Sunday, Jan. 20th, was the 2nd anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration. It has officially been two years of President Trump.
During Trump’s campaign, he made 102 promises. Since his campaign, almost half of those promises have been broken or stalled. When comparing to President Obama, he made 506 promises, only breaking seven percent and 15 percent being stalled.
You can check politifact.com for updates on each and every promise that Trump has made.
Dr. Courtney Smith, professor of history and political science at Cabrini, says that as voters, we should look beyond those promises.
“All candidates for the Presidency will make promises designed to energize supporters and to make the idea of enacting those promises seem easy,” Smith said.
Trump supporter or not, you still question what he can achieve.
Trump’s presidency brought scares to many citizens of the country, worrying for their future. Students, amongst many others, didn’t know what to expect. Fortunately, not many of Trump’s (achieved) promises have impacted higher education.
“So far, few of the policies that President Trump has signed into law have had a direct impact upon the ways Cabrini and other colleges and universities operate. His policies, particularly his economic policies, could have an impact if they lead to an economic recession,” Smith said.
Smith says that policies involving immigration and trade could potentially be stressors for students, with loans and debt becoming a greater issue.
“A recession could discourage young adults from attending college, and other potential policies could reduce the amount of federal aid available to those who need the aid to cover the costs of attending college,” Smith said.
Here’s a progress report on some of his greatest promises:
Build a wall
Trump wants to build a wall to fight immigration issues in the US. He believes that a wall would “stop dangerous drugs and criminals from pouring into our country.”
Two years later and there is no wall. Eight prototypes have been created in the California Desert, but there is no money to fund the construction. Trump insisted that Mexico would be paying for the wall, which has yet to happen.
No one knows how much this wall would cost. The wall is apparently believed to cost $25 billion by the Trump Administration. Democrats, however, believe it to be an estimated $70 billion. The Department of Homeland Security says $21.6 billion.
Repeal and replace Obamacare
Trump promised to repeal and replace “the disaster known as Obamacare” immediately. In the last two years, Trump and Republicans had neutralized the penalty of the healthcare act, which only disrupted Obamacare. Then a lawsuit came about, which ultimately left U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor to see that is was no longer justified. So Obamacare stands, and Trump has not readdressed it.
Energy solutions
In Trump’s campaign, he promised to promote fossil fuels. Last year, the US actually became the world’s largest oil producer. Trump has focused on the promotion, creating conversation and advocating for the trade route. His promotion has brought many companies to advance their production and business. Coal on the other hand has continued to decline.
Tax cuts
Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Job Acts on Dec. 22, 2017. The act is intended to cut individual income tax rates, double the standard deduction, and eliminate personal exemptions. It was, at first, believed to be beneficial to everyone. It’s being discovered and uncovered that the only people potentially benefiting are millionaires and big corporations. Amongst other research, many businesses and economists are predicting no change in their investments.
Trade
Trump made many promises to reestablish and renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and withdraw from the large Asian trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump replaced NAFTA with the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). Approval from Congress is still needed.
Trump has also imposed tariffs on Chinese exports, $250 billion worth. Tariffs on aluminum, steel, while discussing imposed tariffs on imported cars. All of this has brought backlash from allies and trading partners who have retaliated with tariffs of their own, threatening the US trade deficit.
