Author: Heidi Tran

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The First 500 Days of Trump: A Matter of Perspective

As of June 4, 2018, Donald Trump has been in office for more than 500 days. He has signed 180 bills into law, and Congress has introduced over 10,000 bills. Trump claims credit not only for numerous executive actions, but also for a number of aspects of the current state of our country, such as the economy.

On June 4, 2018, Trump tweeted, “This is my 500th. Day in Office and we have accomplished a lot – many believe more than any President in his first 500 days. Massive Tax & Regulation Cuts, Military & Vets, Lower Crime & Illegal Immigration, Stronger Borders, Judgeships, Best Economy & Jobs EVER, and much more…”

Though many of Trump’s staunch supporters point to Trump’s set of accomplishments, others view the same list as an array of unfortunate setbacks for the U.S. Here are some highlights of Trump’s first 500 days in office.

 Massive Tax and Regulation Cuts

One of Donald Trump’s proudest achievements in his first 500 days has been the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduces tax rates for businesses and individuals, increases the standard deduction and family tax credits, eliminates personal exemptions, and limits deductions for property taxes and state and local income taxes. The bill also repeals the individual mandate that was part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In his first 500 days, Trump has also cut numerous regulations on business and industry. The Trump Administration has mandated that for every new regulation, two must be eliminated. Trump has exceeded this goal, however; in reality, 22 regulations have been eliminated for every new regulation.

Included in Trump’s list of deregulating triumphs (as perceived by his supporters and Trump, himself) are the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, the Clean Water/Waters of the United States Rule, and numerous other environmental protections. The Trump administration has also withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Lower Crime and Illegal Immigration; Stronger Borders

One of Trump’s first actions in office was to issue travel bans on those coming into the U.S. from a select group of countries. The countries were all predominantly Muslim countries, labeled by the Trump administration as “embroiled in terrorist atrocities.”

Between January 20, 2017 and September 30, 2017, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) reported an significant  increase in arrests of undocumented immigrants, up 42 percent from the same period in 2016. Most of the immigrants arrested were already convicted of crimes, were facing charges, were about to be deported from the U.S., or were considered fugitives from ICE. In addition, approximately 61,000 other undocumented immigrants were deported during that time.

“Best Economy and Jobs EVER”

In Trump’s first 500 days, the unemployment rate has dropped to 3.8 percent, which is the lowest it’s been since early 2000. Trump takes credit for this, but the current low unemployment rate is, in reality, part of the continuing trend that started before Trump was in office.

Trump also praises himself for the increasing rate of U.S. job creation. In reality, this is the seventh consecutive year that jobs have steadily increased. More than 2 million jobs were created or added in 2017, and the number has continued to increase every month – for 92 months. This means that the trend began during the Obama administration.

Trump’s supporters also credit him with taking significant actions to reduce big government, and one of the areas Trump has gone after in this regard is federal jobs. On his first day in office, Trump placed a hiring freeze on Federal employees. Various members of the Trump administration have also helped with the effort to shrink government. Scott Pruitt has replaced, reassigned, or demoted numerous top scientists and officials at the Environmental Protection Agency. Mick Mulvaney fired all 25 members of the Consumer Advisory Board, a part of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Other achievements

Here are some other achievements Trump has managed in his first 500 days in office:

Golf outings: Trump has visited the golf course more than 102 times in his first 500 days as president, according to ABC News.

Tweets: Trump’s tweets are tracked by several websites, who report that Trump has tweeted 3496 times as of his first 500 days. Averaging seven tweets a day, he has called the Russia investigation a “witch hunt” 57 times, and used the term “fake news” 224 times while tweeting.

Phone calls to Putin: Donald Trump has had at least eight phone calls with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, in his first 500 days.

Trump White House senior staff who no longer work there: The Trump administration has set a record for White House staff departures in its first 500 days. At least 30 senior officials resigned from the White House staff during that period, and at least 12 additional senior staff members were terminated.

