Class is a word used in many, many contexts and with many, many meanings – from social stratification to categorisation of many things. The phrase – a class of their own signifies this expansion of meaning.

In Britain from time immemorial to today it has has a mainly social application dating back from when the aristocracy placed themselves above all the other classes – exemplified by the creation of the House of Lords. The fact that some of those who have sat in the Lords over the centuries were descended from thugs, marauders and murderers was irrelevant.

The descendants of the reiver thugs who marauded over the English-Scottish borders, for instance, are today among the country’s largest landowners and bearers of aristocratic titles.

In the 19^th century rich Americans bought class by marrying their daughters to aristocrats and other members of the upper class. The Churchill family are a notable part of this category. The aristocrats kept and maintained their properties with the funds that came with the betrothals.

Of course, where the aristocratic properties were opened to the public it was an indication of their owner family’s decline rather than their dominance.

In the US the sense of class has many variations. Classy is a word used to describe women and others.  It was also used to describe actions which were exceptional – whether it was in sport or other areas.

The US also had its own home-grown aristocracy in the form of organisations such as the Daughters of the Revolution who trace their lineage back to those who fought in the War of Independence.

Bostonian burghers have a few centuries of history and lineage which is, sometimes, older than that of some UK aristocrats. These are some of the categories of people who Donald Trump hate most and perhaps explain much about his hostility to Harvard.

Trump, of course, moved his business from the non-Manhattan areas his father built his wealth on. But most of the young Donald Trump’s businesses failed making Trump one of the few people in the world who could bankrupt a casino. Now he is unwittingly trying to do the same to the US.

All of his businesses feature over the top garish decoration which modern aristocrats would tend to avoid. Aristocrats from previous centuries – such as the French who found their decorative tastes were not much use as the guillotine fell on their necks.

Now the White House is getting the same treatment with gold ornaments and gewgaws scattered throughout the place. It’s quite a contrast to the Lincolns, Roosevelts, and Grants. Its guests are unlike those invited by the Kennedys (whose only family involvement now is in threatening the US with new pandemics of once defeated problems such as measles).

It is also interesting that when the Trump family visited the Queen and Buckingham Palace a famous picture of young Trumps looking out a Palace window clearly demonstrated their awe and amazement at confronting ‘real class’. Keir Starmer is planning to use the same tactic again.

In the US there are also those who have massive generational wealth, unlike the Trumps, who we never hear anything about except when we can sometime link the names to the names of those who founded colonies, killed off the Native Americans and later became philanthropists.

A generation of Australians and Americans whose first cigarettes were Peter Stuyvesants would have little idea that the original Dutch white settlers of Manhattan have descendants still living on the island and forming another class category.

Trump’s fundamental problems arise from a combination of factors – staring with Trump’s fervent belief that he is a unique genius when most of his career has been a life has a failure.

He has convinced a slim majority of American voters – and himself – that he is smarter than anyone else. At times this can be tad embarrassing as when – shortly after first being elected – he talked to a team of senior Economist journalists about the economy and asked if they were aware of the concept of pump-priming and other economic terms.

The were politely silent about this helpful explanation but couldn’t help but write about it when they go back to Britain.

The US has never been a democracy in the general sense of the word and is currently lurching towards something more Fascistic than democratic.

So – a bit more than three years to go (unless he dies first and things get even worse when Vance takes over) but the damage will still be long-lasting.

PS. When it comes to lack of class what do you make of a US President attending a Pope’s funeral in a blue suit and red tie – sitting in the front row posting the usual crap on his phone?