US President Donald Trump has engaged the free press media in which he alleged that "the media" has become the "enemy of the people" because of ninety percent of the news stories about him are negative. Let's discuss.
He claims that he is accomplishing what he had promised his followers and that the economy is performing well and that people should be happy and satisfied with that.
He believes that 63 million people elected him and want what he is accomplishing. That ignores these facts:
Donald J. Trump Republican 62,980,160
Hillary R. Clinton Democratic 65,845,063
A small majority of citizens didn't want what Trump and the Republicans are doing. However, Republicans control the Congress and the Executive branch and operate in a bully fashion to accomplish their aims. They are not bipartisan.
Trump's bullish style makes no effort to unite the nation and to effectively demonstrate that his policies are best for the nation. For instance, giving corporations and wealthy persons a giant tax break was supposed to provide "trickle down" benefits for the middle-class and poor. The economic facts are that wages are not improving. The middle-class did not benefit from the tax cut. True is that Wall Street and Corporations are benefiting.
Also true is that the national debt and deficit is exploding again. That is the consequence of failing to generate sufficient tax revenue. Republican's and the President's response is to attack Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid that further degrades the middle-class and poor, which is entirely unacceptable.
The President's reporting economic good news is done with the caveat not to look into the future because we are headed for the cliff again.
The President is an incessant and apparently incurable liar. All Americans can see and hear that. As such, he is like a lying witness on the stand in court. What are we supposed to believe from someone so untruthful?
That is why the media pepper the President for details and probe his character and challenge his truthfulness. On behalf of all people, that is what the free-press does.
In the wake of horrible catastrophes in the news and on his watch, the President has mixed the right words while drowning out his message with the wrong and inappropriate ones. That is his behavior that undermines attention to his accomplishments.
The media track his progress and report it. For instance:
"Donald Trump made a string of promises during his long campaign to be the 45th president of the United States.
Many of them made headlines - from banning all Muslims entering the US to building a wall along the border with Mexico.
So how is he doing?"
Below, I am quoting from Reuters and the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37982000
Tax Cuts
"Before election: Trump promised to lower the corporate tax rate and huge tax cuts for working Americans.
After: The Republican tax plan finally passed in December 2017, and it largely ticks the box for the president although its merits are hotly disputed. He has had to compromise on his pledge to bring corporation tax down from 35% to 15% (it will be 21% instead). And the tax cuts for individuals will expire, although Republicans say future governments will simply renew them. But wealthy Americans are expected to benefit more than poorer ones."
Paris Climate Deal
"Before: As a candidate, Mr. Trump derided climate change as a hoax concocted by China and the regulations of Paris as stifling to American growth.
After: After three months of prevarications behind the closed doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the president came down decisively on the side near the exits. Quitting the Paris deal, signed by nearly 200 countries, will take a few years but this is unequivocally a promise kept."
Is that a good thing? Most scientists, environmentalists, and intelligent people don't think so.
Supreme Court Nominee
"Before: "I am looking for judges and have actually picked 20 of them. They'll respect the Second Amendment and what it stands for and what it represents."
After: He vowed to appoint a conservative justice and he has - Neil Gorsuch. It took a procedural change to Senate rules, but it's a victory nonetheless."
Next, he nominated and posted Brett Kavanaugh. While he succeeded, Kavanaugh can expect close oversight by the Supreme Court Justice and follow-up investigations about allegations of sexual misconduct.
Do most Americans agree with the outcome? Probably not.
Bombing the Islamic State
"Before: During a speech in Iowa in November 2015, Mr. Trump warned that he would, using an expletive, bomb so-called Islamic State into obliteration.
After: The president dropped the biggest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal on an IS-stronghold in Afghanistan. He also takes credit for accelerating progress in driving IS out of parts of Iraq and Syria."
Then, he turned the entire mess over the Russians with dictator Bashar Al-Assad still in power.
Trade Deals
"Before: Mr. Trump called Nafta "a disaster" and warned that the TPP "is going to be worse, so we will stop it."
After: Mr. Trump pledged to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). He did in his first few days.
He also vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Association (Nafta) and, after threatening to pull out, the White House.
The new deals with Canada and Mexico have been accomplished, though the results and impact is unknown at this time.
Ban on Muslims
"Before: Mr. Trump initially promised to ban all Muslims entering the US - a "total and complete" shutdown should remain until the US authorities "can figure out what's going on".
But he switched to "extreme vetting" after he became the party's presidential candidate.
After: As president, he introduced two travel bans which become ensnarled in the courts but the third had more luck. The US Supreme Court ruled President Trump's ban on six mainly Muslim countries can go into full effect, pending legal challenges.
The decision is a boost for Mr. Trump's policy against travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
Cuba Thaw No More
"Before: Mr. Trump said in September 2016 that he would reverse the deal President Barack Obama had struck to reopen diplomatic relations and improve trade.
After: As president, he told an audience in Miami that he was "canceling the Obama administration's one-sided deal." But in reality, he has only rolled back certain parts, placing restrictions on travel and business."
Obamacare
"Before: One of Mr. Trump's trademark rally pledges was to repeal and replace Obamacare - his predecessor's attempt to extend healthcare to the estimated 15% of the country who are not covered.