Trump’s fans tout what the president has done so far as proud victories. Many others, however, cringe to think of another 500 days that resemble anything near those that have just passed. One can only wonder what another 500 days of the Trump presidency will bring – or inflict – depending on one’s perspective.

President Donald Trump’s First 500 Days And The State Of His Legislative Agenda | CNBC  [2018-06-04]

First 500 days: Trump’s accomplishments | Fox News  [2018-06-04]

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Could Trump Pardon Himself?

Less than two years ago, most Americans would probably have laughed at the suggestion that a president, whether Trump or a previous president, could grant himself a pardon. And in the American experience, very few presidents have even been in the position for the topic of a presidential pardon, let alone a “self-pardon,” to come up. Until recently, too, the idea of a U.S. president having unbounded power in any area was unthinkable. But the Donald Trump presidency continues to test and stretch beyond the bounds of reason.

Recently, the New York Times obtained a confidential 20-page memo written by Trump’s attorneys to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The document argues, in effect, that Donald Trump, as president, has the power to direct the Department of Justice to open or terminate any investigation at any time and for any reason. Consequently, with this authority, it’s not possible for Trump to be guilty of committing obstruction of justice. The memo also asserts that the president has the power to pardon anyone at any time before, during, or after an investigation or conviction.

“Indeed, the President not only has unfettered statutory and Constitutional authority to terminate the FBI Director, he also has Constitutional authority to direct the Justice Department to open or close an investigation, and, of course, the power to pardon any person before, during, or after an investigation and/or conviction. Put simply, the Constitution leaves no question that the President has exclusive authority over the ultimate conduct and disposition of all criminal investigations and over those executive branch officials responsible for conducting those investigations,” the memo declares.

News of the memo and its content has led many Americans to ask, “Does this mean that Trump could pardon himself? And if so, would he?” Trump’s attorneys say that, though it’s unthinkable that Trump would actually pardon himself, he does have the authority to do so.

At this point in the Trump presidency, it shouldn’t require much effort to suspend disbelief and assume that, of course he would pardon himself.

There was a time when many Americans were incredulous that Donald Trump, an unqualified reality TV star, could actually be elected President of the United States. Then, many Americans were flabbergasted when his supporters, many of them evangelical conservatives, continued to support him despite the fact that his actions and words largely went against what they purported to believe.

Many of those outside Trump’s base have learned simply to stop expecting an epiphany as Trump supporters continue to make excuses for Trump, his actions, and his words, no matter what.  With each new preposterous Trumpian tweet or sensationalist-sounding news story of Trump’s antics, we shake our heads in disbelief a little less vigorously.

One might think, though, that this recent declaration of “exclusive authority” that Trump’s lawyers assert belongs to the President of the United States, would be too much even for Trump’s staunchest supporters to stand behind.  This, some of us have assured ourselves, must surely be the last straw. It negates the system of checks and balances set up to prevent the danger of precisely a situation like this – a leader attempting to exert unrestrained authority – from happening. It resembles support for an authoritarian leader a little too closely.

Though many Republicans are troubled by the memo put out by Trump’s lawyers, other key GOP members such as Paul Ryan, stand behind its assertions. Many in the GOP, that party known for its position of “smaller government,” are going along with the idea that a president can, in effect, rule as an authoritarian, at least when it comes to how justice is carried out (or obstructed, as the case may be).

We can only hope that reason (with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court) would prevail if our country landed in a position where Donald Trump were actually poised to pardon himself, or if he would actually get away with acting like a totalitarian ruler. Perhaps we can draw some hope from the Supreme Court case, United States v. Nixon, in which the court ruled unanimously that presidential privilege did not supplant the law. Following the ruling, Nixon resigned. Then again, in the current political landscape, reason and credulity appear to have ever-widening boundaries.

 

Can President Trump pardon himself in the Russia investigation? | Face the Nation [2013-06-03]

Can Trump pardon himself? | Fox Business [2018-06-04]

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