Say Goodbye to President Donald Trump — for Now [Opinion]

Donald Trump took office after the greatest political upset of all time. His defeat of Hillary Clinton was historically unprecedented. Political pollsters all but had Clinton elected as the first woman President of the United States.

Voters and the Electoral College saw it differently and sent an outsider and businessman to Washington, D.C. From the minute he took his ceremonial oath to serve as the 45th President he started breaking the china in Washington, DC and around the globe.

The Trump Presidency ends following  an ugly riot on Capital Hill and in his second impeachment by the House of Representatives. It is not clear what the Senate will do when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sends over the article of impeachment.

Trump’s legacy is likely to be complicated. He had record employment numbers for America’s minorities. We saw record business growth and manufacturing of U.S. goods skyrocket. He helped rebuild America’s military, made great strides with the improvements in medical care provided by the Veterans Administration.  He brought peace accords to the Middle East and opened the U S Embassy in Jerusalem. He cut regulations that he believed prevented economic growth and made America energy independent.

Donald Trump invested in our historically black colleges and universities with long-term funding infusions-never seen before. He forced NATO partners to make the payments and investment in their own defense that they had been ignoring for years. He worked to ease tensions with North Korea and brought our KIA personnel home. He was successful in appointing three new Supreme Court Justices.

No question his four years were memorable. His handling of his Twitter account and his tweets were deemed “not presidential” as was his war with the media and his branding many stories as  “Fake News.”

Our 43d President George W. Bush deliberately ignored negative coverage by the press. Many believe it was his steadfast ignoring of the press that drove his final approval ratings into the basement. He left office with the lowest approval ratings in the history of the presidency.

Trumps handling of the pandemic has had its moments. He banned international flights into our country. He refused to wear a mask, ignored social distancing, and tried to balance the shutdown of the economy and restarting the economic engine.  He fought publicly with his own Coronavirus task force.

For the most part the media blames him for the deaths and hospitalization of every American who contracted COVID-19.  It now appears Trump was accurate when he said a vaccine would be ready before the end of the year. His administration is being taken to task with how its distribution of the vaccines has been too slow. He can’t get a break.

His most controversial programs were building a 450-mile wall between the US and Mexico, proposed immigration reforms, withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, and his cancellation of the Iranian Agreement. Yes, you may think of more but space here is limited.

From the outset, his opponents felt his presidency was illegitimate. He was bogged down in his first two year’s legislatively by Speaker Paul Ryan. The Russian Probe and Ukrainian mess impeded his progress on his agenda, too.  So did his constant promises to “drain the swamp,” referring to K Street lobbyists and career politicians.

His cabinet and White House  staff were almost always in flux or feuding.  His defense department appointees frequently disagreed with him on deployment, engagement, and his forming of the U.S. Space Force.

His  insistence that he won reelection and his belief the election was stolen by widespread voter fraud  got nowhere in our courts. His rally turned into a riot and overran police on Capitol Hill.  The rioters’ actions led to another Impeachment, making Donald J. Trump the first President to be impeached by the House twice.

Many Americans and office holders felt the impeachment would further divide the nation and was political theater. Only time will tell and history will certainly have its hands full judging his term and this President.

America turns the page at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 20th. A new President takes office that day. Joe Biden has spent his entire adult life in public office. He will have his hands full trying to unite a divided electorate of 155 million and holding a country of 340 million together.

Say goodbye to Donald and hello to Joe!

Editor’s note: The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Uken Report.

Image Sources

  • Donald Trump: Pixaby