Trump's Broken Promises

As President Donald Trump closes in on his first 100 days in office he is scrambling to defend his inept performance so far in office.  Perhaps this is best illustrated by his announcement last week that he was sending an armada toward North Korea, only to  find out Monday that it was on its way to Australia.  

Candidate Trump made big promises on the campaign trail.  His promises were targeted at key voting blocks in order to mobilize them to vote last November.  A crackdown on illegal immigration, a border wall with Mexico, tax reform, repeal and replacement of Obamacare, better trade deals, a ban on Muslims, extreme vetting, and a stronger military are among the issues Trump ran on.  The strategy gave the GOP control of the White House and both houses of Congress in a bitterly fought election, which included an assist from Russia.

On Tuesday President Trump told a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, "No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."  Never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story, it appeared that the president was trying out his talking points in advance of the 100-day mark.  But the truth is President Trump has failed to truly deliver on most of his promises.   And a  recent Gallup Poll shows that just 45% of Americans believe Trump keeps his promises, a sharp decline in two months.   

For seven years Republicans demonized President Barack Obama and this eponymous health care bill.  Candidate Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare on his first day in office.   But Republicans could not bridge the deep divisions within their own party, especially with the conservative House Freedom Caucus.  In February, a frustrated President Trump told a meeting of governors, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."  

House Speaker Paul Ryan had to withdraw his healthcare bill, even following heavy lobbying from the president, in large part because polls showed it had the support of about 17% of Americans. The GOP alternative would have kicked 24 million people off of heath insurance.  This is in sharp contrast to what Trump told 60 Minutes in 2015.  "I am going to take care of everybody.  I don't care if it costs me votes or not," he said, adding, "Everybody is going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now." 

The GOP healthcare bill is linked by party leadership to tax reform.  A repeal of Obamacare would mean a $1 trillion cut in taxes for the wealthy.  Republicans would then have an easier task of finding savings in the budget to secure further tax cuts.   The fate of tax reform is now uncertain.

The wall along the U.S. border with Mexico became a battle cry for Trump supporters during the campaign.  And candidate Trump insisted that Mexico would pay for the wall, which he estimated would cost $8 to $12 billion.  Mexican officials have been consistently adamant that they will not pay for the wall, which Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, now estimates could "soar" to $70 billion in construction costs.   And to what end, since a majority of immigrants in the U.S. illegally either overstayed their visas or came on a ship?

With much fanfare the president signed a controversial executive order in late January which suspended the U.S. Refugee Program and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.  The EO led to chaos at airports around the world, and international denunciations.  A federal judge blocked the order because it unfairly targeted Muslims, as thousands of protestors jammed airports around the country to oppose the order.   The EO was poorly conceived and executed, and led to internal finger pointing.  A new updated EO was issued in March, but it is subject to an indefinite preliminary injunction.   So much for Trump's Muslim ban.  

The president campaigned passionately against the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which he has promised to renegotiate.  He said it was taking away American jobs.  But Trump will have great difficulty redoing this complex trade deal, and he knows it.  And now the president has reversed himself on his campaign charge that China is a currency manipulator.  Given the need to enlist China's support in dealing with North Korea, and following a meeting with the Chinese leader, Trump has flip-flopped.   Perhaps not so coincidentally, China approved three trademarks for Ivanka Trump's company on the same day she dined with her father and the Chinese president at Mar-a-Lago.  

The president has signed executive orders undoing some of President Obama's regulation, including related to the environment.  He was also able successfully appoint Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court with an assist from the Senate Republicans.  But Trump has had the worst first 100-days of any modern era president.  To exacerbate his problems, the probes continue into whether the Russians had any ties to members of the Trump campaign.  Infighting between chief strategist Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jerod Kushner has broken into the open and spawned unprecedented leaks to the media.  Trump continues his attacks on the "fake" media while tweeting reckless and untrue comments, like President Obama wiretapped him.  And Trump has decided to keep the White House visitor logs secret, which now raises questions about transparency.  

