Americans are concerned that there is chaos within the new administration. Trump signed the very controversial executive order on the Muslim ban. As well, the new U.S. president frustrated several U.S. allies abroad and he lost his security advisor because of a scandal. Besides, there are rumours about some connections between his administration and the Russian Government. CNN, on February 22nd, 2017, reveals that Trump`s disapproval rate is at 55% which is at a record low for newly elected president. There are several reasons why Trump’s approval rate decreased: people are against Trump immigration policies, Trump cannot get along with foreign leaders, and Trump`s economic policies might hurt the economy. Besides, there are some people thinking that the newly elected president should be impeached by the Congress.
To begin with, several people at home and abroad do not support Trump`s foreign policy. The new president is not supported by foreign leaders such as the Mexican President and the Australian Prime Minister. For instance, President Trump starts his presidency by telling Americans his commitment to build a wall on the U.S. and Mexican Border. As a result, this presidential commitment has been received very negatively by the Mexican people. Mexico keeps telling Donald Trump that they will not pay for the border wall. Lawrence O’Donnell, a NBC TV columnist, argues that Trump who proclaims himself a great negotiator ¨lost with the Mexican President before even having a first meeting¨. Mr. O’Donnell argues that Trump cannot get the Mexican side to show up at a meeting with him in Washington. Nevertheless, Trump keeps saying that Mexico will pay for the Wall. The Mexican President says that his country will never pay a penny for the border wall.
Moreover, Australian Prime Minister Turnbull does not like the idea that the U.S. intends not to keep their commitment to get 1,250 refugees which are currently living in an Australian detention center. For that reason, Trump quickly ended his phone call with the Prime Minister right after cancelling the U.S. pledge to take these refugees. The cancellation by President Trump of this pledge made by the Obama Administration is not well received by Australia which fought along the U.S. during the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. Therefore, President Trump fails to build friendly relationship with some of U.S. loyal economic and military partners.
Furthermore, several nations fear that the new administration might favour protectionism over free trade. Several economic experts think that Trump economy policy might hurt the World economy in the event of U.S. protectionism. Donald Trump told Americans that current trade deals were unfair for the U.S. For instance, the U.S. has a trade deficit with NAFTA partners. Moreover, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership which is a trade deal with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. This potential trade agreement accounts for about 40 percent of the world economy. President Trump considers this trade agreement as unfair for the United States. Trump discusses that some of these nations use cheap labour and this is very hard for American workers to compete with this cheap labour.
In addition, several medical experts question Trump’s state of mind and mental health which might encourage some Congressmen to impeach Trump. This might be a first in U.S. history that the legitimacy of a newly elected president is questioned by the people. Consequently, Trump’s opponents hope to replace him by the Vice President. For instance, Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer started a group to review the 25th amendment which deals with the removal of the President from his or her position as head of government and Commander-in-Chief. The Constitution states that the President might be impeached for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours." Nonetheless, the Constitution does not clearly define what are high crimes and misdemeanours. For instance, Bill Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on the charges of perjury and of obstruction of justice in the Lewinsky Affair. However, these charges had not been considered as impeachable offences by the Senate because it dealt with the personal life of the President. For that reason, the Senate dropped the charges against the President which meant that Bill Clinton was not impeached by the upper house. Nonetheless, any U.S. president could technically be impeached for political reasons rather than legal reasons. For that reason, people supporting the impeachment of Trump might hurt the Trump Administration. This has never happened before that people question the legitimacy of a newly elected president.
Finally, the new president should respect the media and his opponents. He should accept criticism and he should understand that criticism is part of the political life. Politics is all about reaching comprises with people of different opinions. Nevertheless, President Trump seems uninterested in listening to people with different views than his own. Besides, the Office of the Presidency symbolizes virtues of respect, integrity, and justice; thus, Trump should show the nation that his administration respects these virtues of wisdom. Moreover, the main role of the President is to unite the country rather than dividing the nation in several groups. Furthermore, President Trump should maintain good relationships with foreign leaders in order to help America to show positive leadership throughout the World. Trump should show the World that America is a just and caring society. The president should also reassure the World that his economic policies will not hurt the global economy.
March 18, 2017