Trump Is an Effective President Despite (Because of?) His Weaknesses

Donald Trump is an effective president. Why? Because he is accomplishing much of what he committed to do during his presidential campaign and what he desires to do.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Trump has numerous weaknesses. He seems egotistical, a megalomaniac. His tweets and comments often contain much hyperbole or blatant lies. His past allegedly includes some shady business dealings and sexual harassment.

I did not vote for him. In fact due to what I perceived as major character flaws of Trump and Hillary Clinton, I voted for one of the other candidates in the November 2016 election. As an independent, I couldn’t vote in the primary election, but if I could, I likely would have voted for a United States Senator from my home state, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

Mavericks Versus Political Party Supporters

Both Trump and Paul are mavericks. They seek to do things differently than the standard procedures of the Democratic and Republican machines. A whole lot of people who are fed up with the way things have been done support Trump (and Paul, who agrees with Trump on many things, but not all). Trump and Paul are both Republicans, but they both have some ideas that go against their own Republican party.

Millions of people (including me) are fed up with persons who follow strictly Republican or strictly Democratic principles. Trump probably is not much more popular with traditional Republicans than with liberal Democrats. If a secret ballot were taken, most Republican Senators would probably prefer Vice President Mike Pence to hold the office. For example, Republicans dislike Trump’s plans to rebuild infrastructure and his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and other areas.

Some of President Donald Trump’s 2016 Campaign Promises  

·         Judges. Trump committed to appointing conservative, pro-life Supreme Court justices. He has done so, appointing two, both confirmed and now on the court. He has also appointed numerous other conservative judges in various positions.

·         Trade. Trump promised to replace NAFTA. He negotiated a new agreement (USMCA) that if confirmed will be a new approach to trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. He is also in various stages of new trade agreements with China, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

·         Environment. Trump, as promised, has rolled-back environmental regulations on coal mining, light bulbs energy consumption, air quality, the Clean Water Act, restrictions on oil and gas drilling in certain areas, and cut the EPA’s budget and scope.

·         Immigration. Trump campaigned on a plan to expand and improve the border wall(s) along the Mexican border, and he sought to greatly reduce illegal immigration. He has worked to do so, with limited success thus far, but he certainly has sought to do it.

·     Obamacare and healthcare. Trump promised to abolish Obamacare. He has succeeded in ending the mandate for persons to purchase health care. And other changes are in court. Trump also seeks for healthcare prices to be more transparent, so persons can see the rates insurance providers negotiate with health care providers and actual costs of procedures, versus the rates the general public pays.  

·       Taxes. Federal tax forms have been simplified and taxes have been lowered.

·      Infrastructure. Trump has sought to rebuild infrastructure. But Democrats seem reluctant to help and it is not an issue Republicans seem interested greatly in spending money on.

·     Worldwide military presence and counterproductive warfare. Trump has sought to reduce the number of U.S. troops in various areas of the world despite opposition from many Republican leaders.

·  Radical Islamic terrorism. Trump’s administration has made significant strides in combatting radical Islamic terrorism.

·  Jerusalem embassy. Trump’s administration moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Even if I disagree with some of President Trump’s accomplishments, I give him credit for coming closer to fulfilling his campaign promises--or seeking to do so--than most (if not all) Presidents of my lifetime.

These accomplishments make him popular with a lot of folks—and unpopular with a lot of others.

The Impeachment Process

A primary reason for the impeachment process may not be that he has abused power, lied, etc. Instead, many are concerned that he accomplished things that the liberal Democrats dislike—and that he may be reelected for another four years. Indeed, the Democrats calling for Trump’s impeachment didn’t get upset about Barack Obama’s frequent executive orders, etc., that seemed to abuse the power of the presidency.

It surprises me that the Trump impeachment proceedings focus on his seeking an investigation of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. If the Bidens were doing wrong, they should be investigated. If not, the investigation presumably wouldn’t find anything. Maybe other alleged infractions of Trump are worse.

I wrote about the impeachment process in a November 12, 2019 Google Blogger piece.  I still feel Trump will not be forcibly removed from office.

My guess is that the impeachment trial will be over before the end of winter. And the public may tire of seeing, hearing, and reading about it before then. Voters in November 2020 will vote more based on how the United States economy is at that time than based on impeachment proceedings.

Final Thoughts

The nation may be its most divided since the Civil War and its aftermath. Following the Civil War and the installation of Andrew Johnson as successor to President Abraham Lincoln, Radical Republicans were outraged by some of President Andrew Johnson’s actions, such as his support for leniency for the South. Johnson was impeached and saved by one vote from being convicted and removed from office by the U.S. Senate. Some of Trump’s actions outrage people, too.

Donald Trump has not bridged the divisiveness in the country or the huge gap between the income of the working class and the income of the wealthy elite. But, Donald Trump has an impressive list of accomplished campaign promises thus far.

Furthermore, he is working on fulfilling more campaign promises. Many of those who voted for him in 2016 have even more reason to vote for him in 2020. Of course, many of those who voted against him in 2016 have even more reason to vote against him.

Arguably, Trump’s most important unfilled campaign promise is the one to restore economic prosperity, including for coal miners. He has taken positive steps. But a lot of coal miners remain unemployed. A lot of workers in various occupations remain paid relatively little compared to CEOs. The huge gap between the typical wages of workers and the riches of the corporate elites remains huge.

My guess is that the state of the economy will be more important in next year’s presidential election than the impeachment process.

Personally, I seek to pray for President Trump and other officials. I pray that they will seek to make the right decisions and do the right things.

Lots of things need changed. Lots of things need restored. Actions need taken.

And assertive mavericks like Donald Trump and Rand Paul are more likely to take innovative action for change than career lawyer politicians. As long as persons keep Trump under reasonable control to overcome his missteps, his record of accomplishments may keep building.

Depending on who else is on the ballot, God willing, I may even vote for Trump myself in November 2020—though I remain hopeful for a much better maverick candidate. Yes, Donald Trump has major weaknesses, but lack of significant accomplishments as President is not one of them. For better or worse, he has done or sought to do much of what he campaigned promising to do.

NOTE:

This article being submitted to Google Blogger on November 20, 2019 is very similar to one the author submitted on November 17, 2019 to the website Craft News Report, which is operated by his friend Paul Craft.