With Trump's popularity low and a rocky start of his presidency, Republicans are beginning to speak out.  Senator Joni Ernst distanced herself in comments at a town hall in Iowa yesterday.   "I think we have a president that has a number of flaws," she stated with unusual candor.  "I support a majority of his policies, versus the actual person, but I decry any time a person is ugly towards another person, I don't think that's appropriate."  She also said Trump should release his taxes.

Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, so President Trump should have had an easy time achieving much of his agenda.  But governing takes a different set of skills than campaigning.  Trump's lying, personal attacks, distortion and distraction have worn thin on the very people he needs to support him.  So too, thankfully, has the list of unfulfilled promises, many of which would severely impact the very people who voted for Donald Trump because they mistakenly believed he alone could fix it. 

President Trump's Chaotic Start

After two weeks in office it has become clear that President Donald Trump is not going to change his impulsive and narcissistic ways. As a result, political leaders from both parties in Washington, as well as American allies around the world, are unsettled with the abnormal and unpredictable behavior coming from the president and they are beginning to speak out.

Powerful Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admonished the president in an interview on CNN Sunday for his Twitter attack on the federal judge who temporarily stopped Trump's travel ban.  "It is best not to single out judges," McConnell said. "We all get disappointed from time to time.  I think it is best to avoid criticizing them individually."  The Kentucky Republican said he would not consider legislation to institute the travel ban, adding, "I think proper vetting is important, but there is a fine line here between proper vetting and interfering with the kind of travel or suggesting a religious test."

McConnell also contradicted Trump's allegation that there was massive voter fraud in last November's election, a charge the president has repeated even though he was elected.  "There is no evidence it occurred in such a significant number that would have changed the presidential election," McConnell said.  "And I don't think we ought to spend any federal money investigating that."  

McConnell also responded to comments Trump made in an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly in which Trump said he respected Russian President Vladimir Putin.  O'Reilly followed up, noting, "Putin is a killer."  Trump replied, "There are a lot of killers.  We have a lot of killers.  Well, you think our country is so innocent?"  McConnell told CNN, "(Putin's) a former KGB agent, a thug, not elected in a way most people consider to be a credible election."  Republican Senator Marco Rubio also responded to Trump, Tweeting, "When has a Democratic political activist been poisoned by the GOP, or vice versa?  We are not the same as Putin." 

Trump's comments about Putin seem particularly jarring when compared to his treatment of American allies.  Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto found himself sparring with Trump over the border wall that the president promised to build and have Mexico pay for.  The result was the cancellation of a face-to-face White House meeting and a long phone conversation in which both leaders agreed to stop quarreling over the subject.  Trumps border wall tirades have rallied the Mexican people behind their unpopular president.  

Australia has been a fervent and loyal American ally for decades. In an interview over the weekend with 60 Minutes Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described his phone conversation with Trump as "the worst call ever."  Turnbull had informed the president of a deal brokered with President Barack Obama to take 1250 refugees, largely Iranians and Iraqis, that Australia had been criticized for holding off shore.  "It's a deal obviously that President Trump has said he wouldn't have entered into, but he is committed to honor it."   Following the call Trump Tweeted, "Do you believe it?  The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia.  Why?  I will study this dumb deal."  Of course they are not "illegal" and it wasn't "thousands."  A senior administration official later explained that Trump was concerned that the deal was going to hurt him politically.  

Trump's erratic behavior has even left many people in senior positions within the administration confused.   As a result, they are selectively leaking stories to the press.  Trump gets a lot of his information from television, so some leakers may be trying to get their views across to the president.  

There has never been a presidential transition like this in American history.  Amidst the flurry of executive orders, cabinet deliberations and early morning Tweets since Trump took office there is a sense of chaos and a palpable mood of uncertainty about what will come next.   On Sunday afternoon Trump renewed his attack on the judge who blocked the travel ban.  "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such in such peril" he said on Twitter.  "If something happens blame him and the court system.  People pouring in. Bad!" 

Is this all the way you will make America great again Mr. President?  Really?

