Donald Trump: the Bad and the Good

The White House - Washington DC
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January 21, 2019

Donald Trump is the first person elected president without ever having served previously in any public office; excluding George Washington, and professional soldiers Ulysses Grant and Dwight Eisenhower. Trump is also the wealthiest president in history, after adjusting for inflation. His net worth is said to exceed 2 billion dollars.

His behavior is very different from that of conventional politicians. Nothing smooth about him. He frequently fires off blunt statements on various topics that contradict what he said previously. His statements often contain factual errors.

Sadly, Trump's predecessors in the White House, tho experienced politicians, did not set very good examples for him. For instance, Harry Truman ordered the use of the A-bomb against the advice of the top military officers including General Dwight Eisenhower, Fleet Admiral Nimitz, Major General Curtis E. LeMay, Henry H. "Hap" Arnold (commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Force), and Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. [1]. Then he got us into the undeclared Korean War, which cost the lives of about 35,000 American soldiers, 300,000 Korean soldiers, and a million Korean civilians.

John Kennedy launched the Bay of Pigs invasion, and then played a major role in entering the Vietnam War, in which over 55,000 Americans and several million Indo-Chinese were killed.

Under George W. Bush, the US invaded Iraq in 2003. This was justified by a claim that Iraq had nuclear weapons. But subsequent investigations and inspections discredited this claim (which, even if true, did not justify an attack). [2]

Barack Obama came into office when the US was at war with two countries. When he left office, we were still at at war with these two countries--and with five more.

Under the administrations of all previous presidents, a total of three people were prosecuted for disclosing secrets to reporters. Under the Obama administration eight people were prosecuted for this "crime" [3] [4]. On the other hand, President Obama refused to take action against those responsible for the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

Donald Trump's views and actions concerning the environment are terrible. He rejects the notion that the use of fossil fuels is harmful and that our pollution of the atmosphere has dire effects involving global warming, floods due to rising sea level, and extreme weather. He shows no interest in preserving our great national parks.

President Trump's policies on taxes clearly benefit rich Americans at the expense of the rest of us. He supported the reduction of capital-gains taxes. He has supported cuts in welfare programs, including those providing medical services and other financial aid for poor people.

But it is important to understand that the current situation is by no means attributable to the policies of Donald Trump. While Trump is a crude character, with virtually none of the skills of the typical politician, his predecessors, as indicated above, used their superior political skills, and funding by the super-rich, to get us into numerous wars, cause great environmental damage, waste vast sums of taxpayer money on a bloated military, dismantle our industrial base (eliminating large numbers of good American jobs), and magnify poverty in the US.

Bad as Trump is in some very important areas, he has made some very good moves in some other very important areas. A recent example is his announcement that he will withdraw US troops currently in Syria: somewhat over 2000. It is interesting that, instead of being applauded, this statement has been widely condemned. The NY Times called it "alarming" [5].

President Trump also initiated negotiations to relax dangerous tensions with North Korea, involving their having become a nuclear power. The North Koreans (and the South Koreans agree) would like to see the formal end of the Korean War, steps toward the reunification of Korea, and the resumption of normal trade relations with other countries. Altho the problems have not yet been resolved, Trump, North Korean President, Kim Jong-un, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in appear to be serious about finally ending the Korean War and normalizing relations among the countries involved [6].

China has, for perhaps two decades, been enjoying a large trade imbalance with the US. In 2017 imports from China were $508 billion, exports to China were $130 billion [7]. This imbalance is a major factor in the decline of American manufacturing, which has eliminated large numbers of good jobs in the US. President Trump has addressed this large trade deficit with tariffs to pressure China into importing more American goods, with only limited success so far.

Perhaps the strangest critical issue is that of immigration. Three of the 4 principal political parties: the Democratic, Libertarian, and Green parties, in effect, oppose any significant restrictions on immigration. They oppose all practical measures for preventing people from entering and remaining in the US. Incredibly, only President Trump and the Republicans favor strong restrictions on immigration, and are implementing strong measures to prevent illegal entry into our country.

There are two important reasons for limiting immigration. One is that by bringing in large numbers of people from poor countries, who are willing to work very hard for very little pay, we are forcing many millions of poor Americans to accept the same conditions or be unemployed. The other is that our population is already too large for the environment, and is continuing to grow rapidly due to immigration. Over my lifetime, so far, the population of the US has increased from about 125 million to over 325 million.

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