366 days have passed since Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. 12 months of rapid cabinet changes, FBI Investigations and substantial progress on policy but most importantly America and the world have been given a political and philosophical awakening.
Analyzing the Political stratosphere before and after the Trump victory is important, Conservatives & Republicans at the start of the Republican race going back to the first GOP debate remained optimistic about the future after 8 years of the Obama administration, The Republican race served as an indication of the Republican party’s future, Establishment Conservatives mostly rallied around Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and scattered support ranged from Marco Rubio (FL) to John Kasich (OH) and Chris Christie (NJ) but the candidate that resonated with Republican voters the most was Donald Trump, Middle class Republicans loved Trump’s staunch attacks on political correctness, his willingness to call out the overly bias mainstream media, his opposition to ”all talk no action” politicians and his assault on anyone that stood in his way to victory, his speeches contained plenty of vulgarity, charm and humor and his pledge to build a wall on the border became his front running policy promise with chants of ”Build that wall” at every Political rally he attended and his promise to Make American Great Again first said by Former Conservative President Ronald Reagan. Trump knew in order to win the nomination it was imperative he attack the most important Republican candidates that stood in his way, He verbally attacked Jeb Bush by referencing the polling numbers that showed Bush far behind Trump and referred to Marco Rubio as ”little Marco” and it seemed there was no line he wouldn’t cross when he linked Ted Cruz’s father Rafael to the assassination of former President John F Kennedy, “His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being — you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous.” On May 3rd Trump became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party after his victory in Indiana and the withdrawal of the last competitors John Kasich and Ted Cruz. Several Establishment Conservatives became worried about the Republican party’s future and William F Buckley’s brand of Conservatism was ebbing away into the red mist.
Trump picked Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his Vice Presidential running mate and built up a coalition that included Paul Manafort, Kellyanne Conway and Jason Miller.
After 8 years of the Obama Administration The Democrats were vying to continue their hold over the country, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Governor Martin O’Malley (MD) and Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) were the only clear candidates. The democrats sparred over issues like Gun Control, Common Core, Marijuana Legislation and the Affordable Care Act but a movement was building around Bernie Sanders, The self described Democratic Socialist who wanted a system of government much aligned with the Scandinavian Model was gaining vast amounts of support from Democratic voters but not at Sander’s disposal was vast campaign contributions unlike Hillary Clinton who received vast amounts of money from Soros Fund Management, Saban Capital Group and Paloma partners, and O’Malley also received contributions but to a lesser extent. It was increasingly clear Hillary was the establishment’s choice and Sanders was the people’s choice. Sanders connected with a substantial amount of American’s who felt that the system was rigged for the few and that many were left behind. Many American’s didn’t trust Hillary Clinton because of her connections to Large Corporations, The Benghazi debacle and the email scandal which included Clinton’s practice of using her own private email address and server during her time as Secretary of State, in lieu of State Department servers. On June 7th she officially became the Democratic nominee for President and became the first female ever to be the nominee for any major political party in the United States.
Clinton picked Virginia senator Tim Kaine as her Vice Presidential running mate and built up a political team of John Podesta, Robby Mook and Joel Benenson.
The Alt-Right – The alt-right or alternative right is a subset of American and European people composed chiefly of white supremacists, neo-nazis and neo-fascists. The Alt-Right initially first started out as Conservative movement dedicated to freedom of speech, free markets and anti political correctness but that quickly dissolved into a platform for White nationalist and Fascist views personified by figures such as Jared Taylor and most notably Richard Spencer who coined the term in 2010. The movement is heavily influenced by the work of Italian Fascist thinker Julius Evola and Oswald Spengler. The term drew considerable media attention and controversy during the 2016 Presidential election particularly after Trump appointed Breitbart News chair Steve Bannon as CEO of the Trump campaign in August. Steve Bannon referred to Breitbart News as “the platform for the alt-right”. The alt-right has its roots on Internet websites such as 4chan, /pol/ and 8chan where anonymous members create and use Internet memes to help express their ideologies. The use of internet memes in support of Donald Trump were prominent on Twitter, Trump supporters and Alt-righters used Pepe The Frog as their mascot. Pepe originated in a comic by Matt Furie called Boy’s Club and even garnered the attention of Hillary Clinton’s campaign by appearing in an article on the official campaign website. In a campaign speech delivered by Clinton on September 9th, 2016, Hillary stated ”You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic you name it”. The following day Clinton expressed regret for saying “half,” while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified “hateful views and voices.”
