Positives and negatives of Donald Trump’s first year in Presidency

LAHORE: As Donald Trump completes his first year in office Saturday (today), his critics are slating him for his usual blustery rhetoric, racist attitudes about immigration and his infantile use of Twitter, though his supporters are generously giving him the credit for a record stock market upsurge that saw the lifting the Dow Jones industrial average by 31 per cent, for making unemployment dip to a 17-year low, for achieving a 76 per cent reduction in illegal border crossings, for a $ 1.5 trillion tax cut and for dishing out more than one million bonuses to American workers.

The 71-year old Donald John Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017, only to witness hundreds of thousands of protesters gathering in Washington DC and other American cities against his election that had made him lead the world's largest economy with a nominal GDP of $18.62 trillion.

To the sheer dismay of his political foes like the former American First Lady, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump had "surprisingly" held the reins of a country that was recognized as the world's largest consumer market with a five-time larger household consumption expenditure than Japan, a nation which had the world's seventh-highest nominal GDP per capita ($57,600), exports of $1.45 trillion, imports of $2.25 trillion, a Foreign Direct Investment stock of $3.64 trillion at home, an overseas Foreign Direct Investment stock of $5.352 trillion, a labour force of 160.5 million, Foreign exchange and gold reserves of $117.3 billion, a total trade of $4.92 trillion, a relatively high public debt (76.5 per cent of GDP) and an external debt amounting to $17.91 trillion.

All these 12 months between January 20, 2017 and January 19, 2018, Trump's like-minded compatriots have even hailed him for managing a unanimous United Nations resolution against a nuclear North Korea, despite the fact that he has visibly failed to fulfill some of his promises like repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act and building a wall on the border with Mexico.

This is what a prestigious British newspaper "The Independent" has written on the first anniversary of Trump's presidency: "It has been nothing less than a roller coaster first 12 months in the White House for the 45th President of the United States. Without doubt, his ‘unpresidential’ behaviour, his rhetoric and his actions have dominated the news agenda like no other president’s first year – not even that of George W Bush, whose first 12 months in office saw Al-Qaeda terrorists hijack four civilian airliners, kill 3,000 people and set in place global reverberations still being felt almost two decades later."

Facing an FBI investigation into a possible collusion between his electoral campaign and Moscow’s alleged effort to interfere with the November 2016 US ballot exercise, Trump was globally condemned for his periodic flare-ups with North Korea and the use of an increasingly antagonistic tone towards Iran.

A widely-read and discussed book "Fire and Fury," authored by Michael Wolff, has claimed Trump was not only ignorant about most of the major issues facing the country; he also did not really seem to care.

On January 3 this year, Trump had tweeted Michael Wolff was a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book.

Throughout his first year, Trump's friends continued to credit him for women empowerment and for posting his female appointees on pivotal positions. His notable female appointees include the likes of Nikki Haley (US Ambassador to the United Nations), Elaine Chao (Secretary of Transportation), Kirstjen Nielsen (of the Department of Homeland Security), Dr. Heather Wilson (Secretary of the Air Force), Sarah Sanders (White House Press Secretary), Linda McMahon (Administrator of the American Small Business Administration), Ivanka Trump (Advisor to the President), Dina Powell (National Security Adviser), Seema Verma (Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), Kellyanne Conway (Counselor to the President) and Jovita Carranza (US Treasurer) etc. Having sought help from "Time" magazine's January 11, 2018 edition, the "Jang Group and Geo Television Network" has compiled some highlights from Trump's first year in office.

Here follow the highlights of his eventful tenure in office so far:  

On January 27, 2017, Trump had gone on to sign the first travel ban Executive Order that halted Syrian refugees and barred citizens from seven countries to enter the United States. This executive Order ignited protests at airports.

On January 30, he had fired first Acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, after she had refused to defend the travel ban, arguing it was unconstitutional.

On February 13, the US National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, had relinquished charge. He was alleged to have misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

On February 14, Trump had asked FBI Director James Comey to shut down an investigation into Michael Flynn.

On March 4, Trump accuses former President Obama of tapping his phones during the election, calling him a "bad (or sick) guy."

On March 6, after the first travel ban had got tied up in court, Trump went on to sign a second version, which targeted only six countries and barred refugees temporarily.

On April 7, Trump had ordered a missile strike on a Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians.

On April 13, Trump had ordered the US military to drop the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the American arsenal on ISIS targets in Afghanistan.

On May 9, he fired FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of mishandling the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and alleging that he told Trump he was not under investigation.

On May 10, Trump met the Russian Foreign Minister Ambassador to the U.S. in the Oval Office, reportedly calling James Comey "a real nut job" and criticizing the FBI investigation.

On July 13, during a meeting in Paris, Trump told French First Lady, Brigitte Macron, that she was "in such good shape" and "beautiful," spurring criticism.

On July 28, Trump had ousted White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus.

On July 31, US Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci, was fired.

On August 8, in response to North Korea’s testing of missiles, Trump said if they (North Koreans) continued to do so, "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

On September 6, he struck a deal with the Democratic Congressional leadership to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government shutdown.

On September 24, the State Department issued new restrictions on visas, which some said amounted to a third version of the travel ban to America.

On October 4, the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had held a press conference to pledge support to Trump, but did not deny a report that he called the President a "moron."

On October 30, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates were indicted, while foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

On November 2, a Twitter employee deactivated Trump's personal account for 11 minutes on his last day of work.

On December 4, Trump backed alleged child molester Roy Moore for an Alabama state election. Moore was defeated on December 12 though.

On December 6, Trump had invited anger of Muslims worldwide after he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced the beginning of the process of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv.

On December 22, Trump had signed $ 1.5 trillion tax cut into law, the first major tax overhaul in decades.

And on January 6, 2018, still angry over the controversial book "Fire and Fury," which claimed that Trump was seen by White House aides as a "child," the President tweeted that he was a "a very stable genius."