Kate Hawkesby: Marking one year of a vulgar Trump presidency

Well, a year of Donald Trump and where are we at?

Still a deeply divided America, a deeply offended liberal base, and deeply disappointed Democrats.

Still, even a year on, in shock that Hilary Clinton lost.

I was in the room that night when that shock fell. The rawness of it, at Hilary Headquarters in West 34th Street Manhattan, New York. As the numbers rolled in, as the votes were counted, reality started to dawn. Supporters and celebrities with tear-stained faces started to leave, they packed up their banners and their badges, they shook their heads. HQ base staff started packing up chairs. Officials started consoling each other with hugs.

Hilary herself resigned to her fate, refused to come out and talk to supporters, too upset backstage apparently. We waited and we waited and we waited. She wouldn't come.

The media pack grew eerily silent. No one was expecting a Trump win. If Michael Wolff is to be believed, that includes Trump himself. The photo I'd prematurely yet confidently taken at the Hilary press podium, which I'd Instagrammed out with the hashtag, Madam President, was a few hours later proven completely wrong. What had just happened?

So a year on, where are we?

It feels like all those sentiments, even now, are still raw.

Look at what we've got, the lowest popularity poll rating of any president in modern history, another women's march, a government shutdown, a Russian probe, inflammatory tweets, scandalous press coverage about porn stars - and that's before we get to his cuttingly dismissive and often vulgar style and tone.

And yet, in the face of all of this, his support base still love him. When they're tracked down in Pennsylvania and Alabama, they've remained faithful and loyal and devoted.

They're still wearing the Make America Great Again caps. They love the cries of 'fake news'. They truly believe he's holding the media to account, the more hate that rains down on him, the more it emboldens them in their support.

We were in California over the holidays and it was interesting to see how a deeply divided America was evident on the streets. The liberal laid back Californians have no time for Trump. They were talking impeachment and sex abuse charges and mental illness. They were lapping up the Fire and Fury book. They were donning the 'Free Melania' caps.

But then in came a swathe of Rose Bowl supporters for the college football, which was being played in Pasadena, supporters from the University of Georgia. They arrived in their hundreds, and were instantly recognisable, they stood out.

They were very obviously not Californians. They wore big hats and aggressively chewed gum and pushed past you on the street. They had matching jerseys and spoke loudly and most of them looked like the 'before' ads on those weight loss campaigns. They yelled loudly at their children. They were not the kind of people who were going to vote for Oprah, ever.

So will these supporters save him? Will this base, be his saving grace?

So much of this presidency, including how he even got there in the first place, has been shock and awe. But what he's doing right, Mr Trump, if anything, is he's playing to his core support base. Every time he tweets, plays golf, or slams the media, they're lapping it up. So one year on, and despite the controversy, the polarisation and the mistakes, will we possibly see a two-term Trump presidency?

I don't think so.

But then a year ago, I was wrong too.