It is widely hated by Republicans, who say the law imposes too many costs on business, with many describing it as a "job killer" and decrying the reforms - officially the Affordable Care Act - as an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of private businesses and individuals.
After: The Republican healthcare plan has been unable to pass the Senate, and has been mauled by doctors' groups, hospitals and other parts of the medical industry, mainly because of its deep cuts to Medicaid, the health programme for the poor, and fears that millions would lose insurance.
But Mr. Trump has been able to dismantle parts of the law - the fine for people who did not get health insurance has been eliminated as part of the tax plan. Some fear that may have a spiraling effect on premiums as healthy people choose not to get insured."
To be continued. Republicans want to drop protection for people with pre-existing conditions.
Moving Israel embassy
"Before: Mr. Trump pledged during his campaign to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a divided city which both Israelis and Palestinians claim.
After: In December, he said he formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and approved moving the US embassy. It will open in May 2018, to coincide with Israel's 70th anniversary."
He moved the Embassy.
Troops in Afghanistan
"Before: Long before he ran for president, Mr. Trump posted a number of tweets calling for an end to US involvement in Afghanistan. They were similar in tone to this one from 2013: "Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA."
But his stance changed during last year's presidential election when he said US troops would probably have to stay in order to avoid the total collapse of the Afghan government and to keep a check on neighboring nuclear-armed Pakistan.
After: He has committed the US Army to the open-ended conflict, saying his approach will be based on conditions on the ground and will not have time limits. He also said he would get tough on Pakistan, who he criticized for offering "safe havens" to extremists - claims rejected by Pakistan.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Mr. Trump's strategy in an announcement that the US would send 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan."
A border wall paid for by Mexico
Before: His vow to build a wall along the US-Mexican border was one of the most controversial of Mr. Trump's campaign promises. Mr. Trump also insisted that Mexico would pay for it.
After: Mexico maintains it will never pay for it, and even Mr. Trump has conceded that the US will have to pay up front and then seek reimbursement in some way.
The US Congress is exploring funding options for the wall, but many Republicans will be unhappy about footing a bill which could rise to $21.5bn (£17.2bn), according to a Department of Homeland Security internal report.
There are also landowners who protest against a "government land grab" - and a lawsuit from an environmental group launched in April. Prototypes are being built but not one brick has been laid of the "big, beautiful wall".
Deporting all illegal immigrants
"Before: Mr. Trump repeatedly told his supporters that every single undocumented immigrant - of which there are 11.3 million - "have to go".
After: As polling day approached, his stance began to soften slightly, then after the election, he scaled it back to some two to three million deportations of people who "are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers".
Setting aside the fact that the number of illegal immigrants with criminal records (including border crossings) is thought to be below a million, the president has failed to deliver on this promise.
In the fiscal year 2017, deportations were at 211,068 which is lower than they were in the previous year. That is despite a huge jump in arrests since Mr. Trump took office. The number of removals peaked in 2012 and has been falling since.
The future of young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers hangs in the balance because Mr. Trump has canceled the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, which allows some 700,000 people to remain in the US. The case is now in legal limbo."
Ditching NATO
"Before: Mr. Trump repeatedly questioned the military alliance's purpose, calling it "obsolete". One issue that bugged him was whether members were pulling their weight and "paying their bills". In one New York Times interview in July 2016, he even hinted that the US would not come to the aid of a member invaded by Russia.
After: But as he hosted Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House in April, the US president said the threat of terrorism had underlined the alliance's importance. "I said it [Nato] was obsolete," Mr. Trump said. "It's no longer obsolete.""
China as currency manipulator
"Before: Mr. Trump repeatedly pledged to label Beijing a "currency manipulator" on his first day in office, during an election campaign when he also accused the Asian powerhouse of "raping" the US. China has been accused of suppressing the yuan to make its exports more competitive with US goods.
After: He told the Wall Street Journal in April that China had not been "currency manipulators" for some time and had actually been trying to prevent the yuan from further weakening."
Torture
"Before: Mr Trump said he would approve waterboarding "immediately" and "make it also much worse", adding "torture works".
After: But after his inauguration, the president said he would defer to the opposing belief, espoused by Defence Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo.
Mr Pompeo said during his confirmation hearing said he would "absolutely not" reinstate such methods."
Prosecuting Hillary Clinton
"Before: "Lock her up" was one of the main rallying cries of Mr Trump's supporters.
They wanted to see Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in prison over the use of her private email server while secretary of state.
And Mr Trump was more than willing to back their calls for, at the very least, a fresh investigation. During the debates, he told Mrs Clinton: "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation."
After: The president-elect's tone changed almost as soon as he had won, describing the woman he had said was "such a nasty woman" as someone the country owed "a debt of gratitude". Later, he said he "hadn't given [the prosecution] a lot of thought" and had other priorities.
On 22 November, Mr. Trump's spokeswoman said he would not pursue a further investigation - to help Mrs. Clinton "heal".
The guy who invented "Lock Her Up" is now an admitted felon that is Michael Flynn. He's going to jail.
Rebuilding Infrastructure
"Before: The country's infrastructure "will become, by the way, second to none, and we will put millions of our people back to work as we rebuild it", he said in his victory speech in November.
After: Has repeated his vow to spend big on the country's roads, rail, and airports, but as yet, there is no sign of action."
No progress.
