With the relentless legacy and social media disparagement of all things Trump, it takes effort to remember how in 2019 Trump was on cruise control for re-election with his slogan: Promises Made, Promises Kept.  Despite the chaos, first from the pandemic, and then the destructive years of Biden regime governance, it is wise to recall what was achieved before the interruption and reversals.

Mark Lewis provides the chronicle in three Town Hall posts Donald Trump’s Accomplishments as President.  Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.

I have been repeatedly told, as I’m sure you have, that Donald Trump “was the worst President the United States has ever had.” Except for his “racism,” “Nazism,” “mean tweets,” and “all the stupid things he said and did,” I have never been told what specific accomplishments of his administration these folks don’t like. Granted, maybe the man is arrogant and narcissistic, but he isn’t the only such person who ever occupied the White House. Maybe he said some stupid things; I wonder how many human beings have never done the same. But only Donald Trump is guilty. Fairness and justice are virtues the Left is far removed from.

Mr. Trump, like all of us, including his liberal detractors, isn’t close to perfection. I didn’t agree with his every policy, action, word, or deed, but what I want to do in three articles is look at his record: what did his administration accomplish for the United States. Frankly, I will mention only bare essentials; the total list is very, very long, and at the end of this review, I will refer the reader to a website where a full list can be obtained and post the entire record on my personal blog.

The reader can decide, for himself/herself, if these actions of the Trump administration were good for America. I will, of course, comment along the way, but only briefly.

1. Unemployment and economic growth.

• Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.

• Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.

• Lifted nearly 7 million people off food stamps.

• Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.

• Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.

• The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.

• Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue-collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.

• African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.

Trump, of course, is a “racist” and “sexist” to liberals; it is one of their prime charges against him, with absolutely no proof. It is hard to understand, though, why a man who hates minorities and women so much would institute policies that would be so beneficial to them.

2. Tax Relief

• Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.

• More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.

• A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half.

• Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.

• Doubled the child tax credit.

• Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased.

• Over $1.5 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas.

• Created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones where capital gains on long-term investments are taxed at zero.

Americans were able to keep more of the money they earned. Only a Marxist (yes, Democrat) would object to that.

3. Regulations

• Instead of 2-for-1, Trump eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.

• Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.

• Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register – more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages.

Mr. Trump was very pro-business, something else that is anathema to the Left. Yet, the removal of onerous, needless regulations, not only helped small business owners, but cheapened costs and provided more money for average Americans.

4. Trade

• Immediately withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

• Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and replaced it with the brand new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

• The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers.

• Negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.

• China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.

• Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

• Achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million.

• Successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.

Economics is not something most Americans understand very well, thus the benefits of the above are not easily understood, or quickly perceived or felt, by most. Yet, the list is clear enough to make the Left angry. Mr. Trump negotiated trade deals that benefitted the United States. He still had much to do in that regard, but he was denied another four years in which to do it. Obviously, the country has suffered greatly the last two years because of that.

5. Energy

• For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States became a net energy exporter.
• The United States was energy independent, not having to beg our enemies to produce oil and natural gas for our consumption.
• The United States became the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
• Natural gas production reached a record high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record-high production in 2018 and 2017.
• Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
• Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil and gas leasing.
• Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline, while it varied around the country, was far lower than it has been under Mr. Biden, and the Ukrainian war is not the only or even major reason. Gas prices were going up long before Putin invaded Ukraine simply because Biden cut oil and gas production. Less of a commodity will raise its price. That is, of course, what Mr. Biden intended because he wants America on “renewables” to placate his “green” supporters.

6. HealthCare

• Increased choice for consumers by promoting competition in the individual health insurance market leading to lower premiums for three years in a row.
• Under the Trump Administration, more than 90 percent of the counties have multiple options on the individual insurance market to choose from.
• Eliminated costly Obamacare taxes, including the health insurance tax, the medical device tax, and the “Cadillac tax.”
• Lowered drug prices for the first time in 51 years.
• Launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market.
• Signed first-ever executive order to affirm that it is the official policy of the United States Government to protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
• Passed Right To Try to give terminally ill patients access to lifesaving cures.
• Signed an executive order to fight kidney disease with more transplants and better treatment.
• Signed into law a $1 billion increase in funding for critical Alzheimer’s research.
• Accelerated medical breakthroughs in genetic treatments for Sickle Cell disease.

These measures are very important, especially as one gets older and the risk of health problems increases. The federal government has made an absolute mess of the American healthcare system. Trump’s tweaks won’t solve the greatest problems but did assist many in need.

7. Judiciary

• Nominated and confirmed over 230 Federal judges.
• Confirmed 54 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, making up nearly a third of the entire appellate bench.
• Appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.
• Appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy.
• Appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Liberals hate these actions, but a court system that respects the Constitution is necessary for a constitutional republic that believes in checks and balances. The Left, of course, doesn’t believe in either a constitutional republic or checks and balances. They want all power to the Party (Democratic).

