At first, we laughed at the idea of Trump “Making America Great Again,” and after he won, we were scared he’d follow through with his terrifying campaign promises. He now brags his administration has made “incredible progress,” but we know he has failed to accomplish anything to take pride in. After almost a year of his presidency, Trump has represented America, and its values dreadfully, and effectively made strides in reversing American progress.
Most likely to go down as the worst president in history, Trump is currently one of the most unpopular presidents in the modern era. His approval rating is currently 37 percent, and sadly for him, it continues to average right around there. This is unsurprising, though, considering he not only failed to receive 50 percent of the votes in 2016, he also lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
But, the American people’s feelings of anguish and defeat have pushed many people to get involved in politics to stop the same thing from happening in future elections. We see this on campus, with a splurge of students joining College Democrats as an opportunity to no longer feel powerless but rather feel empowered by the democratic movement. We also saw this in New Jersey and Virginia, as Democrats swept the 2017 elections and took many key seats, a major rebound as the American people showed where their true values lie. We will most likely see more of this in the 2018 election next year, where we can take back the House and Senate, and say goodbye to Governor Walker for good.
One of Trump’s biggest campaign promises was to crack down on immigration and build a border wall with Mexico. Thankfully, he failed to build the wall, as he needs congressional approval and Congress will hopefully see what a huge mistake that would be. Moreover, Trump continues to insist that Mexico will pay for it, despite its leaders saying otherwise. Trump also decided to end DACA which caused devastation and panic for nearly 800,000 people.
Protecting young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, repealing the act could result in deportation to countries they do not call home. He has proved to be cruel and inconsiderate, making bad decisions and even worse policies.
Embracing his image of a “successful” businessman, Trump claims he is great for the American economy. So far, the basic trajectory of the economy under President Trump remains the same as it did under President Obama. He did not make a serious impact on the economy so far. But, we can expect the national debt to climb now that the tax reform plan passed which will add $1.7 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade. Republicans scrambled to pass this sloppily written tax plan to fulfill at least one of their promised goals, yet the plan barely passed the Senate with a 51-49 vote, and it will have serious repercussions for the American economy and people in the future.
Throughout the Obama presidency, Republicans complained and moaned about Obamacare, yet after gaining control of the executive and legislative branch they had no plan to “repeal and replace” whatsoever. After proposing a horrific health care bill they knew would make millions of Americans sicker and poorer, the Senate bill did not have enough support to bring it to the floor for a vote. It was quite the embarrassing episode for Trump and the Republican Party, which controls the presidency and both chambers of Congress for the first time in 11 years.
Blindly putting “America first,” the Trump administration put the environment last on their list of priorities. After taking office, Trump foolishly approved the controversial Keystone Pipeline that environmentalists, Native American tribes and landowners avidly protested to protect sacred land and drinking water. Surprise, surprise, the pipeline recently leaked 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota last month. He also withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and we are now the only country in the world to refuse the deal, which focuses on preventing climate change.
On top of this, he also signed an executive order revoking federal flood-risk standards that incorporated rising sea levels predicted by climate science; the Trump administration’s EPA decided to delay Obama-era regulations on ozone; his administration canceled a rule that — prevented endangered whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in fishing nets. Recently, he keeps us on our feet waiting to hear if he will allow the import of elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is frankly absurd to make these seemingly small and arbitrary changes that will have major impacts on our environment.
Trump’s transgender reforms inflame already serious societal problem
Lastly, let’s not forget that the White House babysitters fail to keep him from sending out extremely inappropriate and blatantly childish tweets. He repeatedly provokes unstable North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him a “bad dude,” a “madman,” “short and fat,” and threatened him with “fire and fiery” the world has never seen before. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Trump and his administration are “begging for nuclear war.” There is no excuse for his immaturity and lack of professionalism on Twitter, and everywhere else for that matter.
College Republicans now proudly announce their full-fledged support of Trump, despite their extreme hesitation to endorse him last year. Just like the GOP, they blindly support him although he is an embarrassment to our country. Donald Trump will go down as the worst US president in history. His immaturity, lack of self-control, and inability to follow through with his promises proves just how true that is.
Claudia Koechell ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in history and political science. She is the press secretary for UW College Democrats.