So the stage was set, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were the nominee’s of each Political party and the battle was about to begin. 15 days before the debate on September 11th Hillary attended a September 11th Memorial to mark 15 years since the devastating 9/11 attacks but left the commemoration early and was seen on tape stumbling into a vehicle in which she had to be helped into by security personnel. The events led to wide questions regarding her health and whether she was fit to continue her campaign. Hillary Clinton’s doctor came out and stated the reason for her early departure was due to Pneumonia and she was recovering well. The first debate took place on September 26th, at New York’s Hofstra University, Hillary and Trump sparred continually over issues such as The Iraq War, The Birther Movement, Tax Returns and Clinton’s email scandal. It was clear that Hillary was victorious over Trump in the first debate and opinion polls indicted this. Trumps opening was messy and not on topic and Clinton’s was clear and to the point. Trump to many people’s dismay didn’t let off many personal blows to Clinton but that was all to come in the second debate.
On October 7th two days prior to the second debate The Washington Post released a tape of Trump in which he engaged in a conversation with Billy Bush while they were preparing to film an episode of Access Hollywood and stated quote ”I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]. I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. I just kiss, I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything — grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” I was obviously stunned and shocked by the tape and so was the world, Trump was condemned by Republican leaders such as John Kasich, Mitt Romney and House speaker Paul Ryan and almost a dozen Republicans called for him to stand aside and let Mike Pence lead the ticket but Trump refused and stayed on.
The second debate took place on October 9th at Washington University in St. Louis, About 1 hour before the debate Trump had a press conference with a panel of people, on that panel were woman who had accused Former president Bill Clinton and current husband to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton of sexual misconduct and one case of rape, they included Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton. Trump when confronted about the Access Hollywood tape made reference to Bill Clinton’s past and his mistreatment of woman. Trump committed an all out assault on Hillary’s email scandal by pledging to hire a special counselor to look into Hillary’s misconduct if he became president. Trump performed substantially better in the second debate and I think he was victorious.
Finally in the the third and final debate that took place in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on October 19th, Hillary focused on the Trump-Russia collusion topic and described Trump as a danger to American democracy. Trump focused on the conspiracy that Hillary Clinton was plotting and discussing behind closed doors on stealing the election from him. The third debate was more hostile on policy discussions and personal attacks were in short supply compared to the second debate. Both candidates performed very well in the final debate, a convincing case could be made for a tie.
Just under a month later It was November 8th and the election night had begun. Many mainstream media sources projected Hillary Clinton to win and become the next President of The United States including the New York Times who ran a poll that was 85% in Hillary’s favor. The odds seemed stacked against Trump, the projected poll numbers had people giggling about the landslide victory Hillary Clinton would receive but it wasn’t to be, in a dramatic turn of events and to the entire world’s utmost shock Donald J Trump was projected the winner on November 9th with 279 electoral college votes where 270 were needed to win. It was a political firestorm and a total disaster for the Democrats. On November 28th, Trump was credited with 306 electoral votes compared to 232 for Clinton. The biggest shock of the night was the Republican victory in Pennsylvania a state which hadn’t been won by a Republican since the 1980’s it was the same with Wisconsin and Michigan.
Trump was inaugurated as the nation’s 45th president on Friday, January 20th, 2017. In his victory speech outside the Capitol building Trump told the American people that this was “their celebration.” He echoed themes that were repeated throughout his campaign, promising not to leave “the forgotten men and women” behind, and calling for a return of power to the people as opposed to politicians in Washington.
So now 12 months into his presidency how has he fared in the oval office? How has his administration dealt with the pressure to deliver to the American people? We take a look at the major moves and policies enacted by the Trump administration so far.
Withdrawal from TPP – On January 23rd, Trump withdraws the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.
Supreme Court Nominee – On January 31st National Review Conservatives leaped for joy when Trump nominated U.S. Appeals Court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court after the death of Conservative hero Justice Antonin Scalia eleven months earlier.
Firing of Michael Flynn – On February 13th, Trump fired Michael Flynn from the post of National Security Advisor, Flynn lied to the Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. Trump appointed Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new National Security Advisor.
Syrian Missile Strikes – On April 24th, Between 83-150 people were killed and over 450 injured after a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun. The U.S. claimed the Assad regime was behind the chemical attack. The Assad regime denied these claims. In response to the attack The United States launched 59 cruise missiles on the Shayrat Airbase in Syria.
