Schools in Session: Grading the Second Trump Presidency (So Far)
Photo Credit: Office of the President of the United States
We are four months into Donald Trump’s second term as President of the United States, and there has been a lot of news to come out of it. The 47th President has taken many controversial actions in the past few months, interfering with issues such as immigration, foreign policy, and the economy. Additionally, Trump has made comments in the media that have caused his supporters to rejoice and have put his opposition on edge. For example, after saying he wouldn’t rule out running for an unconstitutional third term, he said that there are ways he would be able to do it.
In this article, I want to highlight what the Trump administration has done so far. I’ll go over the executive actions that he has put into place and what effect I think they will have on the country. I will also talk about what President Trump has said he is going to do and wants to do in the future. At the end of each section, I will provide what I believe his grade is for each topic.
The Economy
The main tool that Donald Trump has been utilizing for economic matters are tariffs. Tariffs are taxes on goods being imported from other countries, the money generated from this is paid to the government. The President’s rationale behind imposing these on other countries is that he wants to incentivize manufacturing to be done in the United States, which will lead to more domestic investment and decrease in the federal deficit. He is also looking to close the gap between how much the United States is buying from other countries and how much they are buying from us. More specifically, he is looking to use tariffs to force countries like China, Mexico, and Canada to do more, such as to slow the influx of migrants and illegal drugs coming to the United States. The most extreme tariff imposed was a 145% tariff, affecting imports from China, resulting from retaliatory tariffs by China on American imports. Since then, those tariffs have been reduced to 30% on May 14th.
President Trump has tried to frame the tariffs as a good thing for the American people. However, I don’t believe these will be as beneficial to American citizens as he makes them seem. The main harm of the tariffs could be raising prices of the products that are being imported. The President and many of his supporters fail to address the fact that tariffs are not fully (or even sometimes mainly) felt by the country being tariffed. Instead of the other countries' businesses taking on the burden, they will pass the increased cost on to American consumers. When other countries' investors go to sell their products, they will sell it for an increased price. For example, an auto parts manufacturer located in Mexico sells a car part to the United States for an increased price due to the tariffs. The buyer in the United States will then sell it for more than it was before. As a result, the American that’s looking to purchase a new car will have to pay an increased price. While some of the tariffs are being reduced or postponed, it is important that people recognize that companies are not going to take on these costs to save the customer from having to pay it. The costs will get passed on and we could see increased prices of daily necessities. As of May 13th, POLITICO reported that inflation has grown unexpectedly slow, showing that the tariffs have yet to raise prices significantly. Despite this, I believe unless the tariffs are reduced or eliminated, prices will go up as time goes on. This is due to the tariffs not having enough time to fully take effect or trade negotiations between the United States and other countries.
Another big economic action that the President has taken, with the help of Elon Musk, is to cut federal jobs as a part of the “Department of Government Efficiency.” According to CNN, at least 121,000 federal workers have been laid off or are in danger of being laid off. Firing such a large amount of federal workers is not good for the United States economy. The President is putting hundreds of thousands of people who need to support their families out of work. Heightened unemployment is going to make it hard for those people to be able to provide for their families in an economy with rising prices. He tries to pose it as clearing out unnecessary jobs, but I believe it is a tactic for him to be able to concentrate more power in the executive office. For example, Elon Musk was pretty much let go and then immediately voiced his negative opinions on Trump. This includes Musk accusing Trump of not releasing the Epstein list due to Trump being on it
One somewhat positive thing that Donald Trump has done is get a trade deal finalized with the United Kingdom. The problem was started by the President’s steep increase in tariffs imposed on the UK. The trade deal, which was hashed out in May, lowers the auto tariff from 27.5% to 10% for cars being exported to the United States. The United Kingdom will also purchase $10 billion in United States airplanes, and the US will allow Rolls Royce engines for the planes to enter the UK with no tariffs. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also will get rid of its 25% tariff on UK steel and aluminum exports. While the trade deal is good, a lot of the reason why the deal was necessary was because of the drama and tensions that President Trump created in the media by attacking all sorts of countries.
Grade: C
Immigration Policy
Immigration Policy is the section of policy that the President has emphasized the most in his first three months. President Trump spent a lot of his campaign and his first few months in the White House painting most immigrants as criminals and drug smugglers. One of the first actions he took after being inaugurated was to send the military members to the border to help bolster protection. It is important for the United States to try to stem the spread of fentanyl into our country and also stop true criminals from coming into the United States. To do this, the President has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. While it is supposed to be used during a time of invasion into our country, the Act allows the President to detain and deport citizens from an enemy country based solely on the country they were born or have citizenship in. He is also able to do this without any hearing.
