President Donald J. Trump won the 2016 presidential election by building up a strong base of voters that has supported him for four years. He wanted to put America first because he felt that America’s interests were not at the forefront by the previous U.S. administrations. He inspired several Conservatives by pushing for more Conservative policies in America. He built up a very Conservative cabinet that pleased Republicans who wished to have greater deregulation, less taxes, and to put America first. The Trump presidency was the continuation of the Reagan Revolution, it was the time to make conservatism a core value of America. Nevertheless, Trump’s leadership was tested by his management of the 2020. President Trump’s legacy could lie in the success of his administration’s Operation Warp Speed Trump. As a result, the Trump administration’s vaccine development initiative could end the 2020 pandemic. Therefore, the President’s greatest contribution was the implementation of a government operation that could immunize the World against a dangerous pathogen. In sum, President Trump could be seen by historians as a very unconventional President, but also as the one who made a vaccine possible to stop the novel coronavirus.
To begin with, President Trump’s 2016 election victory was made possible because Donald Trump could appeal to the Republican Party’s libertarian faction while still being able to keep the right united. The Republicans could not miss a chance to set conservative policies supported by their fan base. As a well, Trump is trusted by most right-wing factions in America. He never stopped pleasing his fans by organizing rallies, pushing for more Conservative reforms, and decreasing taxes. In 2017, U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News:¨this is an all-star cabinet, this is the most conservative cabinet we have….you look at the executive actions the policies that have been put in place whether reinstating the Mexico City rules ending the taxpayer funding for overseas abortions or instructing the department of homeland security to enforce the laws and not release violent criminal illegal aliens or on the economic side approving the keystone pipeline freezing the federal civilian workforce freezing the job-killing regulations that are coming out.¨ Republicans think that the Trump economic policies made the U.S. economy thriving. Even though, Donald Trump has been a very eccentric President, he succeeded to get widespread support throughout the U.S. Conservative movement transforming America into a conservative and libertarian society.
Furthermore, Trump took advantage of an unprecedented economic prosperity in America. There was very low unemployment throughout his term in office until the 2020 pandemic began. President Trump lowered corporate and personal tax rates, increased child tax credits, and doubled the estate tax exemption. The Trump administration did not support multilateral trade agreements. For instance, he withdrew America from the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership. Besides, the re-negotiated NAFTA claiming that this 1994 international treaty was unfair for America. In 2016, Trump campaigned on the promise to eliminate the national debt within 8 years, but he rather increased government spending during his term in office. In short, he increased the national debt by an astonishing $7 trillion dollars partly due to the pandemic. Still, Trump started his presidency by promoting conservative values and policies. The Trump presidency is the continuation of the Reagan Revolution that has had lasting impact on America. Therefore, President Trump got rid of several federal regulations on health, labour, and the environment.
Furthermore, Trump was very pro active in peace talks with the North Korean regime. President Trump is the only U.S. head of state in office to meet a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s head of state. In the first months of his presidency, Trump told the media that the U.S. could wage war against North Korea. However, President Trump eased tensions with Chairman Kim by organizing diplomatic summits between both nations. Donald Trump succeeded to become friend with Chairman Kim Jong Un. They started to get along very well which helped to deescalate tensions between both nations. He met the North Korean leader in 2018 in Singapore. Besides, the Singapore Summit led to a joint statement which guarantees security for North Korea, ensures a peaceful relationship between both nations, and both nations are committed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. President perceived a breakthrough in the Singapore Summit because both leaders had a warm personal chemistry. Trump tweeted in 2019: ¨Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse. ¨ Nowadays, North Korea and America are talking to each other, they have a dialogue which is a great achievement for the American foreign policy in order to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Additionally, President Trump invested $738 billion to establish a sixth branch of the U.S. military which is the U.S. Space Force. The purpose of the new force is to protect U.S. military assets in space. The Space Force has 2,501 space professionals which must protect the interests of America in space, prevent the U.S. from any attack in space, and to conduct space operations. The 2021 budget of this new branch will be $15 billion. Nevertheless, several observers think that these funds could have been put to better use.