James Comey Dismissal – On May 9th, Trump fired FBI director James Comey for reasons cited by Trump for his handling of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, the mainstream media jumped onto the narrative that it was due to Trump’s collusion with the Russian government but according to Comey’s testimony on June 8th Trump didn’t attempt to kill the investigation into Russian election meddling.
Robert Mueller – On May 17th, Robert Mueller is hired by the Justice Department as special counsel to oversee the investigation into ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials. The decision was made by the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein.
The Paris Agreement – On June 1st, President Trump announces his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the agreement, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump’s first term.
White House Press Secretary Resigns – Sean Spicer resigns from his White House Press Secretary position after six months and is replaced by Anthony Scaramucci. 10 days after been given the post Scaramucci is fired because of comments made in a The New Yorker interview about chief of staff Reince Priebus who he accused of being a ”fucking paranoid schizophrenic” and he also accused White House chief strategist Steven Bannon of trying to tarnish his reputation. On July 21st Sarah Huckabee Sanders is named Press Secretary.
Charlottesville – Chaos and catastrophe occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia between August 11-12th. A Far-Right Movement known as Unite The Right were having a rally in protest to oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Emancipation park. At around 1:45 p.m, August 12th a man linked to white-supremacist groups rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) away from the rally site, killing one person and injuring 19. The attacker was named by law enforcement as James Alex Fields Jr who now faces life in prison. President Trump was heavily criticized for his instant response to the attack after he claimed that there was “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.” After much condemnation from the media and fellow political allies Trump released a second statement stating ”To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend’s racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered. Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the K.K.K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans”.
Joe Arpaio Pardoning – On August 25th, Sheriff Joe Arpaio the self proclaimed ”toughest sheriff in America” is pardoned by President Trump after being charged with criminal contempt of court and misdemeanor.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – On September 4th, President Trump made plans to end President Obama’s executive amnesty — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Trump White House won’t immediately end DACA, however; instead, they’ll delay their enforcement for six months.
United Nations Speech – Trump gives his maiden speech to The United Nations General Assembly On September 19th in which he rips Venezuela and its failed Socialist policies and encourages decent people and nations to confront Iran and it’s evil dictatorship but what stood out most in this speech were his stern words to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in which he states ”The United states has great strength and patience but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea, rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime”.
Papadopoulos – After being arrested on July 27th and cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials on October 5th Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents relating to contacts he had with agents of the Russian government while working for the Trump campaign.
The Manafort Indictment – On October 30th Special counsel Robert Mueller files charges against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on a 12 count indictment including “conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, acting as an unregistered foreign agent,” and other financial transaction-related crimes. The indictment says that Manafort funneled over $75 million through his offshore account, and essentially laundered over $18 million.
Tax Reform – On November 2nd, House Republicans unveiled their tax reform plan. The proposed plan lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. Instead of the current seven-bracket system, the number of brackets is reduced to four. High income earners will earn a slight reprieve for income between $418,400 and $500,000 (the top tax bracket now kicks in at $418,400); earnings of between $200,000 and $500,000 will be taxed at 35%, meaning a slight increase for some of those households; between $45,000 and $200,000, tax rates will be 25%; below $45,000, the income tax rate will be 12%.
Jerusalem – On December 6th, President Trump formally announced the United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will relocate the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv.
12 months have passed since Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America. It was a year of cabinet replacements,FBI investigations, Indictments and several successful policy moves by the Trump administration such as Passing Tax Reform, Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, promoting Neil Gorsuch to the supreme court and sending stern nuclear war warnings to North Korea. It’s been a year overshadowed by controversy. America’s democracy is being tested to it’s limits but it was much needed. Trump engaged in a war with the biased Mainstream media, The Democratic establishment, The Republican establishment and Hollywood and he won. It doesn’t matter what Political positions you hold whether you are a Capitalist,Libertarian, Liberal, Conservative, Marxist or Fascist. Trump has revitalized Political and Philosophical thought and re-energized a nation and a world that needed a good kick and punch. If Trump didn’t win I wouldn’t be writing this, I wouldn’t be heavily engaged in Politics like I am today, Donald J Trump is the reason I have found something new that I am extremely passionate about. I’ll never forget when Trump was confirmed President elect on November 8th, 2016 because it changed my life, America and most importantly the world.
The Moon Toucher 