Furor masks fundamental changes
Consequences will last beyond the controversy
In the 12 months since his inauguration, the headlines from Donald Trump’s presidency have been dominated by disruption: provocative tweets, derisive language and epic feuds.
All of which overshadowed some of the fine print — that is, the consequential actions Trump took that changed the way the federal government works and the role the United States plays in the world. Indeed, that’s the implicit bargain congressional Republican leaders have made with the White House. Most have muted their public criticism of the president during controversies over his words, including last week’s allegations of his vulgar description of African countries, on the theory he can help implement their policy agenda.
“There is so much hue and cry and rending of cloth over the truly outlandish statements that no previous president would ever make publicly and that are so breaking with any kind of precedent for a president that we’re really missing the fact that the tweets are the ripples on top of the water,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “The big impactful currents are well below.”
Despite scoring the lowest approval ratings of any modern president and facing united Democratic opposition to most of his proposals, Trump has had an important influence on everything from taxes to regulation to Americans’ regard, or lack of it, for the nation’s institutions. Trump’s legacy will affect American governance and life long after he has moved out of the White House.
The tax bill
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed in December, was the biggest tax cut enacted in three decades. The White House argued the legislation will boost economic growth, create jobs and put more money in the pockets of most families. Opponents said most of the benefits will go to corporations and the wealthy, warning it will exacerbate the growing financial disparity between the rich and everybody else.
Provisions major and minor are likely to have cascading effects, some of them unintended, that will take years to unfold. The decision to cap the itemized deduction for state and local taxes at $ 10,000 could encourage some families to relocate to lowtax states. Some high- tax states are trying to figure out how to pre- empt that by ameliorating the impact on their residents.
The expansion of the standard de- duction means that the proportion of middle- income households that will benefit from itemizing will drop by more than half.
Then there’s the $ 1.5 trillion price tag. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non- partisan organization of deficit hawks, calculates that the cost means the national debt will be larger than the size of the economy by 2028.
America First
Trump has shaken up the security alliances that emerged from World War II and pulled back from global free- trade agreements — policies consistent with the America First rhetoric that marked his candidacy from the start. He withdrew the United States from the Paris accord on climate change and upended the Trans- Pacific Partnership. He promises to overhaul immigration laws and build a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border.
Trump hasn’t changed some policies that he fiercely criticized, at least not yet. He hasn’t blown up the Iran nuclear deal, although he has called on Congress and European allies to revise it. He hasn’t withdrawn from the North American Free Trade Agreement, although he says he’s renegotiating the deal.
Generally, Trump’s rhetoric and action on foreign policy have reduced the U. S. role and influence in the world. His presidency has prompted allies in NATO and elsewhere to depend less on America to lead, and opened the door to a bigger role for China.
Regulatory rollback
At the beginning of Trump’s term, Republicans used the Congressional Review Act to withdraw more than a dozen regulations enacted during the final months of President Obama’s administration. They overturned new limits on gun sales to the mentally ill, privacy protections on the use and sale of personal data on the Web and regulatory changes designed to make it easier for consumers to file class- action lawsuits against financial firms.