Number of campaign vows won’t materialize
Slew of executive orders will be harder to implement than the president thinks
WASHINGTON— No one can accuse Donald Trump of campaigning in poetry. But after just one week in the White House, the new president is bumping up against the hard reality of governing in prose.
Many of the sweeping actions U.S. President Trump vowed this week through his executive orders and proclamations are unlikely to happen, either because they are impractical, opposed by Congress and members of his Cabinet, or full of legal holes.
The reality — that yawning gap between what Trump says he will do and what he actually can do — underscores his chaotic start, which includes executive actions drafted by close aides, rather than experts, and without input from the agencies tasked with implementing them.
On a host of issues, from health care to trade to immigration, Trump began his presidency with executive orders intended to both placate and excite his base by keeping his bold campaign promises — in rhetoric if not immediate, tangible results.
“We’re taking the first steps to get it done, with the understanding that some of these things may be a process, but you have to begin the process and that’s what he’s doing — taking bold action and doing everything he can to make sure these things happen,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal deputy White House press secretary.
But the reality is far more complicated. On immigration, for instance, Trump’s call for a border wall paid for by Mexico first has to be funded by Congress. And the possibility that Mexico would pay for the wall — always a long-shot — grew even more remote this week after Mexico’s president on Thursday cancelled his planned visit to Washington to meet with Trump, citing disagreement over the wall.
The White House said that one possible option would be to pay for the project with a border tax on Mexican imports.
Trump has also promised to order an investigation into his false claims that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in November for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who beat Trump by nearly 3 million votes.
But there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim and, although he has the authority to launch a fact-gathering investigation, it is unlikely to unearth the massive election fraud he is asserting.
The ad hoc nature of Trump’s executive orders — including some finalized at the last minute or prompted by an off-the-cuff conversation Trump had with a friend or business executive — has further undermined their impact.
Trump, for example, said that only after a discussion with industry leaders this week did he realize that the nation’s pipelines are not necessarily made with U.S. steel.
The epiphany scrambled aides to draft an executive order requiring that they be constructed with solely American-made materials. But specifying U.S.-made steel is a violation of the World Trade Organization agreement, except in cases of national security — which this is not.
Trump, however, does not seem to realize the limited power of his executive orders and has made public signing ceremonies a trademark.
Some of Trump’s actions have caught fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill off guard. And although there is broad consensus among Republicans about the need to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — a process Trump began with an executive order the day he was sworn in — there is far less harmony on exactly when and how to handle the issue. Trade, infrastructure and tax restructuring have also exposed rifts in the party.
“Punitive tariffs are not helpful,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a centrist lawmaker. “Trade wars do not end well.” In many ways, Trump is simply experiencing the stark difference between campaigning and governing, a riddle that has bedevilled nearly every incoming president, including Barack Obama.
Many Republicans, however, think Trump’s supporters may give him a generous amount of latitude before demanding results. Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, said a goal such as building a wall along the border with Mexico is largely symbolic.
“It’s symbolic of greater security and greater control,” Ayres said.
And Judd Gregg, a former Republican governor and senator from New Hampshire, said that for Trump supporters, concrete changes may be beside the point, at least initially.
“They’re more interested in the verbal jockeying and the confrontational verbal approach than the results,” he said. “So as long as he’s poking a stick in the eye of the people his constituency feels are a problem, the rest won’t matter.” Trump’s first week in office proves he is a certifiable liar, Burman, IN9