Trump's first year has can't-miss drama
A steady stream of can-you-believe-it headlines.
WASHINGTON — A bleak description of “American carnage.” A forceful rollback of his predecessor’s achievements. A blatant falsehood from the White House podium.
And that was just the first 24 hours.
In his first year in office, Donald Trump proved to be a singular figure, casting aside norms and traditions, fighting with Republicans and Demo- slogan of “America First.” It crats and changing how the soon led to an uproar over nation and the presidency are the White House press sec- viewed at home and abroad. retary’s wild claims about
Seemi n gly each day the inauguration crowd size. spawned several can-youSoon, other crowds were believe-it headlines that the story. would have defined a previMillions of people flooded ous president’s term. But in streets around the globe for the hyper-accelerated Trump the “Women’s March” to news cycle, many were forprotest Trump’s presidency. gotten by the next morning. That set the template for the
Appropriate for a former so-called #Resistance, which reality TV star, Trump’s first swarmed airports just days year was can’t-miss drama, later when the White House full of unforgettable characsuddenly announced its travel ters, surprise casting changes ban on visitors from several and innumerable plot twists. Muslim-majority countries.
The reviews weren’t kind. There wo u ld be lit t le Trump’s first-year approval attempt from Trump to bring rating stood at 39 percent, the those protesters into the fold. lowest of any president. But Despite losing the popular viewers couldn’t look away. vote by nearly 3 million votes,
“He is a compulsively the president forged forward, watchable political char- aiming his policies directly at acter,” said Jon Meacham, his base — with moves such as presidential historian and the rollback of environment biographer. “The country regulations and civil rights elected the most unconvenprotections — and blaming tional president in our hisDemocrats for any failure. tory and he has proven to Always eager to have a be just that.” foe, Trump governed as he
Trump was the first pres- campaigned, and not just by ident to be elected without incessantly reliving his 2016 any government or military election over Hillary Clinton. experience. And from the first Trump frequently instigated moments of Trump’s inaugu- fights and rarely let a slight go ration, it was clear that Wash- unanswered via his favorite ington had never seen anyweapon, his Twitter account. thing like this before. The trail of tweets has roiled
His inaugural speech was a the capital for 12 months. dark pitch to the nation’s forAcross Washington, phones gotten, suggesting a retreat would buzz with alerts anyfrom the world under the time Trump tweeted. Repub- licans found themselves to be targets of Trump tweets just like Democrats, particularly when their efforts to repeal Obama’s health care law failed not once, but twice.
Some tweets challenged American institutions, criticizing the media and the FBI. Others provoked outrage, as when he suggested Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., “would do anything” for a donation, an unsavory insin- uation made at the height of the #MeToo movement.
The discussion about sexual harassment toppled many powerful men but, while Trump’s own accusers resurfaced, the White House never changed its story: The women were lying.
Trump often appeared almost eager to foment divi- sions, including racial ones.
His political career was launched on the lie that Obama was not born in the United States, and this month, Trump was denounced for dismissing African nations as “shithole countries” when he urged a limit on immigration from that continent.
More divisively, he blamed “both sides” for the violence between neo-Nazis and antihate group protesters that left one woman dead in Charlot- tesville, Virginia.
While Trump was rewriting the rules of behavior within the Oval Office, his agenda was largely lifted from the Republican playbook and his first-year victories thrilled the GOP orthodoxy. He appointed conservative judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, rolled back business regu- lations, and presided over a massive tax cut and stock market to boom.
“2017 was a year of tremendous achievement (and) the achievements for our country, our people, and for our standing in the world have been very monumental,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting last week.
Like any president, Trump faced crises in his first year.
Most ominously, North Korea escalated its nuclear weapons development program while Trump responded with unprecedentedly bellicose rhetoric. He warned of “fire and fury” that could wipe out Pyongyang.
The anniversary of his inauguration coincided with a government shutdown, and he scoffed Democrats “wanted to give me a nice present.”
His responses to domestic tragedies were uneven.
He paid tribute to the 58 victims of a shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas, but made no effort to toughen gun control laws. When Hurricane Maria crushed Puerto Rico, leaving half the island without power for months, Trump feuded with a local mayor and, during a visit, distributed paper towels to survivors by shooting them like they were basketballs.
Befitting a man whose reality show ended with a firing each week, in Trump’s first year his administration’s upper-level officials have had a turnover rate of 34 percent, much higher than any other in the past 40 years. Gone were chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon. National security adviser Mike Flynn was fired less than a month into the term for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with foreign offi- cials. In May, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the investi- gation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election.
That dismissal led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose probe into possible collusion and obstruction of justice has hovered over the White House.