Opinion: Trump’s first 100 days and beyond
This is the last column I will be writing for the year. Therefore, I want to address an important topic about the current political climate: There is little question that Americans are more polarized now than they have been in the past and that the most recent election contributed to that polarization.
After the first 100 days of President Donald Trump being in office, I believe it is important to address the actions of the president and relate that to the promises he made on the campaign trail.
Firstly, it is important to address that the 100-day standard is arbitrary. It was originally established by historians while looking at Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency.
Roosevelt passed 76 bills in the midst of the Great Depression, and historians have used that benchmark since. However, Trump did use this benchmark himself and constantly said he would accomplish a great deal during this time.
During his campaign, Trump made a series of promises designed to change the nature of Washington, D.C.
In legislation, Trump fell short of where he predicted he would be. He has not managed to pass any major legislation yet.
It is important to note, however, that his proposed health-care plan was put up for a vote in the House of Representatives but was voted down. However, he has made strides in the form of executive orders. He implemented a federal hiring freeze for a short time and signed an executive order requiring two regulations to be lifted for every new one implemented.
Both of these were steps taken to reduce spending and minimize the size of the federal government.
He also took steps toward preventing what he called “the swamp” with an executive order banning administration employees from becoming lobbyists.
He also took steps to renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). These were both promises he looked to fulfill for his constituencies involved in manufacturing.
However, his most important accomplishment would be the nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This was a promise that swayed many hesitant conservative voters to decide to vote for him. It was also a major win for those who believe the seat of the late Justice Scalia should have been filled by another originalist.
Another front that has caused much controversy is his Twitter account.
He has shown by his tweets that he is not following the path of past presidents by acting in a purely cordial manner while communicating to the public. However, I believe there should be more of an emphasis on the actions the president takes as opposed to what he says, especially via social media.
Now is the time to look at each action and decide whether those are good or bad, according to your individual principles. It is important to criticize him in the areas in which he does productive things and criticize them when he does not.
Those who either criticize or praise what he says or who he is loses credibility.
The most important thing to do is to be consistent when looking at the presidency.
Jacob Tabler is a member of the College Republicans, contact him at [email protected].