Trump’s first 100(ish) days in office

A roundup of what did, did not get done; and what are the implications of the actions, inactions?

MEMO MAN — Although trump has not accomplished much legislatively, he has made waves through the liberal use of executive orders and memos, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Barrack Obama. (Reuters)

The election of Donald Trump will be go down in history as one of the more decisive moments of the last decade, barring any drastic changes that he may enact while serving in our nations top office. Regardless of your political views, U.S. presidents are evaluated for their performance during their first 100 days because if they fail to make good on some, or at least a few of their campaign promises, the following 1,360 days will be a fight to maintain their mandate.

Trump’s 100 day promise is not fulfilled, but he did manage to achieve a select few important accomplishments. Neil Gorsuch, the successor to deceased Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia, was confirmed in a very narrow vote by the Senate and is currently serving as the courts newest and youngest judge. Later today, Trump may announce a rumored slash in the corporate tax rate to around 15 percent. This move would likely trigger a massive influx of corporate offshore cash reserves, which would likely lead to increased investment and growth. It is unknown whether Trump’s tax plan has a way to fill the gap left by the tax break.

Attempting to fulfill one of his larger campaign promises, Trump and several Republican lawmakers put forth a new healthcare bill last month. The proposed healthcare bill, although currently torpedoed, reaffirmed Trump’s, and the greater Republican party’s, intention to enact change on the “horrible” healthcare system that Barrack Obama signed into law.

In the same vein of challenging his predecessors policies, Trump has attempted to cut federal funding for cities and states that attempt to protect illegal immigrants. This rhetoric has caused protests, which as oxymoronic as it sounds, are protesting the enforcement of laws. Additionally, Trump has attempted to increase his perceived military strength around the globe by taking a more active role than his predecessor in international disputes and threats, perceived or real.

So far there has been four high profile international military operations, and while Trump touted how secretive he would be of military strategy while on the campaign trail, he seems to have found a liking for the ratings boosts they often bring. First, there was the special operations attack in Yemen that left one US service man dead, second was the cruise missile strike on a Syrian army air force base, whose effectiveness has been called into question.

Soon after the strike on the airbase, a MOAB bomb was dropped in southern Afghanistan on an ISIS encampment in response to the death of a Green Beret, and possible to ward off future North Korean nuclear tests. The last and most recent military action has been the reassignment of the US air force carrier Carl Vinson Strike group near North Korean waters.

The latest publicized military event came on the heels of a summit between Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as China has begun to take a hard stance with their wild ally on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has been seemingly preparing for yet another nuclear test, but after threats from both their sole ally and ultimate nemesis, they have scaled back rhetoric from vowing to eliminate Washington, D.C. to asking the U.S. to refrain from interfering in their activities. Trump has sharply scaled up the U.S.’s responses to North Korean aggression in relation to how Obama responded during his time as president. This ramifications of this increase have yet to be seen, but will likely be felt in the remaining time Trump has in office.

Another effect of Trump’s presidency seen in the U.S. before he had even taken office were protests against his victory. #NotMyPresident and similar movements held demonstrations in cities across the nation, and still continue to this day. Some of the most violent have been supported by the groups called Antifa and Open Society, who promote politics and ideals that oppose most of what Trump and the Republican establishment stand for.

Although they are seemingly for more open laws and free speech, they, or people with similar ideology, have been responsible for the shut down of several conservative speakers on college campuses across the country. Regardless of political opinion, free speech is an unalienable right as per the Bill of Rights.

The first few months, and nearly one hundred days, of Trump’s presidency have been entertaining to say the least. One can only hope that he does a good job, rather than focusing on ways to disrupt his actions. If the international and domestic sentiments of the spring continue into the summer Trump may have quite a bit of work on his hands.