FIRST SCENES IN A TUMULTUOUS ERA
New environment in Washington
Before taking office, President Trump derided the science linking human activity to global warming as a “hoax.” So it wasn’t a total surprise when he announced the U.S. would cease participation in the Paris agreement on climate change, the 2015 pact that set country-by-country goals for reducing fossil fuel emissions. Still, the announcement came with some suspense as U.S. allies had lobbied Trump to stick with the accord. By the end of the year, every country except the U.S. — nearly 200 in all — had signed the accord, leaving China as the world leader in combating climate change. The Paris withdrawal is the highest-profile item on a long list of Obama-era environmental policies that Trump has taken steps to reverse.
Attempts to repeal Obamacare
After several tries, the House in May passed a bill that not only sought to undo much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but also would have severely limited federal payments for the Medicaid program. But the effort repeatedly stalled in the Senate when a few Republicans refused to go along with plans that would have left millions more Americans without health insurance. The Senate tried again — unsuccessfully — in the summer and early fall. In one dramatic late-night roll call, John McCain, above, cast a deciding vote against his Republican colleagues’ effort. The GOP dissenters were denounced by Trump, who was eager to deliver on a key campaign promise.
(Many) changes at the top
The first year of the Trump administration saw more turnover in its top ranks, in shorter time, than in any recent presidency. Eight months in came the first Cabinet casualty: Tom Price resigned as secretary of Health and Human Services after it was revealed he had used private jets at taxpayer expense. Before that, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer left in late July, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus soon followed. Both had opposed Trump’s hiring of Anthony Scaramucci, above, as communications director. Before he even officially started, “the Mooch” was fired at the insistence of new Chief of Staff John F. Kelly after profanely assailing Priebus and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon in an interview. Weeks later, Bannon too was out.
Trump fires FBI Director Comey; Mueller takes over Russia investigation
In May, Trump sacked FBI Director James B. Comey amid an investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible complicity with Russia’s election meddling. Initially, the White House said Trump had followed the advice of Justice Department officials. But in an interview a few days later, Trump indicated he’d planned to fire Comey, whom he called a “grandstander,” regardless of advisors’ recommendation, saying that he acted because of his unhappiness with “this Russia thing.” About a week after Comey was fired, the Justice Department named a special counsel — Robert S. Mueller III, who had preceded Comey as FBI chief and served 12 years on the job — to take over the Russia inquiry.
Special counsel brings first indictments
Mueller’s special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election produced its first three indictments on Oct. 30 — and they included a surprise. Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, above, and his deputy, Richard Gates, were charged with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering in an alleged scheme unrelated to the election. The surprise came a few hours after the indictments were released when another former campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and court papers showed he secretly had been helping prosecutors.
Flynn resigns in February, pleads guilty in December
Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security advisor, was forced to resign after 24 days on the job. The White House said he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials about meetings with the Russian ambassador. But his long-term problems — his contacts and contracts overseas — put him in the cross hairs of the Mueller team’s Russia inquiry. On Dec. 1, Flynn pleaded guilty to making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI about his communications with Russia’s ambassador in December 2016, after Trump had named Flynn his national security advisor. As part of the plea deal, Flynn agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Trump’s Twitter war with NFL players
The president has repeatedly dived into culture wars, frequently on topics with racial overtones, and typically used language that in previous administrations would have been considered unpresidential. His Twitter war against NFL players who knelt during the playing of the national anthem combined all those elements. Trump began the battle during a rally in Alabama in September, profanely denouncing the players, mostly African American, who had been kneeling during the anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality.
Denouncing North Korea’s Kim as ‘Rocket Man’
Before he took office, Trump was warned that North Korea was a foreign policy nightmare. Since then, he and Pyongyang’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, have traded crude insults. Trump denounced the North Korean leader as “Rocket Man” at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19. Kim responded by mocking “the mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” But beyond the insults, the danger is real as Kim continues to test nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles and Trump boosts military forces in the region.
Trump reacts to the violence in Charlottesville
The president ignited a national furor in August with his remarks after a rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., turned bloody. One of the demonstrators intentionally drove his car into a crowd, killing a woman protesting their presence. Initially Trump blamed “many sides” for the violence. After a bipartisan outcry, two days later he criticized the neo-Nazis, only to return the next day to his original stand: The racists and anti-racists were equally at fault. “You also had people that were very fine people on both sides,” he said. Trump’s response caused widespread condemnation, resulting in resignations of appointees to White House advisory boards.
Trump’s GOP critics go public
For a time, Trump’s election papered over the split his candidacy opened between pro-Trump partisans and establishment Republicans. But by October the establishment’s criticisms, which had been mostly private, became extraordinarily public: Within eight days, three Republican senators and the previous Republican president attacked Trump’s style and stewardship. On Oct. 24, Sen. Jeff Flake excoriated him from the Senate floor as “reckless, outrageous and undignified.” Sen. Bob Corker, above, said Trump would be remembered for “the debasement of our nation.” This came days after Sen. John McCain and former President George W. Bush delivered blistering speeches that didn’t name Trump, but plainly were directed at him.
A stunning upset in Alabama
Throughout the year, Democrats have said voters were outraged by Trump, were highly motivated and eager to vote. Late in the year, the party scored some high-profile election victories to back that up. None was bigger than the U.S. Senate race triumph of Doug Jones, above, over scandal-plagued Republican Roy Moore in deep-red Alabama. A month earlier, Ralph Northam won a larger-than-expected majority to win the governor’s race in Virginia, where Democrats also picked up several additional seats in the lower house of the state Legislature, possibly challenging the Republican majority. Democrats also won the governorship in New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie’s tenure is drawing to a close.
GOP delivers tax cut votes
On the heels of their failed Obamacare repeal, Republicans wanted to score a political win on tax reform. This month, Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, above, put Congress on track to deliver. The ambitious package, opposed by Democrats as a giveaway to the wealthy that will pile on the national debt and raise taxes for many among the middle class, challenges GOP orthodoxy against deficit spending. Even after accounting for future economic growth, the plan is estimated to add $1 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, despite Republican promises that the tax cuts will pay for themselves. By late December, a final tax bill was approved by the House and Senate and sent to President Trump.