Has Donald Trump made America great again? One hundred days into his presidency, this is the question we should be asking. The man who rode into the White House on powerful promises and inflammatory rhetoric has arguably had enough time now to enact his major pledges, especially given that he assured his supporters during the campaign that he was going to get down to work ‘on day one’.
Perhaps Trump’s most controversial act thus far has been his attempt to ban people from 7 of the world’s most Islamic countries from travelling to the USA. In what was quickly referred to as a ‘Muslim ban’, people travelling from these countries were detained in airports and refused entry. Even people who had boarded planes before this ban was in place, were detained in the airport when they landed. The ban was met with international outrage and protest, and was soon overturned and ruled unconstitutional by judges throughout the USA.
From Wikimedia Commons
Trump, this time supported by House Republicans, turned his attention to perhaps his biggest and most popular promise he has made in his campaign: the repealing and replacing of Obamacare. The Republicans drafted a rather barebones bill that offered little detail about what it would provide people with and, after the Congressional Budget Office released that the bill would make 24 million people uninsured and only save $150 billion, it was shot down almost immediately. Many of Trump’s opponents claim this as a victory, and hope that it will go some way to convince the President’s supporters that the man is incompetent. Trump’s supporters, however, remain fully behind their idol, supporting every one of his moves, convinced that he has some plan that they cannot possible understand. Supporting Donald Trump has become a religion, and Donald Trump a god.
‘Trump’s supporters, however, remain fully behind their idol, supporting every one of his moves, convinced that he has some plan that they cannot possible understand’
The most recent headlines regarding Donald Trump have concerned his foreign policy, something he spoke much about in the lead up to the election. He promised to take America into fewer wars, contrasting himself to Clinton, who had a reputation for treating America as the World Police during her term as Secretary of State. Since becoming President, Trump has bombed a Syrian airfield and dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on Afghanistan. These two terrifying actions, coupled with his dangerous rhetoric aimed at North Korea, have created world-wide tensions and an atmosphere of complete uncertainty reminiscent of the Cold War.
‘Since becoming President, Trump has bombed a Syrian airfield and dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on Afghanistan’
This aggressive and interventionist stance on foreign policy has provoked strong reactions from both liberals and conservatives. Ironically, a large swathe of Trump’s critics in the mainstream media have reacted positively to Trump’s actions whilst some of his die-hard supporters have been somewhat swayed. Many Americans voted for Trump as he built up a picture of Hillary being an evil maniacal warmonger, and these people were disturbed when Trump acted so swiftly and aggressively in bombing a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical attack supposedly carried out by the regime. Meanwhile, some liberal critics of Trump supported this action, citing it as a deterrent to any further inhumane acts by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
These failures and divisive actions have led to Trump’s approval ratings sinking to an average of 41%, a whole 20 points lower than the historic average of 61%. Trump’s supporters are slowly losing faith in their messiah whilst the critics remain mostly steadfast in voicing and demonstrating their disapproval. It is hard to see how a Presidency as resented and plagued by failure as this can continue for another three and a half years. Yet, it may not be Trump’s failures as President that lead to his demise; his links to Russia will topple him far sooner.
‘Trump’s supporters are slowly losing faith in their messiah whilst the critics remain mostly steadfast in voicing and demonstrating their disapproval’
Since before becoming President, Donald Trump has been surrounded in rumours regarding his relationship with Russia, a country America has historically had a strained relationship with, even more so following the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Rumours have suggested a plethora of compromising circumstances that Trump may be in. Some suggest he owes money to Russian oligarchs, others suggest unsavoury activities with Russian prostitution services. What all of these theories share is the idea that America’s commander-in-chief is a puppet and Vladimir Putin is pulling the strings.
From Wikimedia Commons
Rumours hold little power, especially in the consideration of an attempted Presidential impeachment, but the FBI appears to hold these rumours in high regard. FBI Director James Comey used a dossier compiled by ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele in order to gain surveillance warrants for some of Trump’s ex-advisors. This dossier, listing masses of ‘evidence’ for Trump being compromised has been heavily discredited by the media after Buzzfeed published the document with no information to verify or corroborate the information. However, the FBI have successfully used the document in order to convince a judge to extend and provide warrants for their Trump-Russia investigation, that means a great deal.
We could spend a long time analysing Trump’s first one hundred days. We can look at his failure in passing a Muslim Ban, his inability to replace Obamacare, his poor approval ratings, and his dangerous foreign policy actions. We can also discuss how he has admitted Mexico will not, in fact, be paying for his infamous border wall. We can talk about the protests to his presidency taking place internationally, and we can laugh at his unprofessional use of Twitter. But there is hope. By the end of 2018, Trump will potentially have been impeached and found guilty of treason. In his place, we may find Mike Pence, and, honestly, I’m not sure that’s much better.
