The question of the day: How do you think President Donald Trump is doing after 100 days in office? Yep, it’s been that long on Saturday, April 29. And we want to hear from you. Today, TGI reporters Alden Alayvilla
The question of the day: How do you think President Donald Trump is doing after 100 days in office?
Yep, it’s been that long on Saturday, April 29. And we want to hear from you.
Today, TGI reporters Alden Alayvilla and David McCracken will be out in the field finding locals to get their view of our controversial president. Is he good or bad for Hawaii? For America? Do you like what he’s doing when it comes to economic policies, like his tax cut plan he just unveiled (which reduces the top corporate tax rate and raises the standard deductions for taxpayers), and his determination to build up our military?
Trump took office Jan. 20. He lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, but easily won the Electoral College. Remember, no one expected this business man with bankruptcies on his resume, a reality TV star, to win, anyway. It was an upset of historic proportions. Few, perhaps other than Trump, saw this one coming. The shock waves, for some, still reverberate.
And here we are. His approval rating today is in the 40-percent range. The 100-day mark is considered important because in their first 100 days in office, new presidents generally have the most support, the most clout, the most influence and power to get things done.
Some are of the mind Trump has achieved little, specifically citing his failures to repeal Obamacare, which he vowed to do, and come up with a new nationwide health care plan. And another setback was his travel ban. His efforts to block immigrants from specific countries entering America that has been tied up in court and rejected by federal judges as unconstitutional.
Trump seems to be settling in, softening in some areas, ramping it up in others. Let’s look at some of his moves and his words.
A major success is the approval of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, though it wasn’t easy and required a bit of playing with the rules.
He seems to be more of a hawk and a dove, which has many folks worried about North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un, especially with Hawaii within distance of North Korea’s missiles.
He ordered a military strike on Syria in response to what he said was a chemical weapons attack, something President Barack Obama would not have done.
He ordered the “mother of all bombs” (21,600 pounds) to be dropped in Afghanistan on ISIS. Again, not something Obama would have approved.
He’s in a war of words with North Korea, saying it’s a problem that must be taken care of.
He refuses to release his income taxes, which while not seeming to be much of an issue with most U.S. citizens, is a bigger deal for his detractors.
There were worries he was too close, too friendly, with Valdimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation. And now, those two seem to be at odds and the Cold War is back, colder than ever.
Trump has been at war at times with the media and pulls no punches. He berates, belittles and batters those in the media he sees as unfair and unfriendly to him and his administration. There are some who like his approach, arguing the media has become lazy and opinionated. There are others who believe Trump needs to grow up and act like a president, not a petulant child.
His tweets, which seem to come at all hours of day and night are maddening and yet, a simple form of communication that he likes because he says it’s a non-filtered way to deliver his message to the people.
We should not be surprised at his actions, his mannerisms, his outbursts, his decisive actions. He rose to command a business empire worth billions in such a way, and he’s not likely to change what got him there, though he faces far more checks and balances.
This quote by Trump being president is interesting: “Here, everything, pretty much everything you do in government involves heart, whereas in business most things don’t involve heart. In fact, in business you’re actually better off without it.”
What do you think? What kind of heart does our president have?
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Alden Alayvilla, aalayvilla@thegardenisland.com, or 652-5024, or David McCracken, dmccracken@thegardenisland.com, 652-3372.
