When He Imposed A Muslim Travel Ban
In 2017 Trump signed an executive order that temporarily suspended immigration to the US for all citizens of seven Muslim majority countries for 90 days. Citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen suddenly found themselves unable to enter America. Massive protests immediately took place as a response with courts eventually finding the ban unlawful and overturning it.
That didnt stop Trump though he issued a new ban in 2018 that instead restricted how many visas could be issued to applicants from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with Venezuela and North Korea.
This ban was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court. And in February it was expanded to cover citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar.
When He Lied About His Inauguration Crowd Sizes
Size matters to Trump which is why he and his team practiced their very first professional gaslighting by insisting that the crowds gathered for his inauguration were the largest ever, despite extensive photographic evidence to the contrary.
Later it emerged a government photographer had even edited photos to make crowds appear bigger, according to a Guardian investigation.
Signed Welfare Reform Requiring Able
The Trump administration released guidance in January 2018 that lets states take away Medicaid coverage from people who arent working or engaged in work-related activities. Tens of thousands of people have been affected. For instance, in Arkansas over 18,000 Medicaid beneficiaries lost coverage in 2018, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Don’t Miss: What Republican Is Running Against Trump
Deeply Partisan And Personal Divides
Trumps status as a political outsider, his outspoken nature and his willingness to upend past customs and expectations of presidential behavior made him a constant focus of public attention, as well as a source of deep partisan divisions.
Even before he took office, Trump divided Republicans and Democrats more than any incoming chief executive in the prior three decades.1 The gap only grew more pronounced after he became president. An average of 86% of Republicans approved of Trumps handling of the job over the course of his tenure, compared with an average of just 6% of Democrats the widest partisan gap in approval for any president in the modern era of polling.2 Trumps overall approval rating never exceeded 50% and fell to a low of just 29% in his final weeks in office, shortly after a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol.
Republicans and Democrats werent just divided over Trumps handling of the job. They also interpreted many aspects of his character and personality in fundamentally opposite ways. In a 2019 survey, at least three-quarters of Republicans said the presidents words sometimes or often made them feel hopeful, entertained, informed, happy and proud. Even larger shares of Democrats said his words sometimes or often made them feel concerned, exhausted, angry, insulted and confused.
Related: From #MAGA to #MeToo: A Look at U.S. Public Opinion in 2017
When He Appointed An Anti
Who is the best person to head up family planning funding allocations for low-income communities, aka ensuring people with wombs have a right to choose whether they give birth or not?
According to Donald Trump, its Teresa Manning, a loud anti-abortion advocate and birth control sceptic.
Manning was appointed deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in 2017, where she oversaw Title X funding — money for contraceptive and sexul health services.
Her previous experience in the field came from stints at two large anti-abortion groups.
Eventually Manning resigned in 2018, with her successor Valerie Huber being a a staunch advocate of abstinence-only programs.
Just the person for the job then.
Also Check: How Do I Get Ahold Of President Trump
Trumps Foreign Policy Moments
Donald J. Trumps presidency marked a profound departure from U.S. leadership in areas such as trade and diplomacy, as well as an across-the-board toughening of immigration policies.
In his inaugural address, President Donald J. Trump announces an America First approach to foreign policy and trade, which centers on reducing U.S. trade deficits and rebalancing burden sharing within alliances. Trump promises to unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism and emphasizes that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
Trump directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a twelve-country, Asia-focused trade agreement the United States had championed under the Barack Obama administration.
The president signs an executive order banning nationals of six Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States for ninety days. The order, later amended to include an additional two countries, also indefinitely freezes refugee intake from Syria. Days later, a federal judge in Washington State blocks part of the order, beginning a series of judicial challenges. That same week, Trump signs two other executive orders concerning immigration. One directs federal funds to the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the other bars so-called sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants.
Washington Post
A Reckoning Over Racial Inequality
Racial tensions were a constant undercurrent during Trumps presidency, often intensified by the public statements he made in response to high-profile incidents.
