WASHINGTON: President Trump has created a nation of schizophrenics. On one hand, it is hard to argue that this results-oriented President has been incredibly successful in many diverse areas of national leadership. At the same time, on any given day, he is able to stir up a frenzy that ranges from bewilderment to anger with a single tweet. Over the past three and a half years, he has checked off as “accomplished” campaign promise after campaign promise from the 2016 election.
The results were outstanding until the pandemic sidetracked things. We were a nation with a strong economy, recognized as a blatant truth-teller throughout the world.
President Trump's Foreign Policy
One has to think hard to remember the challenges facing the nation when Trump was sworn in on January 20, 2017. ISIS, a terrorist group, had taken control of large sections of Syria and proclaimed it a new caliphate. Reckoning back to the “glory days” of Islam. This self-proclaimed nation-state, they claimed, would draw all Muslims together as one, governed not by secular government, but by Islam. Their goal was death to Israel and death to America.
By simply taking the shackles the Obama administration put on the US military off, the territory was liberated quickly. ISIS, while still plotting, has been relegated to hiding in dark corners of the world.
Demanding a non-Nuclear Iran
An agreement was in place with Iran that gave them the authority to begin pursuing advanced nuclear capabilities, with the world’s approval, just nine years from now. Of course, the deal also left a great deal of verification that it was abiding by the terms of the agreement up to Iran itself.
By agreeing to the deal, Iran was given billions of dollars in cash by the Obama administration. The US cash gift was then used to fund terrorism throughout the world.( Ransom or leverage? $400M to Iran played role in hostage release)
President Trump withdrew from the agreement and began slapping sanctions back on Iran. Vowing that Iran would never acquire a nuclear weapon.
A sense of Presidential style
President Trump’s unusual style of diplomacy, spouting effusive praise on leaders of Russia, China, and even, ultimately, North Korea, has caused havoc among Congress and media talking heads. His desire for closer relations with Russia and his refusal to publically criticize Putin was, perhaps, the seed that led to the Left’s narrative that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to rig the election for Trump.
Even after a $40 million Independent Council Investigation concluded that there was no collusion, some on the Left still use those talking points.
Peter Strzok implicates Obama; Biden in coup plot against Flynn, Trump
However, as highly as the President speaks of the leaders of competitors, even enemy, nations, his administration has been tougher on them than any other in recent history. Trump shipped arms to Ukraine, allowing them to defend themselves against Russian aggression. Obama had provided blankets and MREs. President Trump added to the sanctions toward Russia that the Obama administration had placed on them. He expelled dozens of Russian diplomats from the US and even played hardball with allies of the US to discourage them from sourcing their petroleum needs with Russian oil.
With North Korea, Trump used the threat of the military and economic power of the United States to curb their aggression while at the same time painting a picture of a potentially economic wonderland if Kim Jong Un would give up his nuclear weapons and join the world of cooperative nations.
While Kim Jong-Un appears reluctant, at best, his aggression has subsided considerably.
Returning home after a typical 20 hour day for the President
China and COVID
Interestingly, even in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic, the President seems reluctant to attack his Chinese peer directly. And yet, after getting China to the table for successful trade talks, his administration has shown bright lights on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) responsibility for the spread of the pandemic and the human rights violations that approach Nazi Germany’s level.
Trump makes no bones about his revulsion toward the CCP’s actions. He has worked to rally the world to oppose it. In July, he closed the Chinese consulate in Houston.
Trump has even developed reluctant respect from friendly nations. Every nation needs to pull their own weight. Trump alone got NATO nations to increase their contribution to the organization by billions of dollars per year.
President Trump's Domestic Policy
Trump inherited an economy that had an anemic growth pattern. Obama had announced that it was “the new normal.” However, Trump was able to accelerate economic growth in the United States, primarily by reversing the policies of the Obama administration. The President slashed government regulations and warned those in his administration that no new regulations were to be brought to him unless the carrier also had 2 or more regulations to eliminate.
He has cut eight regulations for everyone added.
Bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
President Trump has personally called many CEOs whose companies had plans to move manufacture outside the US. Using virtual arm twisting arms and painting a picture of the future convincing them being Made in America was the right goal.
He scrapped NAFTA and renegotiated it in a way that was fairer for the US, but also was beneficial to Mexico and Canada. He even used the “t” word (tariffs), where other countries were not competing fairly in the world market. As a result, the decline in manufacturing jobs was halted and, in the first three years of his administration, Trump has added 480,000 such jobs.
Utilizing a combination of tax cuts and cuts in regulations, the Trump administration has given companies the confidence to invest in their businesses in the US.
Over 7 million new jobs were added in the first three years of the administration. This compares to 2.45 million jobs in all 8 years of the Obama presidency.
Unemployment was reduced to 50-year-lows. Discouraged workers returned to the labor market. Minorities and women enjoyed the lowest unemployment rates in history. High employment spurring wages higher.
For the first time in many years, the USA is oil independent under Donald Trump. No longer are we obliged to other nations for needed oil.
