently we need to defend and strengthen them.

Third, that democracy is far more vulnerable than we like to admit.

The most unsettling lesson strikes closer to home. Trump thrives in a climate of polarisation, disinformation and economic anxiety. His success exposes fracture lines within democratic societies, between the minority who hold power and the majority who feel ignored, insecure, and disconnected from decision-making.

The response cannot simply be to denounce populism, though we must challenge its falsehoods. It must be to rebuild the foundations of democratic trust. That means decentralising power back to communities, tackling inequality, revitalising local economies, strengthening civic education, defending independent media, and giving people a real sense that by being active participants, they can help create a better future for their community and for our country. If liberal democracy is to endure, it has to deliver security, dignity and voice, not just formal rights.

In mythology, the Trickster arrives when systems have grown rigid and self-satisfied. They are not sent to be liked. They are sent to force change.

I do not welcome Trump’s second presidency. But let’s look for the blessing that comes in this extremely heavy disguise. Let’s use this opportunity to motivate ourselves to become more self-reliant, more deeply embedded in a web of global alliances, more robust in defence of international law, and more serious about renewing our own democracy.

* Dr Roz Savage is the Liberal Democrat MP for the South Cotswolds.