Why Trump can’t get anything done
US President Donald Trump can’t seem to get things going at the White House. After nine months in office, he can’t claim any results besides getting his choice for a Supreme Court vacancy confirmed.
During the campaign in the autumn of 2016, candidate Trump, a man always oozing with confidence, promised to make America “great again.” He would overturn a lot of his predecessor’s (Barack Obama) initiatives, like the national health program popularly called “Obamacare,” build a wall between the United States and its southern neighbor Mexico (because illegal Mexican immigrants were undesirable, according to Trump), and severely limit immigration from foreign countries.
He hasn’t been able to accomplish any of his boasts. Instead, the Trump administration is struggling to keep its head above water, flailing in controversy after controversy.
Why has Trump failed to accomplish much?
First of all, Trump was an outsider to Washington. A businessman all his life, Trump never had even just a passing acquaintance with the affairs of government. In the presidential campaign he advertised himself as an action man who could fine-tune Washington into an efficient bureaucracy, “drain the swamp” in Washington, meaning to get rid of all, including influencepeddlers, that’s unproductive in the US capital.
Being a businessman accustomed to profits and losses, Trump thought governing was a simple business operation. Now he’s learning it’s a lot more complicated than that. Even the US president, the most powerful leader in the world, has to deal with politicians, meaning Congress and those who control the bureaucracy. The levers of power aren’t concentrated in the White House alone.
Secondly, during the campaign Trump, an egotistical and boastful person, savaged his rivals for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. He ridiculed his Republican foes, many of whom were members of Congress, and called them insulting names.
The US president needs the leaders of Congress to get things through the legislative mill. But now those he insulted during the campaign are getting back at him by not cooperating with his legislative agenda. One or two, like the Vietnam War hero Sen. John McCain (a former presidential candidate himself), are even voting against his proposed bills.
Third, Trump’s White House is reported to be in chaos. According to news reports, there is infighting among White House aides and factions are at odds with one another.
There have been several resignations or firings among top Trump advisers. Still, the chaos continues, with the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, reportedly calling Mr. Trump a “moron,” for contradicting his statements, notably about North Korea. US pundits are predicting a pre-Christmas departure by Tillerson from the Cabinet.
Fourth, the probe into whether Trump associates were involved in illegal activities with Russian operatives during the last presidential campaign is continuing and causing Trump headaches. Trump keeps belittling the probe as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” but it’s a serious investigation led by an independent Special Counsel that wouldn’t go away.
Trump is currently swimming in a sea of controversy. Is he out of his depth in the presidency? Is he up to the job or is he unsuited for it?
Trump’s personality indicates he won’t take things sitting down. But is he savvy enough to maneuver himself out of trouble?
Politicians in the United States and everywhere else have been vilified as being opportunists and many times serving not their nation’s interests but their own selfish ambitions. But Trump’s political inexperience is fast becoming an argument for leaving politics to politicians.
Past US presidential candidates, like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, won because they marketed themselves to the voters as outsiders, meaning they can’t be corrupt if they’re not Washington insiders or old-timers. Trump’s current difficulties show that Washington is a hard town to conquer alone and that even the president has to play ball with Washington old-timers.
Trump thought his business acumen and big ego could tame Washington and have it feeding off his hand. Today he’s learning that it’s not as simple as that or that governing is not too different from a normal business deal.
If Trump is unable to get his act together in eliminating the chaos in the White House and unable to govern effectively, it’s not too farfetched that impeachment could be on the horizon.
*** Tantrum Ergo. What are the odds that the Americans will return the Balangiga bells to the Philippines? While I strongly support the call for their return, I am not too optimistic.