DONALD Trump is the ultimate Marmite figure. Loved and loathed in equal measure but after his four-year presidency the United States of America continues to be a misnomer; the country is as disunited and divided as ever.

If it had not been for the Covid-19 pandemic, the race to the White House would as usual have been dominated by one major subject, the economy stupid, and the 74-year-old President’s chances of re-election would have been enhanced. But it wasn’t because the coronavirus outbreak changed everything.

Unlike most administrations that try to keep as much as possible away from the public eye, the anti-politician’s penchant for Twitter has meant that pretty much everything that has gone on inside the Trump administration has eventually found itself in the public domain.

At times, the goings-on in the White House have appeared like a reality TV soap opera with the blizzard of sackings, including three chiefs of staff, two secretaries of state and two defence secretaries as well as two attorneys general.

Sean Spicer lasted six months as the President’s Press Secretary and resigned over the hiring of the outspoken Anthony “the Mooch” Scaramucci, who lasted just 10 days, being fired for describing Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to a reporter as a “paranoid schizophrenic”.

For the ultimate deal-maker, the economy has been front and centre. His flagship tax legislation that overhauled the tax system, cutting corporation tax from 35 per cent to just 21, was meant to provide “rocket fuel” to the US economy.

And yet the economic trajectory Mr Trump hoped his bill would boost has not happened.

Early on, the lockdowns sparked by the coronavirus led to tens of millions of people losing their jobs and, while economy has started to bounce back adding new ones, it is nowhere near a V-shaped recovery that was hoped for.

During his term, the President has delivered on a number of campaign promises, including the renegotiation of the free trade agreement involving America, Canada and Mexico, relocating the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and starting to build the border wall with Mexico.

There was also the travel ban, initially restricting travel to the US for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

There has been criminal justice reform with the signing into law of the First Step Act, which was hailed as a move towards ending the mass imprisonment of offenders, creating the Space Force, a new branch of the Armed Forces meant to protect US assets in space, and legislation that was aimed at alleviating the country’s opioid health crisis.

Arguably, the Republican candidate’s lasting legacy will be the reshaping of the country’s judiciary with the lifetime appointment of more than 200 judges and three justices to the Supreme Court; the latest, of course, being the rushed appointment of Amy Coney Barrett just before polling day.

But controversy has surrounded virtually everything the 45th President has done from the Mueller investigation into alleged collusion with Russia into the 2016 presidential election to the failed bid to impeach him over claims he solicited foreign interference to get him re-elected.

In the wake of this year’s Black Lives Matter movement following the tragic death of George Floyd, Mr Trump again proved a divisive figure, painting the demonstrations as fuelled by left-wing activists and using them to bolster his image as a defender of law enforcement.

While insisting he was the least racist figure anyone could ever meet, during the televised head-to-head he declined to condemn white supremacists and violent rightwing groups. Instead he urged a far-right group known for their street fighting to “stand by,” arguing that “somebody’s got to do something” about the left.

On foreign policy, his critics say he has alienated traditional friends to cosy up with traditional enemies, finding comfort in the company of authoritarian leaders because he too is one whether it is Russia’s Vladimir Putin or North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un.

The special relationship with Britain has at times been tense because of his outspokenness. But it was eased by a state visit last year and the unexpected Brexit vote, which he openly advocated, and which he has promised will lead to a swift trade deal with the UK.

And, of course, all the drama of the last four years have been heightened by the President’s hate-hate relationship with what he has denounced as the “fake news” press.

For all his determination to become the America First President, Mr Trump, win or lose, has become the Pandemic President; his term in office defined by the killer virus that has taken more than 231,000 American lives and cost millions of Americans their jobs.

His oftentimes downplaying of the significance of Covid-19 and his predictions of everything turning round in a few months’ time have only heightened the drama and tension. As have his appearances at White House press calls, including one when he appeared to advocate the injection of disinfectant to beat the virus.

The highly-respected Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, hauled out to give the President credibility, has gradually created an ocean of distance between himself and the commander-in-chief.

Warning America, it should prepare for “a whole lot of hurt” with a winter of 100,000 or more cases a day together with a rising death toll, he attracted the ire of The Donald on the pandemic by suggesting Joe Biden was "taking it seriously from a public health perspective", while he was "looking at it from a different perspective”.

The White House accused the scientist of playing politics with the pandemic, “choosing to criticise the President in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the President's opponent". At a rally, Trump supporters chanted “fire Fauci,” to which the President replied: “Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election. I appreciate the advice.”

After months of bitter campaigning the future of America and the impact this will have on the rest of us is about to be decided. Hold your breath, the land of the free and the home of the brave is about to give its verdict.