The year is already coming to an end – can you believe it? – and it has been a fun roller coaster ride. Everything from the hilarity of President Donald Trump’s tweets to the fake news emanating from the mainstream media to the left’s wacky ideas, it has been an interesting one, to say the least.
President Trump’s supporters often aver that he is playing a game of 4D chess while simultaneously completing hundreds of Rubik’s Cubes blindfolded. His critics may chuckle, but after examining some of his political maneuvers this year, you can’t help but lend a certain level of credence to this concept.
It has been nearly a year since Inauguration Day, and even the leftists of the media are conceding that he is keeping many of his campaign promises. Thus far, his policy decisions have been a mixed bag: some good, some bad, some OK. But there are two specific policies that have proved Trump is a master persuader, transforming into a powerful political genius.
Here are the smartest and worst political maneuvers of his first year:
Smartest: Moving U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem
Since the administration of President Bill Clinton, the U.S. government has pledged to relocate its embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, declaring that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Clinton failed to live up to his promise. Ditto for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Trump? He accomplished this feat in less than a year in the Oval Office. That’s impressive.
Despite even Democrats supporting the move for many years, the media’s blood pressure spiked, and their blood vessels ruptured. It is fathomable as to why Democrats and the media are upset: it was a work of genius.
First, for the last two years, the media and leftists routinely shrieked that Trump is literally Adolf Hitler. Even former President Obama joined in the chorus of hysteria by comparing today’s America to the Weimar Republic for the democratic institutions that helped Hitler rise to power. But how can Trump be literally Hitler, or even an anti-Semite, if he has been an ardent supporter of Israel and moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem? This comparison was false from the beginning, but it has now been destroyed entirely.
Second, in the wake of Trump’s announcement, violence has commenced in the region. Many Muslims and Palestinian sympathizers destroyed property and wounded others during their “Day of Rage.” To summarize the situation, a man with a Palestinian flag broke the windows of a Jewish restaurant in Amsterdam. But hasn’t the left stated that Islam is a religion of peace? If it were a religion of peace, then there wouldn’t be clashes between security forces and Muslim demonstrators. No matter how much the media blames Trump for this senseless violence, he is not the one tossing Molotov cocktails.
Third, Trump was successful in showing the true colors of his adversaries. Many Democrats, the media, and the international community have disapproved of the embassy move, and they have defended the protests and violence against Israel. However, with attacks on synagogues and chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar” against Jews, an outsider needs to ask: who really is anti-Semitic?
Fourth, inadvertently, Trump verified former President Ronald Reagan’s admission in his memoirs: Middle Eastern politics are irrational. No matter what the U.S. or Israel does in the Middle East, there will never be peace because the region does not want a Jewish state. And this response sums it up: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will cancel his meeting with Vice President Mike Pence later this month.
Whether he meant to or not, President Trump accomplished quite a bit with the embassy relocation.
Worst: Foreign Policy Blunders
Perhaps the president is surrounded by too many war-hungry generals and neoconservatives. Maybe he watches and reads too many pro-war media outlets. Whatever the reason, President Trump’s foreign policy has shied away from Candidate Trump’s foreign policy.
One of the attractions of the Trump campaign was that it was less hawkish than that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s. He slammed U.S. foreign policy of the last 16 years, and rightly so. Unfortunately, he has traveled down the same path as his predecessors: intervention and war.
Earlier this year, Trump garnered the praise from CNN and NBC for bombing Syria. Fareed Zakaria declared that Trump finally became president on that day, while Brian Williams went on a poetic diatribe describing the tomahawk missiles lighting up the night skies. It was an ugly sight to witness, primarily because it seems you can only appease the networks if you bomb foreign lands.
Trump’s maneuver further destabilized Syria, creating a dangerous situation for Christians.
North Korea has dominated headlines for the last several months. The Kim Jung-un regime continues to show off its military might with various missile tests. But it could be argued that the despot leader is being provoked: international sanctions, military exercises in the region, magniloquent language from the Commander in Chief, and constant talk of invasion from the likes of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Rather than attempting to initiate a face-to-face meeting, the Trump administration is poking the bear.
Elsewhere in the world, the U.S. approved a $1.4 billion military sale to Saudi Arabia as the kingdom starves Yemen into submission with its blockade.
And Trump has returned to the Cold War era with his restrictions on Cuba, pleasing the neocons. The 60-year policy against the communist island has been a failure, and Trump’s predecessor should be commended for his attempts to launch open dialogue and diplomatic relations, no matter how flawed his initiative was. Talking and trading are the only paths to peace, and the only method to quash brutal regimes and rulers.
President Trump may have wanted to refrain from echoing the proposals of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), or his father, Ron, by cutting off aid to foreign nations. But he may still accomplish this objective for many conservatives and libertarians after more than 100 nations voted to condemn the U.S. decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. If the Trump administration follows through on its pledge, then the U.S. government could save more than $24 billion. That can fund the border wall.
Year One: Has the World Ended?
Despite all the doom and gloom predicted by leftists, never-Trumpers, and even libertarians, 2017 has been like any other year. The only difference is that the Republicans are in charge this time. There haven’t been any drastic changes in Washington: the debt is still surging, deficits still don’t matter, war is still prevalent, and politicians are still bickering back and forth.
Armageddon: It still hasn't happened.
The way the media has portrayed this administration, you would think the apocalypse was imminent.
Like anything else with Trump, his record has been mixed. He cut taxes, but he failed to cut spending. He has been working with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), but he endorsed Roy Moore. He left the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but he hasn’t pulled out of organizations like NATO. He didn’t nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, but he tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell.
See? It’s a mixed bag, especially for liberty-minded, freedom-loving, libertarian-leaning folks.
For those that didn’t expect anything from Trump, it would be a good idea to tip your hat to the 45th president. The world didn’t end, he has made some progress, and he has prompted media personalities to see therapists. That last one may be the most significant accomplishment of them all!
What’s your opinion on President Donald Trump’s first year in office? Give us a call on our LIVE Author chat line to ask us a question or tell us what you think!
