Having Donald Trump with his finger close to the nuclear button could be terrifying, John Andrews, a consulting editor at the Economist told Times of Malta.

Asked about Mr Trump’s short-tempered nature after a talk he gave at the Malta iGaming conference, Mr Andrews said the President-elect would obviously surround himself with a strong team who would help restrain him when he lost his temper.

“He is not an idiot. I think maybe he will grow into the responsibilities of president.

“No one in his right mind really wants to go to war with people. Actually one positive is that there could be a mending of relations with Russia, which would be to everybody’s benefit,” Mr Andrews said.  Mr Andrews said it would be quite challenging for the rest of the world to know how to deal with Mr Trump.

On EU-US relations, Mr Andrew’s said not much should change, particularly seeing that the TTIP was already a dead duck due to European opposition.  Mr Andrews said Mr Trump had managed to capture the white working class, and many people who were dissatisfied with conventional politics and politicians.

Recounting a visit he paid to Florida in February, Mr Andrews said that even back when all Republican candidates were still vying for the nomination, many people there were already declaring that they were going to vote for Donald Trump.

“This was right at the very beginning. He has managed to keep momentum going. You have to congratulate him. He pulled it off,” Mr Andrews said.