President Donald Trump P ’00 delivers his first address to a joint session Congress on February 28, 2017.
On February 15, 2016, President Donald Trump P ’00 remarked that if he were elected President, “We’re going to win so much. You’re going to get tired of winning.” However, two and a half months into his presidency, Mr. Trump has failed to deliver on that promise. From the blocking of the travel ban to the scrapping of the American Health Care Act, Mr. Trump’s administration is on a losing streak with no end in sight.
First of all, Mr. Trump could not even get his signature healthcare plan to the House floor due to overwhelming opposition. Thus, he failed at one of the preliminary stages in passing legislation. Indeed, the AHCA was no small component of his presidency — repealing and replacing Obamacare was and still is the primary objective of the GOP and a major promise of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.
Moreover, Mr. Trump has lost the battle for his travel ban not once, but twice. His stanceon immigration from Muslim-majority nations was another key facet of his campaign, yet he was unable to pass that piece of legislation as well. Mr. Trump also lost his fight to damage the integrity of former President Barack Obama by accusing him of wiretapping during the election without any legitimate proof. Not only are all of these defeats ironic, but they are just plain amusing. A man that has published books titled The Art of the Deal and Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success now holds more power than anyone else in the free world but still cannot pass legislation.
While it can be said that Mr. Trump is failing due to obstruction from Democrats, Republicans do hold a congressional majority, which should alleviate that issue. The real problem Mr. Trump faces is that he is not just hated by the Democrats, but by many Republicans, particularly the Freedom Caucus, too. This should speak to Mr. Trump’s fundamental nature and leadership skills: if he cannot gain the support of his own party, is it possible for him to accomplish anything? He has already ignited tension with foreign leaders such as President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, showing that his international relations skills are abysmal.
In regard to his hypocrisy, the American people have repeatedly witnessed Mr. Trump practicing what he once preached against. For example, despite frequently complaining about President Obama golfing while in office, Mr. Trump has golfed thirteen times in his ten weeks as POTUS. While he refers to many media sources as “the enemy of the American people” and fake news, he does not mind one of his chief advisors and Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, promoting the phrase “alternative facts.” Thus, Americans cannot place trust in Mr. Trump due to his blatant hypocrisy.
The list of Mr. Trump’s ironic and hypocritical errors could go on forever, and this is something that the American people must be cognizant of. As President, Mr. Trump has enormous power, yet he behaves as if he is an actor in a comedy. The President should model reliability, skill, and trustworthiness. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump is lacking in all three areas. The people of the U.S. need to be aware of the decisions he makes and their inevitable repercussions. Clearly, Mr. Trump needs to take his job more seriously, and in turn, the American people need to scrutinize his hypocrisy more seriously as well.