The State of American Politics

Election Day will be the culmination of a long painful presidential campaign that has pitted two unpopular candidates against each other in one the most offensive races in this nation's history.   The beacon of democracy has been soiled by scurrilous rhetoric that has blemished the character and stature of the United States.   No matter the outcome, the healing process is sure to be long and difficult.

Republican Donald Trump fought like a pit bull to win his party's nomination.  He insulted all of his primary opponents, using demeaning language and derogatory terms to describe his foes.  He succeeded to play on the anger of many citizens who feel left behind, who believe the government is not functioning properly, who are frustrated with illegal immigrants, who fear a terrorist attack, who are worried their guns will be taken away, and who are fed up with foreign wars.  

Trump is a severely flawed candidate.  He has been recorded on video making offensive remarks about women, even saying he would be sexually abusive to them.  Now a dozen women have come forward to claim Trump made unwanted sexual advances to them, claims he has denied.  This follows his long history of using demeaning and slanderous insults against women.

Trump began his campaign insulting Mexicans immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and promised to build a wall along the southern border that Mexico would pay for.  He announced a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., and called for monitors to watch over mosques.  He insulted Senator John McCain, saying the former POW was not a war hero.  He insulted a disabled reporter, and has consistently attacked reporters covering his campaign as dishonest, which created an unsafe environment for journalists assigned to his events.   

Recent news reports have revealed that Trump cut corners and used shady tax provisions for decades to keep his companies afloat. Trump used bankruptcy laws to leave several contractors and their employees high and dry, as well a would-be homeowners.  Trump brags that he gives money to charities, but recent news reports have revealed he often promises and then later reneges on his promise.  Trump University is being investigated, and the biggest lesson its students learned is not to trust Trump.   Trump claims he cannot release his tax returns because he says he is being audited.  There is no proof he is being audited, but that is not a reason to withhold his returns from the American public.  He knows if he did so he would be exposed, but he has gotten away with his lack of transparency. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed Trump, and Trump has said kind words about Putin.  Since Trump has questioned the role of NATO, a vital national security organization for the U.S., of course Putin supports Trump because he wants a weakened NATO too.  Putin is doing all he can to fan the rise of Right-Wing movements throughout Europe in an effort to undermine that region's stability.   So it should be no surprise that Right-Wing factions in this country, and even the Ku Klux Klan, are supporting Trump.  

Trump has no military or foreign policy experience, yet we are at a time when the world is in tremendous transition, and American forces are engaged in several conflicts.  For decades efforts have been made to limit existing nuclear stockpiles and stop the spread of these massively destructive weapons to other countries, as well as to terrorists.  But Trump has said he would not be opposed to using these weapons, and suggested that Japan and Saudi Arabia should be allowed to have them.  His lack of understanding on this issue is scary--and may have profound consequences should he be elected.  The president doesn't need Congressional approval to launch a nuclear war.     

On the campaign trail Trump has been the consummate showman and entertainer.  He makes outrageous comments to fire up his supporters.  He has dubbed his opponent "crooked" Hillary Clinton, yet he has lied hundreds of times according to every fact-checker.   This man actually had the chutzpah to announce in a debate he would launch an investigation into Clinton if he were elected president, and even said she should be in jail.  

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has a serious trust issue with the American electorate dating back to he time as Arkansas First Lady.  There have been many investigations into both Hillary and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.   She has never been charged on convicted with a crime.  Yet her use of a private Email server while U.S. Secretary of State has been the scandal that simply won't go away.  While she apologized, the fact that she had thousands of personal Emails destroyed that may have been relevant to an investigation into her handling of classified material has further undermined her credibility.  

Clinton has enemies within the FBI.  Last July, FBI chief James Comey cleared her of wrong doing but declared her handling of Emails as reckless.  Republican members of Congress were sharply critical of Comey's decision.  Ten days ago former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is also a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, appeared on Fox News and predicted something big was about to come out that would hurt Clinton.  Two days later Comey sent a letter to members of Congress informing them that the FBI would expand its investigation into Emails found on the laptop of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton's right-hand aide, Huma Abedin.  Did disgruntled FBI agents tip off Giuliani?  He says no.  Even worse, Fox News anchor Brett Baier, quoting FBI sources, reported that an indictment was likely against the Clinton Foundation.  Later he had to retract his story and apologize, but the damage was done.  

