Trump's First 100 Days in Office Will Undo Most of Obama's Accomplishments
Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. Now that America has had a little time to grapple with that reality, it's time to take a look at what a Trump presidency might actually mean for everyday Americans. At the end of October, Trump gave a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that outlined his plans. Trump's first 100 days in office are going to be focused on many of the things he promised throughout his campaign: deportations of undocumented Americans, rolling back of environmental regulations, and the appointment of conservative judges to the Supreme Court. But largely Trump's primary aim appears to be undoing as many of Barack Obama's accomplishments during his presidency as possible.
The plan Trump outlined, which he called his plan to Make America Great Again, has three specific areas of focus, according to NPR. The first is imposing term limits and other restrictions on Washington politicians, tearing up trade deals with the intention of "helping American workers," and restoring "rule of law."
But when you look closer at the details and listen to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the first order of business is going to be repealing Obamacare. McConnell held a press conference on Wednesday following Trump's election and was asked whether repealing Obamacare would happen as soon as Trump is sworn in.
It is a pretty high item on the agenda," McConnel responded, according to the Huffington Post. "I would be shocked if we did not move forward to keep our commitment to the American people."
Besides completely erasing President Obama's signature accomplishment during his time in office, which has given healthcare to millions of people across the country, Trump says he plans to go after plenty of other Obama initiatives.
Obama has been pushing hard for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that the president said would remove more than 18,000 tariffs currently levied on American exports, according to Bill Moyers. Trump says he will withdraw the U.S. from that deal.
In the name of restoring "security and the constitutional rule of law" Trump has vowed to cancel every executive action issued by Obama, who was forced into issuing Executive Actions to get almost anything done as a result of the obstructionist GOP-controlled Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, who vowed to gridlock the legislative branch so Obama couldn't get anything done as president. So Obama did an end-run around Congress to keep minor children of undocumented Americans from being deported, to institute the Syrian refugee program, to add regulations on power plants so they couldn't pollute the air, and to make the Family Medical Leave act available to same-sex couples, according to Salon.
Americans can kiss all of those goodbye in the first 100 days of Trump's administration. But wait! There's more. Don't forget all the mass deportations Trump promised.
The Gettysburg speech outlined an aggressive plan to cut all federal funding for sanctuary cities and the start of mass deportations, starting with two million "criminal illegal immigrants," and the implementation of extreme vetting and the suspension of immigration from regions considered to be "terror prone," according to NPR.
The first 100 days of Trump's administration will also turn back the clock on gains made by the Obama administration to protect the environment, starting with a go-ahead for the Keystone Pipeline, a lifting of restrictions on fracking and other energy production in the U.S., and the cancelation of billions of dollars the U.S. contributes to U.N. climate change programs, according to NPR.
There's more, like building a wall, but you get the idea. Trump and his GOP-dominated Senate, House of Representatives, and soon to be Supreme Court of the United States will all be aligned to undo 8 years of work by the Obama administration.
That's what "Make America Great Again" means to Trump, his voters, and those he'll be surrounded by for the next four years.
