NICOLA HORLICK: My love for Donald Trump is getting me in hot water

Working life today is full of constantly evolving challenges and pitfalls. When is it OK to date a co-worker? Can you tell your team to get back into the office five days a week? 

Whether you’re a baffled Boomer, a muddled millennial, or a confused Gen Z-er, our brilliant columnist Nicola Horlick can help.

Dear Nicola,

Most of my colleagues are very anti-Donald Trump and very vocal in their opposition. 

I may be in a minority in my workplace, and I didn’t like the way he treated President Zelensky, but I admire Trump nevertheless.

If I even attempt to say as much, in however reasonable a way, they pounce on me. My boss also has strong anti-Trump views.

My husband says I should just keep quiet and stay off politics at work. But my colleagues don’t. So why should I?

Yours, Olwen

Dear Olwen,

I am not surprised many of your colleagues are anti-Trump. In a YouGov poll conducted on March 4, the respondents were asked how well or badly they felt Trump was handling negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Two thirds said ‘very badly’ and 11 per cent ‘fairly badly’. Ten per cent didn’t have a view and only 13 per cent thought he was handling things fairly well or very well.

This is an emotive subject, and I myself find it impossible to respond without my own views and feelings colouring my answer.

There has been huge sympathy here for the people of Ukraine and many, including readers of this newspaper, took women and children into their homes from that war-torn country.

I know a Ukrainian family who ended up scattered between the US, UK, Switzerland and Italy, with the father, who was mayor of a sizeable town, left behind.

The scenes at the White House of Trump and his vice president JD Vance bullying Zelensky on February 28 were shocking. Zelensky has spent a considerable amount of time thanking his allies, and particularly the US. To be told that he hadn’t been grateful enough was a huge insult.

Ukraine is a sovereign nation that was invaded by Russia and has fought valiantly to prevent annexation. Now that Ukraine has said that it is willing to accept a ceasefire, we will see if Putin is really the friend of Trump.

I doubt it – he is only interested in taking as much of Ukraine as he can. And, if he isn’t stopped, other territories will be under threat.

As Trump frequently says, it’s America first. With my financial hat on, his actions are affecting your pocket as a UK citizen.

Defence spending is rising, tariffs will lead to more inflation in the system, and the further interest rate cuts that we were hoping for this year may not materialise.

You are perfectly entitled to your views, but I agree with your husband that you are probably better off not voicing them right now. In fact, unless you work in a business where political analysis is part of your job, it might be a good idea to steer clear of this, and other sensitive subjects more generally.