The Comey letter roiled the presidential race, and now Trump is within striking distance of being elected.   The stock market suffered losses Friday, and many world leaders are on edge.  Despite her problems, Clinton is considered one of the most experienced, knowledgeable, and hard working candidates to ever run for president.   Her time as First Lady of the United States, as a U.S. Senator from New York, and as U.S. Secretary of State, have given her a deep background and extensive connections to draw upon if she is elected president.

On late Sunday,  James Comey sent a new letter to members of Congress saying, "based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton," apparently ruling out a renewed investigation for now, according to The New York Times.  His latest letter comes at a time when Clinton appears to be holding on to a slim lead over Trump in the final hours before Election Day.  Not surprisingly, Clinton has the support of most women, as well as Latinos, African Americans, Asians and younger Americans.   If they turnout in big numbers she make history and become the first woman to serve as president.    

No matter the final outcome, most Americans will be glad the presidential election is finally over.  However, the country will remain deeply divided, and political parties, the presidential campaigns, the FBI, and the media, have all played a role the current state of politics.   

America deserves far better.  

Pepublican Party Chaos

The Republican Party is reeling and stunned as a result of the release of 2005 audio recordings of Donald Trump talking about women using vulgar language.  Many leading Republicans have denounced Trump and withdrawn their endorsements.   Some are calling for Trump to be removed from the ticket.   With a month to go before the presidential election, the GOP is in chaos.  

Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence and his team are described as "absolutely apoplectic" and "inconsolable" because of Trump's obscene language.  In his appearance at the Vice Presidential Debate, Pence said, "If Donald Trump has said all of the things that you've said he said, in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said half our supporters were a basket of deplorables."   Pence may have won that battle, but he is about to lose the war because of his deplorable running mate.  Pence should immediately quit the race in order to save his dignity and reputation.  

Unless Trump withdraws it will be difficult and complicated for the Republican Party to remove him from the ticket and replace him on the ballot.  Some Republicans are holding out until they see how he performs in Sunday’s second Presidential Debate.  But even if Trump has a strong performance, how can any Republican member of Congress stand behind him?  There are reports that more tapes of Trump using offensive language will be released soon.  There already have been plenty of anecdotal reports of Trump's bad behavior towards women.  

Loyal Trump supporters are standing by their candidate.  Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told reporters he wasn't surprised that some Republicans no longer support Trump.   "You look at it, they were all Republicans who all opposed him and didn't support him in the past and this is basically the insiders against the outsiders anyway," he said outside Trump Tower Saturday night.  But the thrice-married Giuliani may not be the best person to make Trump's case.

There are reports that Trump will bring up former President Bill Clinton’s affairs in the debate, and he will again attack Hillary Clinton as an enabler.  But the same could be said for any Republican who supports Trump. 

Trump's crude language towards women is just the latest offense in a long list of embarrassing comments by the New York billionaire.  He has called Mexicans rapists, he called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., he forced a sitting president to produce a birth certificate, he mocked a reporter with a disability, he said Senator John McCain was not a hero, he viciously insulted his primary opponents, and he has harshly attacked a many journalists.   Yet, despite all of that he secured his party's nomination and most leading Republicans endorsed him.   Now they are in a panic.

Trump is now toxic, and he made be headed for an historic landslide defeat November 8.  His actions have put many down ballot races in jeopardy for Republicans, and they may lose control of the U.S. Senate.   Simply denouncing Trump and redirecting campaign funds to House and Senate races may not be enough for Republicans to stop the tidal wave.  

Late Saturday, Donald Trump, living in his alternate reality, arrogantly tweeted, “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!’’

Many Republicans are already looking ahead to the 2018 midterm elections, when a large number of Democratic Senate seats will be in play, and the 2020 presidential contest.  But humiliated Republicans will first have to rebuild their party and unite their members.  That will be no easy task.  

