AUSTIN — History, it appears, may not have a sense of humor, but it is no stranger to irony.

Texans helped put Donald Trump, admittedly duly-elected, into the presidency. After wavering all summer and fall, the Lone Star State went decisively for the reality TV star from New York. Now, it turns out, Texas has pretty much the most to lose in the opening days of a Trump presidency, from the economy to our fellow Texans, in fact.

If they want to protect our booming economy, not to mention our Constitution and our neighbors, Democrats, reasonable Republicans and independents should accord Trump every opportunity as a democratically elected president. And accord him every watchful second that's due a would-be authoritarian.

First, though, face facts: Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate, about as exciting as a tree stump, not all that accomplished, really, and a two-time loser, to boot. You may remember 2008, but you've probably forgotten 1994. That was when the House went Republican for the first time in 40 years, courtesy of her cartoonishly complex health care plan.

Which also failed. And the Clintons practically painted a bull's-eye on their backs by feeding at the trough of private money while jamming their snouts insistently into public affairs — only to reach for yet another helping of government power. Nobody really wanted Hillary to be president more than, well, Hillary.

Trump's plan for his first 100 days was outlined in October and promptly lost amid the noise of grotesque language, videotapes, charges of sexual harassment and assault, and threats of lawsuits. But buried in the midst is a list of 15 items that seem likely to be pulled off as executive orders and 10 more that would become law with the help of — what was that other branch of government? Right. Congress.

In governing by fiat during his first 100 days, his royal highness will have three objectives: Break the governing class (and the government while he's at it); take control of certain parts of the economy; and crack down, essentially, on undocumented immigrants and certain documented immigrants. Trump does acknowledge, to his credit, that he will need to ask Congress for help on the other items, like mass deportations.

Trump's crackdown on the governing class is, well, probably best left to them to handle. He wants to slap term limits on members of Congress, but Kentucky whiskey will freeze over before Mitch McConnell lets that happen. Let's let them sort it out.

But Trump's promises for the economy, frankly, are cruel for one that is steadily recovering but not recovering vigorously. He will never bring back manufacturing jobs to Ohio or coal mining jobs to Kentucky. Those ships sailed decades ago. However, his focus on trade may prove particularly fatal to a couple of places: California, for one, and Texas. Both thrive on international trade.

So, here is what the emperor-elect (sorry, president-elect) has pledged to do on his first day in office and over the ensuing 99 days. First, back out of NAFTA and seek a complete renegotiation. Second, bail out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. Third, declare China a currency manipulator; that means slapping a tariff on Chinese goods, boosting prices and forcing a dispute at the World Trade Organization, which would take forever to settle and thus trigger a trade war with our largest trading partner.

That's just on Day One. The rest of the week, apparently, would be spent approving the Keystone XL pipeline, which would introduce more oil into a glutted world market, driving the price down further. (Good luck, Houston.) Then he'd take climate change money and put it toward infrastructure, as well as lift purported federal restrictions on extracting coal, oil and gas. The trouble is — just like with Canadian tar sands oil — the price is already low.

Now, this might all be entertaining if you live in a place that hates international trade and really needs lots of cheap fossil energy. The problem is, if you're reading this, you probably don't. You live in Texas. And here — as opposed to, say, Ohio — international trade accounts for 1 in 5 jobs. That's about 3 million people. Houston and Laredo are among the 10 busiest ports in America.

To put that into perspective, that's more than 10 times as many employed in the oil and natural gas industry. In a trade war with China, it seems quite likely that foreign companies would reduce their risk and footprint in the United States. There are more than 500,000 Texans working for foreign-owned companies like Samsung in Austin and Toyota, soon to be in Plano.

If you voted for Trump, you're probably second-guessing yourself right now. But don't worry. There's more.

Texas is the largest beneficiary of NAFTA, which pumps nearly $500 billion into the U.S. economy annually, and nearly half of that winds up in, yes, Texas. If you'd like to see it for yourself, get on Interstate 35 any day of the week. More than 3 million trucks cross into Texas from Mexico each year, and about 2 million head south. By 2020, 70,000 trucks will traverse the 70 miles between Austin and San Antonio alone.

Now imagine Laredo quiet, trucks idled, and just the sound of crickets on the mesquite plain. Then imagine the ripple effect all along the I-35 corridor, not to mention in the Targets, the Wal-Marts, the HEBs — and far, far beyond. Right about now, I'll bet that Laredo banker Dennis Nixon is really regretting hosting Donald Trump for dinner. His bank, the International Bank of Commerce, has profited handsomely from the bounty of money that Trump is going to chop off in about two months.

On Day One, Trump will also begin removing what he claims are 2 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records. But that 2 million, it turns out, are all lawful immigrants with criminal records; fewer than half are undocumented. Here Trump would make a bold assault not just on human decency but this thing called the Constitution, of which he was never a fan, anyway, during his campaign.

In Dallas and Houston alone, federal police will need to comb through 1.5 million immigrants. And Trump would crack down on Muslim immigration, which is funny because Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation on earth and we have no problem with it. India is the second-largest. But here's the kicker: Texas has the largest Muslim population in the country.

The unintended consequences of this election are about to be on full display, and nowhere more so than Texas. Professional Democrats will be sorely tempted to become Vichy Democrats, going along to get along. I know the word Vichy sounds a little rough. But Trump is not just duly elected; he's the first duly-elected authoritarian president.

Texans helped make this reckoning happen. Now, we stand more to lose than anyone. It will be up to everyday Texans — Democrats, business leaders, reasonable Republicans and independents — to man the battlements when the politicians in the minority lose their nerve, and they probably will. There is still a Constitution and a court system, after all. This is still a democracy — for now.

Richard Parker is the author of "Lone Star Nation: How Texas Will Transform America" and a lecturer-of-practice in journalism at Texas State University. Twitter: @richardparkertx