A Review of the first year of the Trump Presidency

Trump has had some victories and some losses throughout his first year in the White House. His presidency is definitely not as bad many Democrats believe it to be, but it is certainly not as successful as many of his “die-hard fan-boys” envision it as either.

Successes:

Daesh (ISIS)
Trump has overseen many important military victories in the fight against Daesh. Although Trump himself cannot take direct credit for all the accomplishments of his military forces, his change in policy which has allowed his generals more control has led to the defeat of ISIS in Mosul and Raqqa. Trump has hand-picked the best people for a lot of the positions within his administration, and when he leaves them to their own purpose, great things are achieved.

Taxes
On Wednesday the Republicans had their first major legislative win under the trump administration. Around 80% of Americans will see a tax cut in their own lives, and the corporation tax cuts affecting businesses across the US are placing their economy back on the right track. Already we have seen the positive outcomes of lower corporation tax, with AT&T giving out $1000 dollar bonuses to every employee.

Economy
Stock markets are at record highs thanks to the recent tax bill and the fact that Trump has removed on average 22 regulations for every one he introduced. He is removing the chains holding industries back and encouraging economic growth for small-medium businesses. Not only are the stock markets rising, but Trump has overseen unemployment reaching a new 16-year low. Trump has helped create at least 1.1 million jobs since taking office.

Israel
Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is not only fulfilling a campaign promise he made, but it also fulfils the same campaign promise made by Obama and George Bush. In fact, Jerusalem should have been recognized as Israel’s capital by 1999 according to a bill passed by Congress in 1995. Trump has not only finally recognized Jerusalem as the capital but he stood up to the United Nations when they condemned the decision. Trump’s decision in regards to Jerusalem has proven he doesn’t notice what the UN has to say regarding his decisions, and he rightly shouldn’t care too. The UN is an organization which should have no influence over the decisions the United States makes in regards to its own foreign policy.

Paris Accord
Say what you will about climate change and the Paris accord. You may disagree with Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris accord but it was a campaign promise that he fulfilled and definitely joins the list of his successes throughout the last year.

Iran Deal
Again Trump fulfilled another campaign promise by de-certifying the Iran Deal that was made under the Obama administration. Although he hasn’t withdrawn from it completely, he has thrown the deal into uncertain waters and is reportedly looking for improvements in the arrangement. It is rumoured sanctions on Iran may be re-introduced. The Iran Deal was a horrible and haphazard agreement made under the Obama administration, and Trump’s decision regarding this is a clear success.

Travel Ban
The travel ban is in both parts of the article. It was botched in its original language and implementation but has now been revised and approved by the supreme court. Although I don’t believe this is an effective policy, it was a campaign promise which he has fulfilled and is now finally completed. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination a complete success.

Failures:

Travel Ban
Trump botched the travel in its first implementation, although it has now been approved, I suspect the original implementation will be a stain on his legacy as he made it too easy for his critics to call him a racist. That being said, the Democrats have been getting worked up about every one of Trump’s moves that most people have forgotten about this failure from 11 months ago.

The Wall
A key campaign promise which is looking less and less likely as time goes on. Trump does not seem to have the political capital to pull this off. Unless the Republicans somehow miraculously don’t lose their majority in the midterms, the wall will become a forgotten dream.

Every time he opens Twitter
Trump has had a great December and overall a decent first year With only a couple of hiccups along the way, Trump should have reasonable approval ratings, but for some reason, he still has his own Twitter account. Trump’s late-night tweets have gotten him into hot water on several occasions. If he put the phone down, his approval ratings would be much higher as half of CNN’s content on him would be wiped out. The media look at every chance to attack Trump and his tweets are giving them the ammunition to attack him. If he stopped he would probably be considered a very mediocre president by most of America- not great; but not horrible either.

Healthcare
Trumpcare was one of, if not the, biggest losses for the Trump administration this year. It was a failure from start to finish. The Republicans shied away from the issues and tried to sugar coat every argument they made against Obamacare. However (Trump probably won’t be alone in this) it’s looking like the American people has decided that the government has a role to play in the healthcare market and so Republicans will never be able to fully remove Obamacare without wide losses across the country.

Overall:

Overall Trump’s presidency is going to plan. He is one of the most conservative presidents in decades and as time goes on it seems Trump is learning how to play the political game. This has really been shown in the events of the last couple weeks where Trump has had victory after victory. If Trump remains on his current path he will go down as a decent President. He certainly won’t be one of the best, but he won’t be one of the worst either.