It’s been a wild year in the jungle of politics, so I think it’s only right that we go back and look at what has happened over the past year. Specifically, we’ll be taking a look at what Donald Trump has done, and applying it to my conservative report card. The categories I’ll be grading Trump on are foreign policy, national security, taxation and regulation, domestic policy, and rhetoric. Since it’s the end of November, let’s start in December 2017.
First, on foreign policy, Trump has made waves all around the globe, from his interactions with European leaders to the first meeting between a U.S. President and the leader of North Korea. I think Trump has done an excellent job by projecting strength through peace. Although this may upset many world leaders, many of them forget that without the U.S. military they would cease to exist. To be fair, not everything is good. I am still not a huge fan of the trade war with China and other countries. A trade war on such a large scale can hurt the U.S., China, and many other countries. What this ultimately means is a step backward for individuals whose jobs relied on trade between China and the U.S. So I would give him a B+ in this category.
Donald Trump’s messages and actions truly prove that he is committed to improving our national security. Building the wall, attempting to improve the immigration system, and increasing funding to the military and U.S. customs enforcement are just a few of his accomplishments. The only issue I can think of was the border crisis where children were separated from their families. Even with the current caravan situation down at the border, I think Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have been handling a difficult situation extremely well. So in this category, I would give Trump an A-.
First and foremost, I should make it clear that my position on taxation is that it is essentially government robbery. With that said, I am extremely thankful for the tax cuts passed under the Trump administration. Granted, I am annoyed that the income tax cut was not permanent, and that the deficit has increased because no spending was cut. Hopefully, Trump and the incoming Congress will work together on this. As Trump cut taxes, he also managed to cut regulation, giving businesses the chance to flourish and operate with less burden. And just so people don’t think I’m some sort of an anarchist, I do think we need regulations in place, just not old outdated ones that don’t actually make a difference. I’m going to say B here.
Domestic policy is probably the broadest of all the categories. In this case, I can’t really find much fault in the administration. I think Trump has done a good job handling all of the natural disasters so far, even managing to keep the economy at record highs in the aftermath of major storms. Trump has supported school choice, welfare and prison reform, and a thriving energy sector. My only real grievance is the lack of progress on fixing the health care system. Eliminating the taxes related to Obamacare was a good start, but it’s not enough. So I’ll give him an A- here.
Rhetoric is probably where I diverge a significant amount from the president. The man needs to put down the phone and stop tweeting, or at least let his advisors read the tweets before he sends them. Not all of his tweets are bad, but you know they’re too much when the national media has to have a breaking news story every time he puts his 140 characters out for everyone to see. Trump rarely gets in trouble for actual policy issues, it’s more of what he says and then doesn’t actually follow up on. This not only makes liberals’ heads explode but conservatives as well when there was a much better way to communicate his message without stirring up controversy. For this I’m giving Trump a C-.
Overall, I think Trump deserves a B+ for his work, but that really only means that he has significant room for improvement.
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