Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - September 2017 | Page 15

MASTER PROFILE
The Telegraph published a list of Trump’s achievements and failures during this time:
Achievements
1. Supreme Court nomination
The Senate confirmation of Neil Gorsuch
to the Supreme Court may turn out to be
the longest lasting and most important
success of Mr Trump’s early presidency.
The appointment came at the end of a
process in which Trump offered his short-
list for public approval, consulted widely
(including among Democrats) and care-
fully vetted his candidate. The preparation
paid off.
2. Withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific
Partnership
Another campaign pledge has been met
by formally leaving the TPP, a huge trade
deal between the US and 11 Pacific Rim
countries.
3. Illegal border crossings
The number of undocumented immi-
grants caught crossing the border into the
US dropped significantly in the month
after Trump took power. The fall of 36
per cent, compared with a year earlier,
was taken by the Trump administration to
indicate that its hard line on illegal immi-
gration was having an impact.
4. National security
With Trump struggling to get his big-
ger plans through Congress, he has in-
creasingly immersed himself in foreign
policy and national security. His decision
to launch cruise missiles against Syria in
the wake of a chemical attack was widely
applauded for setting firm red lines, with
minimal risk to US personnel or of being
sucked into to a Middle East conflict.
Failures
1. Travel Ban
Perhaps no other failure illustrates
Trump’s early missteps. The travel ban
– directed at Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan,
Libya, Syria and Yemen - was signed into
force apparently without the knowledge of
the president’s Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity and without any warning to airlines
or airports.
2. Drain the swamp
Trump won the election in part by prom-
ising to do things differently, to shake up
the existing order and to rid Washington
of its cosy elite. But his administration
of gazillionaires, generals and Goldman
Sachs executives looks like the same old
cronies.
3. Health care
Repealing and replacing Obamacare
became one of Trump’s signature cam-
paign promises. But with what? Lacking
a clear alternative, the president added his
support to a Republican bill that made
concessions to hardline conservatives but
worried moderates who feared a voter
revolt among the millions forecast to lose
coverage. The result was a fiasco, as both
sides dug in their heals.
The failure exposed Trump’s lack of politi-
cal experience in negotiating support. And
(barring a last-minute reversal) it means he
reaches the 100-day mark without a ma-
jor legislative success, other than bills that
overturn elements of Obama’s agenda.
4. Build the wall
Trump’s 100-day plan included legislation
to pay for a wall with Mexico, all to be
reimbursed by the Mexican government.
That part of the proposal has been quietly
shelved and, although the Department of
Homeland Security says construction will
begin in the summer, it is still no clearer
how funding will be found.
5. $1Trillion infrastructure programme
Like the wall, this is a failure because
Trump had promised to get it moving as
part of his grand 100-day plan. With his
legislative programme essentially frozen
since the healthcare debacle, there is no
sign of the bill needed to secure funding
from Congress to rebuild the country’s
crumbling infrastructure.
6. White House infighting
For days at a time, press coverage of
Trump’s presidency have been dominat-
ed by tensions between his key advisers.
Well-connected observers say setting up
competing power centres, comprised in
this case of family, business leaders and
Republican operatives, is typical of the
way the billionaire ran his companies.
However, clashes between his populist
lieutenant Steve Bannon and his son-
in-law Jared Kushner have frequently
offered an image of a White House par-
alysed by infighting.
7. The presidential voice
Throughout all of this, Trump has at
times failed to find a presidential voice.
For every success – such as his well-re-
ceived address to a joint session of Con-
gress – there are missteps, blunders and
dawn Tweets. He has yet to explain why
he accused his predecessor of ordering a
wire tap on Trump Tower, for example.
8. Executive branch job vacancies
Hundreds of senior jobs have yet to be
filled across the administration, from
ambassadors to departmental deputies.
Earlier this month, Politico reported
that of 553 key appointments requiring
Senate approval, the White House has
so far nominated 24 people of which
22 have been confirmed, a far slower
rate than previous administrations. The
result is a logjam throughout federal
agencies.
SOURCES
Fox, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The New York Times, CNBC
ZUMA VS. TRUMP
South Africans have been watch-
ing the Trump-drama unfold,
silently smiling at the fact that
we are no longer alone in our po-
litical struggles. How does Trump
and Zuma compare?
To put it lightly, both leaders
have a way of bending the truth.
In both cases, the list is almost
too long to mention. For Zuma,
this included Nkandla, the Gup-
tas, and a wide range of other
scandals.
Both Heads of State are well-
known for making decisions
without necessarily consulting
others. Cabinet reshuffles have
plagued both presidents, leading
to uncertainty regarding long-
term plans. In Zuma’s case, this of
course led to a slew of economic
downgrades.
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine SEPTEMBER 2017
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