The Trump administration re-invested in the military. Under the Obama administration, weapons had become obsolete. Equipment was not properly maintained and sat unusable for a lack of spare parts. Training had been reduced to meet an artificial spending limit. Those issues are no longer a problem.
President Donald J. Trump signs H.R. 4334- The Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
The CORONAVirus
Trump is now being tested as no president has in over a century. The deadly coronavirus was knowingly unleashed on the world by the Chinese Communist Party. Consider the challenges the President and his team faced:
- The CCP refused to cooperate with world nations, instead coaxing the head of the World Health Organization to publicly state, in January, that there was no evidence of human to human transmission of the virus.
- The virus was unknown previously so experts had to learn about it as the US and cooperating nations experienced it first hand
- The Federal stockpile of medical supplies that was established in 1999, anticipating regional emergencies, was sorely inadequate. In addition, the N-95 face masks in the supply were drawn down in 2009 by the Obama administration due to the H1N1 virus. That inventory not being restored. Leaving shelves empty and Americans in a lurch with COVID.
Trump drew on all of his experience and his team of experts to make difficult decisions:
- President Trump restricted travel from China on January 31 as some, including Joe Biden, said the move stemmed from hysteria and xenophobia. Travel from Europe was restricted in early March and others followed. Experts have indicated that these decisions likely saved millions from getting the virus early and many deaths as a result.
- When they realized the anticipated shortfall in PPE and respirators the President reached out to private industry. That private industry using their creativity and capacity to manufacture the supplies. Many companies stepped up and began manufacturing things they never had before. Trump declared a national emergency, giving him the authority to take over private industry, if need be, for national good. He resisted acting on it, rather, keeping it in his hip pocket in the event a company needed coaxing.
- As more became known about the virus and due to the need to minimize new cases so the medical systems would not be overwhelmed, Trump made the decision to advise all states to shut down their economies and encourage most workers to remain at home for a 15 day period.
- Multiple aid packages were developed with Congress in order to help people and small companies through the shutdown. Unfortunately, the shutdown has lasted for many months in some locations and for some industries. They continue the work to pass additional legislation as needed.
President Trump: Fighting Covid-19 virus like the boss of America
Medical experts advised Trump and the public that a vaccine would take 18 months to two years to develop. The President pressed and asked the right questions. He then commanded the implementation of operation “Warp Speed”. This joint effort between multiple government agencies and private companies has the goal of having 300 million doses of vaccine ready to administer by January of 2021.
The country will begin manufacturing the most promising vaccines in large quantities even as they enter phase three trials of the development process. How does this compare to previous vaccines? Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser of Operation Warp Speed told CNN,
“I've been doing this for 30 years, and the fastest thing that I ever can remember that went from discovery to Phase Three trials was in four years."
Presidential Accomplishment at Warp Speed
If these and other accomplishments by the Trump Administration were placed on paper without being tied to a name, most would be amazed that a government could accomplish so much in a short time.
Some would not believe it.
Yet, the Trump administration has accomplished these things during a time when the opposition party was spending millions of taxpayer dollars trying to link him to a conspiracy. 95% of all effort by the Democrat party during Trump’s first term has been to impeach Donald Trump, which they succeeded in doing (though he was never convicted in the Senate), or trying to make Trump look bad.
The Rolling of the Eyes
A record like this will cause a president to be forever beloved by the people, or so you would think. However, Donald J Trump is hard to love. Many cry for greater transparency in government. Trump is so transparent that he says whatever is on his mind, whether he has thought it through or not. His poorly-crafted comments have caused his opponents to claim he is a racist. His impulsive comments sometimes have worked directly to take the public’s attention off his successes. The focus moving to his controversial comment.
President Trump attacks people personally. He behaves like a bully, and self-obsessed would be a modest description of his ego. How could he get himself in trouble so often? He’s not always in public. No, but he has a Twitter account that is.
The President’s most ardent followers love it. They think, “He says what many people are thinking.” They have longed for decades to have a conservative in the White House who fights back, unlike most conservative presidents who seem to have believed it was beneath the Office of the Presidency to go there.
Others who love what he has done, cringe with many of the things he says. “Why did he have to go there,” is a common retort. With a roll of the eyes and the shake of the head, they are ready to change the subject.
Trump Derangement Syndrome
Then there are those who can’t get past his words. His opponents and much of the media are obsessed with his words. He is loathed above anyone ever seen in politics and as a result, they will never credit him with anything for fear a voter might think a positive thought toward him.
Perhaps his success scares them more than anything. In January of 2020, Trump’s economy was so incredible that the only thing they could attack was his character. The only thing that could stop his reelection would be a pandemic. A foreign virus that killed more than 150,000 people. Putting 10 million people out of work.
And that is the hope of the Democrat party. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has called it the “Trump virus.” (U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls coronavirus the 'Trump virus')
#Trump2020
It will be interesting to see what drives the voters in November.
Will it be the desire to have someone in the White House that makes things happen, for the benefit of the American people? Or will it be their desire not to have to hear or to read every thought of the president for the next four years?
However, people have control over what they read and listen to. Their only control of our country’s direction is their vote. And our country needs Trump to stop our descent into Democrat anarchy.