The death of George Floyd, in particular, brought race to the surface in a way that few other recent events have. The videotaped killing of the unarmed, 46-year-old Black man by a White police officer in Minneapolis was among several police killings that sparked national and international protests in 2020 and led to an outpouring of public support for the Black Lives Matter movement, including from corporations, universities and other institutions. In a survey shortly after Floyds death in May, two-thirds of U.S. adults including majorities across all major racial and ethnic groups voiced support for the movement, and use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag surged to a .
Attitudes began to change as the protests wore on and sometimes turned violent, drawing sharp condemnation from Trump. By September, support for the Black Lives Matter movement had slipped to 55% largely due to decreases among White adults and many Americans questioned whether the nations renewed focus on race would lead to changes to address racial inequality or improve the lives of Black people.
Read Also: Why Trump Is A Bad President
Fair And Reciprocal Trade
Secured historic trade deals to defend American workers.
Took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First.
- Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop Chinas abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
- Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.
- Imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
- Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.
- Blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.
- Took action against France for its digital services tax that unfairly targets American technology companies.
- Launched investigations into digital services taxes that have been proposed or adopted by 10 other countries.
Historic support for American farmers.
$100m To Flint Michigan
Water contamination crisis started in April 2014
Its true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a Trump accomplishment or an Obama accomplishment.
As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies werent officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump.
Don’t Miss: How Many Approve Of Trump
The Best Thing The Trump Presidency Did
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
It’s funny what four years of a president who carries a healthy disregard for the Constitution, and a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, can do for people’s knowledge of our democratic institutions!
The Point: Donald Trump’s presidency was and is a cataclysm for democratic institutions. If it helps people realize how fragile this democracy is and what they need to know and do to sustain it, it will have done one good thing.
Record Number Of Regulations Eliminated That Hurt Small Businesses
This appears to be true.Mr. Trump has made reducing regulations a signature part of his legacy. He signed an executive order directing all agencies to repeal at least two existing regulations for each new regulation issued in the 2017 fiscal year and thereafter. A list of regulations that have been removed is being compiled by the Brookings Deregulation Tracker.
Recommended Reading: Why Does President Trump Lie So Much
Things That Are Better Now Because Of Trump
Relax, liberals. Some good things happened this year.
Matt Latimer is a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. He is currently a co-partner in Javelin, a literary agency and communications firm based in Alexandria, and contributing editor at Politico Magazine.
The end of the year is nigh. Time to discuss how the first year of Donald Trumpâs presidency has helped America. Letâs pause here while scores of peppermint mocha go crashing to the floor at Starbucks all across our nationâs capital.
To many Americans, of course, the thought that a Trump presidency could result in anything positive is the equivalent of a man recently telling a congressman recovering from a gun shot wound that at least the shooting was âa helluva way to lose weight.â But it is nonetheless true. Donald Trump: Year One hasnât been all bad for the nation. In fact, his presidency has clarified a lot. Itâs also strengthened a number of institutions that needed a wake-up call or two.
Here are a few that, in an odd way, might actually consider thanking Trump this holiday season.
Things Donald Trump Did As President You Might Have Missed
Trumps presidency may be best remembered for its cataclysmic end. But his four years as president also changed real American policy in lasting ways, just more quietly. We asked POLITICOs best-in-class policy reporters to recap some of the ways Trump changed the country while in office, for better or worse.
01/18/2021 06:30 AM EST
-
Link Copied
Many Americans will remember President Donald Trumps presidency as a four-yearlong storm of tweets, rallies and on-air rants that ended in a mob riot and historic second impeachment. But there was more to the Trump presidency than attention-hogging political drama and conflict often unnoticed, Trump and his administration actually did succeed in changing some of the ways Washington works.
From imposing a ban on Chinese-made drones to rolling back rules on sexual harassment, from cracking down on robocalls to letting states legalize marijuana, Trump changed some key areas of federal policy in ways that may have lasting impact well after hes gone.
But heres the thing between all the news coverage of the president himself, a global pandemic and various other upheavals, theres a good chance you missed a lot of them. So here is POLITICOs list of 30 important policy changes Trump made as president, how theyve affected our lives, families and businesses, and the prospects they will survive the incoming Biden administration.
Also Check: What Does Trump Think About Health Care
