What the president has (and hasn’t) achieved
▶ Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked by controversy and chaos. But aside from the hot air, what’s arguably most notable is the lack of achievement
Resignations, judicial fights, legislative mishaps … the first half-year of the Trump presidency was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. But behind those headlines lie some recent successes - the tax reform bill and national security strategy – and there is mounting evidence that he has the political agility to escape from crises and the flexibility to change his mind when necessary.
The early setbacks for the Trump team were marked by the upheaval that followed the first travel ban, the resignation of national security adviser Mike Flynn on February 13, and newly appointed attorney general Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the investigation into Russia’s role in the US election.
A frustrated president went into confrontational mode, firing FBI director James Comey in May, only to prompt the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the Russia investigation.
The one shining moment for Mr Trump in the first six months of this year was the appointment of conservative judge Neil Gorsuch to the US supreme court.
The infighting at the White House before the failure in July to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, forced a complete reshuffle of the presidential team.
More than 16 senior members of it have resigned since Mr Trump took office, including his chief of staff Reince Priebus and strategist Steve Bannon, who departed in August but appears to still be communicating with the president.
The secretary of homeland security, John Kelly, rode to the rescue as the new chief of staff and since July has tried to reinforce discipline and structure inside the White House.
Mr Kelly is said to have shown the door to campaign aides Sebastian Gorka and most recently Omorosa Manigualt, and while he has succeeded to a degree in controlling who Mr Trump sees and what he reads, he has not been able to subdue him on Twitter.
Mr Trump’s tepid response to the events at the white supremacist rally in of Charlottesville, Virginia, in August and his online spat with the National Football League have exacerbated racial divisions.
The president further fuelled those tensions with his reaction to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and his Twitter attacks on Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of the island’s capital, San Juan.
A Pew poll in mid December showed that 60 per cent of Americans say Mr Trump’s election has led to worse race relations in the US.
A mere 8 per cent say race relations are better while 30 per cent say it has not made a difference.
Domestically, the end of the year held very few bright spots for Mr Trump.
The tax reform bill passed through Congress, an unprecedented number of judicial appointments were confirmed and the economy was looking robust.
But for Republicans, losing the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, followed by the defeat in Alabama for a senate seat, has set alarms ringing within the party.
As Mr Trump’s popularity fell to a low of 35 per cent in a recent CNN poll, Republicans could lose in their majority in the House next November.
Fifty per cent of registered voters say they prefer a Democratic-controlled congress, compared with 39 per cent who want Republicans in charge, an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll suggested this month.
On top of it all hovers the cloud of the Mueller investigation, which shows every sign of intensifying after the indictment of former campaign manager Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates, not to mention the co-operation of Mike Flynn and former aide George Papadopoulos.
While the White House is pushing
Regional divisions have deepened and the peace process all but died a slow and painful death
for the investigation to be wrapped up soon, Mr Manafort and Mr Gates are not due to go on trial until May.
In the Middle East, Mr Trump’s policy seems to be based on proving that he is not Barack Obama.
In enforcing the travel ban, pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, air strikes against Syria’s Assad regime, keeping Guantanamo detention camp open, pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, decertifying the Iran nuclear deal, restricting travel to Cuba and recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, he has been resolute in reversing his predecessor’s actions.
The state department highlights flushing out ISIL from most of Iraq and key areas in Syria as a great accomplishment.
Mr Trump was also on a mission to mend strained relations with Middle East allies, visiting Saudi Arabia and Israel in May and welcoming the leaders of the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq, among others, to the White House.
The release of the national security strategy later in the year spelt out the priorities for the administration, with three goals: to stop it becoming “a safe haven or breeding ground for terrorists”; to stop any power hostile to the US from becoming dominant; and ensure it contributes to a stable global energy market.
Avoiding failed states and supporting regimes even if they’re autocratic is another key theme in the strategy and in Mr Trump’s approach.
While the document shows support for economic reforms in the region, it does not stress human rights or democratic reforms.
One constant in the Trump presidency this year is its staunch pro-Israel record. In February, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, blocked the appointment of the former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as UN envoy to Libya, and the year ended with the US vetoing the call for Mr Trump to reverse his decision on Jerusalem.
The strategy makes no mention of the two-state solution and the priorities of countering Iran, fighting terrorism and missile defence have replaced the traditional themes.
“Israel is not the cause of the region’s problems,” the document reads. But any peace efforts, including those by Mr Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, are frozen in their tracks, because of the Jerusalem decision.
Mike Pence, the vice-president, has delayed his trip to the Middle East until next month and his meetings with religious leaders and the Palestinian Authority were cancelled.
The divide within the Trump government on Middle East policy became evident with the Qatar crisis and the Iran nuclear deal decisions.
On the one hand, there was the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, advocating diplomacy with Doha. On the other, there was the president telling Qatar to “stop funding of terrorism”. Mr Tillerson and the defence secretary, James Mattis, were also said to be against decertifying the Iran nuclear deal. Mr Tillerson also opposed recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
His stated positions and the reports of him calling the president “a moron” have left the secretary of state isolated in the administration and he is hotly tipped to be replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo.
The deputy national security adviser, Dina Habib Powell, has already said she is leaving in February.
When he began his campaign for the presidency in 2015, the property estate mogul and former TV celebrity did not expect to win. His record so far on new legislation is thin and his approval ratings are low.
Beyond restoring old alliances, his administration has little to boast about in Middle East, as regional divisions have deepened and the peace process all but died a slow and painful death.
On Iran, apart from the tough talk and unilateral sanctions, the Trump team has not managed to reach agreement with Congress on the fate of the nuclear deal or forced a change in Tehran’s conduct, as Iran’s proxies extend their reach in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.