That being said, Trump has been targeting innocent people that have lived in the country for a long time and have established lives here. He has also been sending some of these migrants to an El Salvador prison while not allowing them to have a fair trial here in the United States. Trump fails to understand (or chooses to ignore) that even though they are undocumented immigrants, they are entitled to Constitutional protections while on US soil. The Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution gives anyone within the jurisdiction of the United States the same rights to due process. This, by definition, would force the President to have to give undocumented immigrants a fair trial and due process. Despite this, he has bypassed this rule and deported people back to their home countries or even the El Salvador prison.
Recently, some of President Trump’s advisors have brought up suspending Habeas Corpus. Habeas Corpus is a legal procedure that allows for an individual to challenge the legality of their detention. His deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller stated to reporters that the Constitution allows for habeas corpus to be suspended if the country is in a time of rebellion or invasion. There have been four times that habeas corpus has been suspended: during the Civil War, in eleven South Carolina counties that were overrun by the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction period, two provinces in the Philippines (when they were a United States territory) during a 1905 insurrection, and in Hawaii after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The United States is not in a time of rebellion or invasion, even though the current administration would like to make it seem that the quantity of immigrants can count as this. Since there is no specific country or group that is trying to take over and attack the United States soil, there is no reason for habeas corpus to be suspended. In my opinion, this is just a way for President Trump to expedite the process of deporting undocumented immigrants. With the current track record of ICE not always detaining people that are undocumented, it is important that everyone has the right to due process. In terms of criminals or gang members coming into the United States, I do believe that they have no right to take refuge in America. However, not all or even a majority of people that come to our country fit this description. They are normal people that are looking to provide a better life for their families and benefit from the amazing opportunities that our country can bring. We cannot overpopulate our country, but what makes us an amazing place is the diversity of ideas and backgrounds that we have. It would not be in our best interest to begin to decrease that diversity.
The one positive thing, at least in terms of President Trump’s goals, is that migrant crossing at the border is at an all time low (keep in mind that border crossings were already falling sharply in former President Biden’s final year in office).As we have seen though, this has not slowed him down from hunting down and deporting immigrants that aren’t even criminals. This has led to his unlawful usage of the National Guard and Marines to strike fear into the public. It is not right for the President to be breaking up families and deporting hard working people. The President’s operation has also been stopping and detaining people that are citizens, showing that the operation is also inefficient and extremely dangerous.
Grade: D-
Foreign Policy
President Trump’s Foreign Policy actions in his first few months have been all over the place and mostly chaotic. One of the biggest promises that he made during his election campaign was to have the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East solved on his first day. After a few months, neither of those conflicts have been solved and do not look close to being done. Realistically, most people would not expect him to have been able to get this finished in one day, especially since he legally couldn’t speak on behalf of the United States to a foreign country prior to being inaugurated. However, since the President made this claim so boldly over and over again, we must hold him accountable for his lie. The other day, President Trump stated that he didn’t know what has happened to Putin as Russia continues their missile strikes on Ukraine. As a former President, this probably should’ve been something Trump has been aware of. Putin has never shown any sign of wanting to stop without being given at least portions of Ukraine.
President Trump has also been causing a strain on relations between the United States and their allies. When Ukrainian President Zelensky visited the White House in February, President Trump used it as an opportunity to attack and try to manipulate Zelensky. President Trump and Vice President Vance went on and on about how without the United States, Ukraine would have no options and would have already lost the war. After that, Zelensky is essentially kicked out of the White House and their press conference is cancelled. While the United States has been a big help in providing Ukraine with what they need to fend off the Russian military, this is not the way to go about a solution. Ukraine is an ally and berating their leader on national television is only going to strain those relations.
Donald Trump has also been hurting the relationship with one of the United States’ closest allies, Canada. Newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that he believes that the United States is no longer a “reliable partner.” This is caused by the trade war President Trump is trying to wage against Canada, amongst other countries, through the use of tariffs on imports. The United States has deep economic and military ties to Canada and we have been reliable allies for over 100 years, transcending many presidential and prime minister administrations. These allies are important for continued prosperity not only among our two countries, but around the world. If the President continues to ruin these relationships, we are going to lose economic business and the trust of other countries. Canada might be less likely to do business with the United States in the future and move some of their business to work with other countries. The United States is one of, if not the most influential countries in the world. With the power that we have, we can continue to work with the alliances we have made and progress towards a better future where the entire world has more positive relations with each other. When our leader is attacking our closest allies and even suggesting taking them over and making them a part of the United States, the world moves farther away from positive progress.
Grade: D-
Conclusion
Our country is living through a very important time in its history right now. We have a President that attacks our allies and even suggests that we take over one of them. President Trump alludes to wanting to find a way to get himself an unconstitutional third term, which is not at all in the direction of “Making America Great Again.” He also wants to defund colleges for not agreeing with his agenda, strip legal rights such as habeas corpus, and much more. Americans, no matter what political party, are going to have to come together to prevent the loss of our democracy and our liberties. The second Trump administration is still very young and will maybe make improvements, but it is not on a good track right now.