As well, President Trump believes in the benefits of tax cuts to sustain a strong economy. These tax reliefs allow investors and businesses to breathe so they spend in return. As a result, the Trump administration reformed the tax code by decreasing corporate taxes from 35% to 21%. Trump supporters think that this reform could unleash America’s economy potentials in order to better compete in a modern World. President Trump thinks that his reform will increase the America’s GDP. The Trump administration was inspired by the Reagan Revolution in which President Reagan signed the 1988 Tax Reform Act which an across-the-board tax reduction for everyone. In short, Trump’s tax reform is the continuation of the Reagan Revolution. other hand, several people criticized that the President’s tax reform only favours the rich and that this is not the continuation of the Reagan Era. In 2017, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer wrote in the USA Today that: ¨If Reagan were here today to learn about Trump’s tax plan, I think he would return the sentiment. ¨ Senator Schumer argued that ¨ The goal of the 1986 act was to simplify the tax code by bringing down rates while at the same time closing loopholes…the tax code got fairer and simpler, it would not add a penny to the deficit…Trump’s tax plan will add between $3 trillion and $5 trillion to the deficit. ¨ Thus, Trump plan could only make the rich, richer while drastically increasing the national deficit. This reform did not have any vision for sustainable public finances for the common good. In a word, it only favoured the wealthiest people while not really contributing to the economic development.
Furthermore, President Trump knew that the only way to end the 2020 pandemic devastating America was to develop and distribute a vaccine. Trump may deserve credit for Operation Warp Speed to speed up the development of a vaccine and COVID drugs. The program promotes mass production of several vaccines and it is aimed at ensuring a faster distribution of these vaccines once they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. President Trump is committed to making a vaccine available in America as soon as possible to end the tragedy of the pandemic. If successful, Operation Warp Speed could make President Trump the main political leader responsible to have ended the pandemic. Mark Gollom, a CBC News reporter, wrote on the CBC website: ¨Operation Warp Speed, a Trump administration initiative to manufacture COVID 19 vaccines as fast as possible, should be lauded as a successful endeavour in what has otherwise been a poor effort to deal with the coronavirus. ¨ Thus, Operation Warp Speed is an essential component of the humankind fight against the novel coronavirus. Besides, Tinglong Dai, a Johns Hopkins University associate professor, told CBC that ¨No doubt, Operation Warp Speed is a huge success. ¨ Whether people like Trump or not, we must credit the President that he started a program that could save millions of lives by developing a vaccine in a very short period of time.
Finally, the Trump presidency was about a transition to a more Conservative America by greater deregulation in several economic sectors and by cutting taxes in favour of the wealthy people. Trump opened a dialogue with North Korea which was a great accomplishment for World peace. President Trump believed in a friendlier diplomatic relationship with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Trump was the first U.S. President to meet the Chairman of the Korean Workers’ Party, Kim Jon Un. Even though, this presidential meeting with Chairman Kim was considered as controversial by several political observers, the Trump Kim Summit could help both nations to better understand each other for the sake of World peace. Moreover, President Trump could be the one responsible for the end of the 2020 pandemic. Trump made Operation Warp Speed a success; this presidential initiative made fast vaccine development that could end the novel coronavirus from spreading all over the World. In December, the Pfizer vaccine completed Phase 3 trials and it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration. This was quite a challenge for Pfizer that invested nearly U.S. $2 billion to make a safe and effective vaccine. For that reason, the Trump administration, despite controversial comments and actions from the President, could have been a success for America. This historic presidency could be at the core of the end of a World pandemic. Besides, the Trump economic policies could bring back economic prosperity in the nation. For instance, the Federal Reserves expects that unemployment rate drops to 3.7% by 2023. As a result, America could be back to pre-pandemic prosperity soon because Trump worked hard to save the economy and to quickly develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus during his term in office.
December 1st, 2024