Are we winning yet? What happened to all those promises about making America great again?
A look at some of Donald Trump's pledges on the campaign trail and the reality of where we stand on them.
Are we winning yet?
That’s what Donald Trump promised us, right?
“We’re going to win so much you’re going to be sick and tired of winning.”
That’s what he said, remember?
So, let’s look at the scorecard:
What Americans think
Trump likes to brag about how popular he is, often comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln. “I beat our Honest Abe,” he claims.
Reality: A majority of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump, according to polls. Disapprove: 51.3 percent. Approve: 44.3 percent.
How about his policies?
On immigration, Americans appear to be nearly split, with 49.5 percent disapproving of his deportation tactics while 46.5 percent approve.
On other issues, he’s deep in the negative numbers.
Economy: He has a negative rating of -13.6 percent.
Trade: -16.2 percent.
Inflation: -25.8 percent
That does not sound like winning.
It’s the economy, stupid
What Trump promised: “Starting the day I take the oath of office, I will rapidly drive prices down and we will make America affordable again. We’re going to make it affordable again.”
Reality: Inflation continues to increase—up 2.9 percent in June from the previous year—as taxes on imported goods (tariffs) put upward pressure on prices, the full impact of which has yet to be felt.
How about gasoline? Trump promised to lower gas prices to under $2 a gallon. That hasn’t happened. While prices can vary widely between states, the national average is more than $3 a gallon. Trump has repeatedly claimed there are places where the price at the pump has dropped to under $2 a gallon. According to Gas Buddy, that isn’t remotely true.
Groceries? Food prices are continuing to rise with meat, poultry, fish and eggs up 5.2 percent in June from the previous year (data usually lags a month or two as it is gathered). Overall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that in all categories, year-over-year food prices are up 2.9 percent, mirroring inflation numbers.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
What Trump promised: During his campaign, Trump claimed his ‘America First” policy, combined with the imposition of taxes (tariffs) on imported goods, would revitalize the job market.
Reality: The unemployment rate is up to 4.3 percent. The number of jobs actually fell by 13,000 in June and gained only a paltry 22,000 in August. Economists blame deportations of workers and increased costs because of tariffs as contributors to economic uncertainty and the reluctance of employers to hire more workers.
And, as it turns out, those job-killing tariffs may be illegal, and the United States could be forced to repay billions in taxes it has charged on imported goods. That will soon be before the Supreme Court.
How’s he feeling?
Trump has bragged that he’s “fit as a fiddle” and, indeed, contrasted what he claimed was his robust health to former President Joe Biden’s apparent physical and mental feebleness. But we have questions.
Physically: Trump is suffering from circulatory problems that are causing swelling of his legs and ankles, and discoloration of the backs of his hands suggests that he’s been receiving intravenous fluids. And, obviously, he’s morbidly obese.
Mentally: Judge for yourself from this bit of conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni:
"People that were in jail for horrible -- you know, they release jails, Georgia, from all over the world and release them. Not just South America. The Congo in Africa. Many many people come from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they came from the Congo …"
The prime minister had no idea what Trump was talking about. Neither did anyone else. Nor did he. That’s just one example. The list is long. Just visit him on social media any given day for further examples of his incoherence.
Deportations
Trump promised “the largest deportation operation in American history.” NBC News’s Deportation Tracker has this to say about that:
President Donald Trump came into office promising the largest mass deportation in U.S history, targeting the more than 10 million unauthorized migrants living in the United States. Since then, data shows border crossings have plummeted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests have doubled, and the number of people in detention is at an all-time high.
To justify this aggressive strategy that bypasses the ordinary processes of legal review, Trump has claimed extraordinary powers granted under an 18th-century law called the Alien Enemies Act. He claims we have a national emergency.
Now, a federal appeals court—one of the most conservative in the country—has ruled he’s breaking the law. We will have to see how this plays out as it’s makes it’s way to the Supreme Court.
What he has achieved, for sure, is fear.
Make America Healthy Again
Trump promised to make health care affordable and to repeal the Affordable Care Act, pledges that appear to be mutually contradictory inasmuch as he has not offered an alternative to A.C.A.—often referred to as Obamacare.
What he has done is emplaced a known crank—Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—as the secretary of Health and Human Services, which has led to firings, resignations, and calls from hundreds of health care employees for his ouster.
Kennedy is a leading crackpot in the anti-vax movement, which has inspired acolytes, like Florida Surgeon General Joe Lapado, who this past week, alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis, announced a plan to end childhood vaccinations that for decades have prevented the spread of deadly and disfiguring diseases such as polio.
The medical community is apoplectic about this. Said the American Medical Association:
“The American Medical Association strongly opposes Florida’s plan to end all vaccine mandates, including those required for school attendance. This unprecedented rollback would undermine decades of public health progress and place children and communities at increased risk for diseases such as measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox resulting in serious illness, disability, and even death. While there is still time, we urge Florida to reconsider this change to help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk.”
Government transparency
Trump has issued several executive orders relating to transparency in government, from price transparency in healthcare costs, to transparency in government waste, to transparency in foreign gift disclosures (presumably including gifts of giant jet aircraft to Donald Trump).
Which makes it all the more curious why this past week he leaned so heavily on Republicans in the House of Representatives to block a bipartisan effort to release the files on the sex predator Jeffrey Epstein that are being held at numerous federal agencies including the FBI, the Justice Department, and the CIA.
He even went so far as to order a flyover of military jets to disrupt a press conference on the Capitol steps by Epstein’s victims.
What’s he trying to hide?
About that Nobel Prize
Trump can’t stand it that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, and he hasn’t. He likes collecting trophies, especially from all the golf tournaments at his various clubs where he — isn’t this amazing!—invariably wins.
Which makes it all the more curious how in one breath he yammers about how he deserves a prize for peace, then announces he wants to transform the Department of Defense into the Department of War.
Sometimes you have to wonder about his ability to hold a consistent thought. If he wants the Nobel so badly, maybe he should reconsider. Maybe make it the Department of Peacekeeping?
Just saying.
Oh, and about peace in Ukraine
That was a big promise. Trump said:
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled.”
Can we really blame Trump for this failure? After all, he did have a plan. All Ukraine had to do was surrender to his pal Vladimir Putin. The fact that Ukraine was uncooperative is hardly Trump’s fault, is it?
Yeah, okay, it is.
J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. Share this email with your friends. They will love you for it.
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Yeah, it's kind of scary, I agree.
The parents' rights movement is entirely misguided. Children are not property first of all, and not only should their individual health be protected but also that of every child and adult in the nation when parents use their so-called rights to justify endangering everyone around them. Like another commenter noted, I'm glad these families won't be able to travel to other countries at least... and Florida will see the pain as the number of tourists from Europe (and elsewhere) continues to decline.