In ten days, the second year of President Donald Trump’s administration will have been completed. A short look at what has happened and what has not transpired might give us a glimpse into what his last two years of his first term might look like.
Many were aghast that Americans had elected someone like Trump, and were quick to assert that the country was going to (to coin a phrase) “hell in a handbasket”. One pundit, who had actually earned a Nobel Prize in economics, predicted the stock market would crash, and we stood on the abyss of another Great Depression, certainly worse off than the 2008 crash. But not so. The Dow Jones average reached an unprecedented height, over 26,000. When the recent down turn occurred, the usual suspects told us the bust was coming. Of course, anyone not shy of little gray cells expected a market correction. Today the close for the Dow was a little under 23,900.
Also predicted by many on the left, especially those who claimed to be pro-choice when it came to abortion, that Roe v. Wade would be overturned and women would be forced into “back alley” abortions with the attendant deaths of many. Hasn’t happened, has it? The President nominated and got confirmed two conservative Supreme Court justices, but abortion still is the “law of the land”. After the bruising fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, he sided with the liberals on the Court in the first case involving abortion.
Speaking of women, the Democratic mantra was that Trump and the Republicans were waging a “war on women”. Some claimed that (and I am sure this may have been hyperbole) millions of women would die under this administration. Two years in, and the women still outnumber us poor men! Others claimed we were headed toward a dystopian era as depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale, where women would be in absolute subjection to men in many ways. Funny, that prophecy doesn’t seem to have materialized, either.
U. S. relations were going to deteriorate, lowering our “prestige” in the world. There were those in the foreign policy field who feared we would be in a nuclear war with North Korea. Oops! President Trump’s tough talk with the dictator of the Hermit Kingdom has produced the Singapore Summit, with the North Koreans pulling back on testing of offensive weapons and generally acting more sane.
When the President moved the U. S. Embassy to Jerusalem, predictions were that another lengthy jihad would ensue. Apart from about three days of mild protests (mild for the Palestinians), not much has happened.
Those concerned with NATO’s survival worried that Trump would blow up the pact’s effectiveness, as he had criticized the lack of financial support by many in that organization. Once again, an overblown fear as most of NATO’s members have pledged more of their own money for their own protection.
The President’s approach to trade deals would produce trade “wars” and bring on economic chaos. Such was predicted when Trump took a hard line with Canada and Mexico, but those countries have now concluded pacts much more favorable to the U. S. The European Union tried to play hardball on trade, but quickly backed down in the face of American resistance. Even today, the U. S. and China are in talks to resolve trade differences, leading many to see the end of the standoff between the two superpowers.
There were others that were convinced that the U. S. would withdraw from the Paris Accords on global warning, and Trump did just that. According to many,our planet would begin to heat up quickly because we were not participating in this agreement, with catastrophic consequences for the world. Yet, a year after all this was predicted, with the usual handwringing and finger-pointing, the United States reduced its carbon emissions, more than those who stayed in the pact.
Some things have not changed. The resistance to Trump’s presidency has continued with no letup in sight. Any form of compromise with Republicans is only a distant memory and that will go on. Vulgarity directed at the President, his minions and administration has not only continued, but has intensified. Impeachment, called for even before his inauguration, continues to be parroted about in liberal circles.
But the predictions of doom and gloom and the opposition have not detracted from the positive results of two years of Donald Trump’s administration. The most dramatic improvements have been in the economic field. Unemployment has reached lows not seen in forty years. Record unemployment has been recorded for women, African-Americans, and Hispanics. Just last month, 312,000 jobs had been created, almost twice the number predicted by “experts”. Wages are on the rise, and consumer confidence is also quite positive.
Deregulation has continued apace for the past two years. It has unleashed businesses, small and large, from stifling government interference in their economic lives and helped fuel the hiring splurge seen since Donald Trump took office. One of the beneficiaries of this is the energy sector. The United States is now the leader in energy production in the world, and late last year we exported more oil and gas than we imported. Being energy independent frees us from being held hostage to the large oil producing nations in the Middle East and elsewhere. (Remember the oil embargo of the 1970s?)
Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has impacted millions of Americans. At least 80 per cent of citizens have seen more of their hard earned money stay in paychecks, leading to increased consumer spending.
Those concerned with the trend the federal judiciary was taking have seen President Trump nominate and the Senate confirm record numbers of judges who are committed to constitutionalism in making decisions from the bench. These include 85 federal judges, 30 appellate judges, and 53 trial judges. In addition, two appointees now sit as Associate Justices of the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
On an anecdotal note, in our small town we have seen businesses, big and small, advertising jobs available in numbers not seen in the several decades we have lived here. Most of this has occurred since January 20, 2017, the day Donald Trump took his oath of office.
Perhaps it is a little over the top to paraphrase Tennyson’s Pippa’s Song, but some in this country might just say, “Trump’s in the White House, all’s right with America”.