Report: Trump admin touts list of 319 first-term accomplishments
January 2, 2020
2020 has only just begun, but Donald Trump can already do a victory dance.
According to a list compiled by administration officials, the president will head into his re-election year with 319 achievements about which to boast, the Washington Examiner reports. Items in the win column include a growing economy, successful efforts to reform trade and immigration policy, the appointment of dozens of conservative jurists to the federal bench, and more.
“Historians of the future will come racing back to this Trump era with amazement,” presidential historian Doug Wead said, according to the Examiner. “The list of presidents on either side will be a boring blur by comparison. Of course, the economic numbers from the Trump time will be telling. They don’t lie. And they point to a great presidency.”
Administration touts 319 achievements
The lengthy, comprehensive catalog of successes is broken down into 15 different sections that address the booming economy, greater border security, enhanced protection of religious liberty, and the unleashing of American energy dominance. It encompasses many familiar Trumpian boasts, including the decades-low unemployment rates, as well as more recent policy achievements like the newly passed United States–Mexico–Canada trade deal (USMCA) and the creation of the Space Force.
On Trump’s core campaign issue, immigration, the list highlights Trump’s efforts to crack down on sanctuary cities and eliminate asylum fraud, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires certain migrants to stay in Mexico while their claims are processed, and the deportation of 267,000 illegal immigrants in FY 2019. The list acknowledges that Trump has not completed the border wall, which is still in progress, but promises that 405 new miles of wall will be built before the end of 2020.
The list mentions Trump’s efforts to protect American workers by negotiating new trade deals, including the recently passed USMCA and a phase one agreement on a trade deal with China, and spotlights Trump’s recently passed defense bill, which authorized billions of dollars for the military and a pay raise for the troops. Also listed is Trump’s success in confirming almost 200 conservative judges to the federal courts and his efforts to protect religious liberty and the unborn, including restrictions on federal research that uses fetal tissue, according to NPR.
43,759
America First
The administration also boasts of putting “America First” on the world stage by urging NATO members to pay more into the alliance’s defense budget, but also mentions “wins” on which Trump did not explicitly campaign in 2016, including interventions in the Middle East, against which Trump had run.
In addition, Trump boasts of taking action against Bashar al-Assad — a dig at Barack Obama who failed to enforce his own “red line” — for using chemical weapons on Syrians, and talks up administration efforts to confront a belligerent Iran with “maximum pressure.”
In another swipe at Obama, the administration boasts of Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, among other Obama-era policies that Trump has reversed. Notably, Trump has not repealed and replaced Obamacare.
Tailwinds into 2020
But the president will now head into his re-election year with some major tailwinds in his favor: he will soon be able to bounce back from impeachment claiming vindication, and Democrats have not been able to identify a compelling candidate to face him. Add to that a relatively robust economy and a slate of other achievements, and Trump’s prospects are looking pretty good.
Trump’s approval numbers have ticked up while support for impeachment has decreased, according to recent surveys. If Trump has not delivered on all his promises, he has been remarkably consistent — and many say that the strength of the economy alone will lift his sails, with wages rising for the first time in decades, particularly for the lowest-income workers, and more than 70 million new jobs created.
“The impeachment of Trump will play little into how voters decide who should be president in 2020,” said pollster Jonathan Zogby. “Remember, it’s the economy stupid, and you can’t impeach that.”
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