On Election Day 2016 the Republican Party will reap what it has sown. 

Tsar Trump

Donald Trump's interview with host Larry King Thursday on RT, the English language Russian television news network, was embarrassing.  Trump's campaign was caught off guard by his comments and struggled for an explanation.  "A former CNN superstar, Larry King, has a podcast, and Mr. Trump went on his podcast," explained campaign manager Kellyanne Conway Friday on CNN. "Nobody said it would be on Russian TV." 

Trump has been under attack for his repeated praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.   During a presidential forum on NBC Wednesday, Trump said that Putin has been a better leader that President Barack Obama.  "Certainly, in that system, he's been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader."  

Trump has repeatedly made in clear throughout his campaign that he admires Putin.  This has been especially true since Putin heaped praise on Trump at his annual press conference last December.  "He is a bright and talented person without doubt," Putin said, "an outstanding and talented personality."   Putin, a former KGB officer, knows how to manipulate egos, and no one has a bigger ego than Trump.  Trump's response, in the form of a statement, was, "It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond."

Respected?  Putin's annexation of Crimea and military intervention of Ukraine led to international condemnation and the imposition of sanctions.  Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of its tyrannical leader, Bashar al-Assad, has also drawn condemnation and prolonged the conflict. Russia is also looking to play a bigger role in Iran's nuclear program.

Putin rules Russia with an iron fist.  Human Rights Watch, a non-government organization advocating human rights, harshly criticizes Russia.  "The Kremlin's crackdown on civil society, media, and the Internet took a more sinister turn in 2015 as the government further intensified harassment and persecution of independent critics," the organization says on its website.  Putin has turned the country against the West, especially the United States, in an effort to keep tight control.  He has successfully shifted blame for Russia's struggling economy from government policies to Western sanctions.  Putin has rigorously maintained a corrupt system of government where he and his loyal supporters reap great personal reward.

Punditfact reported earlier this year that 34 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 2000.  The international watchdog Freedom House ranks Russia 180 out of 199 countries when it comes to press freedom.   Perhaps Trump, who regularly denounces the American media, admires how Putin handles the press.  Trump told King, "there's tremendous dishonesty with the media.  Not all of it, obviously, but tremendous dishonesty."   

Larry King has a regular program on RT, and RT billed the interview as an "exclusive."  RT, a Kremlin sponsored network, describes itself as, "an alternative perspective on major global events, and acquaints international audience with a Russian viewpoint."   General Michael Flynn, the former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and now a national security advisor to Trump, attended an RT gala in Moscow last year, and has appeared on the network several times.   

In his RT interview, Trump told King that he doesn't think Russia is trying to meddle in the American election.  "I think it's probably unlikely.  Maybe the Democrats are putting that out -- who knows," he said.  "If they are doing something, I hope somebody's going to be able to find out so they can end it.  Because that would not be appropriate at all."  (However, last July Trump called on the Russians to hack Clinton's e-mails.) Nonetheless, Trump's views on the media and President Obama pretty much align with the Russian viewpoint.  

The website Talking Points Memo reported in July, "Trump's financial empire is heavily leveraged and has a deep reliance on capital infusions from oligarchs and other sources of wealth aligned with Putin."  Trump's tax returns might shed light on the extent of the investment, but he says he won't release them.  Both Trump and Putin have spoken out against NATO, although for different reasons.  TPM also reported that Putin has sought to prop up nationalist movements in Europe in part to sow discord in those countries.  

Trump is running a nationalist campaign positioning himself as a strong leader, and he is certainly sowing discord.  "I alone can fix it," he said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July.  He has campaigned using bombast and bluster, while seldom offering specific answers to policy questions, like details of his "secret plan to eliminate ISIS."  In his Wednesday appearance on NBC, he said, "Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I think the generals have been reduced to rubble."  He continued, "They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing to our country."  Of course, he would fire them.

On Wednesday, Trump praised Putin for "having great control over his country."   If elected in November, perhaps Tsar Trump will try to assert his control over this country.