8. Environment

• Invested over $38 billion in clean water infrastructure.
• In 2019, America achieved the largest decline in carbon emissions of any country on earth. Since withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, the United States has reduced carbon emissions more than any nation.
• In FY 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaned up more major pollution sites than any year in nearly two decades.
• The USMCA guarantees the strongest environmental protections of any trade agreement in history.
• Signed the Save Our Seas Act to protect our environment from foreign nations that litter our oceans with debris and developed the first-ever Federal strategic plan to address marine litter.

One of the major accusations liberals throw at Republicans is “you Republicans don’t care anything about the environment.” My far-left, hate-America brother gave that to me one time and I just laughed at him. It is demonstrably untrue, and Mr. Trump’s actions prove it. There is such a thing as “responsible environmentalism,” and there is “radical environmentalism.” Conservatives (“conservation,” wise use of resources) believe in the former; the Left, accepting every ridiculous environmental theory that comes from MSNBC and Hollywood, believes in the latter. Mr. Trump’s actions were good and wise for the environment.

 

9. The southern border

• Built over 400 miles of the world’s most robust and advanced border wall.
• Illegal crossings plummeted by over 87 percent where the wall has been constructed.
• Deployed nearly 5,000 troops to the Southern border. In addition, Mexico deployed tens of thousands of its soldiers and national guardsmen to secure their side of the US-Mexico border.
• Ended the dangerous practice of Catch-and-Release, which means that instead of aliens getting released into the United States pending future hearings never to be seen again, they are detained pending removal, and then ultimately returned to their home countries.
• Entered into three historic asylum cooperation agreements with Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to stop asylum fraud and resettle illegal migrants in third-party nations pending their asylum applications.
• Entered into a historic partnership with Mexico, referred to as the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” to safely return asylum-seekers to Mexico while awaiting hearings in the United States.

Of course, Joe Biden has destroyed this; America no longer has a southern border, and even some Democrats have complained about it. If it hadn’t been for Mitch McConnell and the Washington Establishment, there is no doubt there would be a wall across the entire expanse of the American-Mexican border now. Not that it would matter. Biden would have torn it down. This may be the area where we miss Trump the most. Biden is diluting America into non-recognizability.

 

10. NATO, foreign affairs, and the military

• Secured a $400 billion increase in defense spending from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies by 2024, and the number of members meeting their minimum obligations more than doubled.
• Credited by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for strengthening NATO.
• Worked to reform and streamline the United Nations (UN) and reduced spending by $1.3 billion.
• Allies, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, committed to increasing burden-sharing.
• Protected our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will never ratify the UN Arms Trade Treaty.
• Withdrew from the horrible, one-sided Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian Regime.
• Brokered historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Sudan.
• Completely rebuilt the United States military with over $2.2 trillion in defense spending, including $738 billion for 2020.
• Secured three pay raises for our service members and their families, including the largest raise in a decade.

This is a partial list, of course, which must be limited due to space. There are many other items to be added here (e.g., Israel and more Middle Eastern accomplishments), and you can read about them at the website given below.

11. Education

• The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expanded School Choice, allowing parents to use up to $10,000 from 529 education savings account to cover K-12 tuition costs at the public, private, or religious school of their choice.
• Launched a new pro-American lesson plan for students called the 1776 Commission to promote patriotic education.
• Prohibited the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the Federal government.

There was much more to be done here as well, as is obvious to every sane American, but these accomplishments are notable.

These three articles have given only a cursory survey of Mr. Trump’s accomplishments while in office. As noted, most Americans don’t know about them because they were never reported by the Democratic Party’s press. We only heard about his mean tweets, racism, etc. That is the battle we continue to face—getting the positive message out, despite the opposition faced in the “mainstream media.” It is one of the greatest challenges in front of us in saving our country.

None of this information will matter, in the least, to the depraved Leftists. They hate Trump and, pardon the pun, that trumps everything. Evidence and benefitting the American people mean absolutely nothing to them. But we can hope that not every liberal is a closed-minded, hate-filled, evil wretch. Maybe, if we can disseminate this information, we can truly help some people.

If you wish the complete list, go to the website “Trump Administration Accomplishments”. If you want to copy and paste them and print them out, they will come to many pages, I assure you.

If Mr. Trump is elected in 2024, obviously he will have to undo a lot of damage that has been done by the Biden administration. He will also have to constantly fight the Left which will, again, do everything possible to destroy him in its relentless pursuit to destroy America. It is amazing, given what he had to go through in his term in office, that Mr. Trump was able to accomplish anything at all.  

Can he return to Washington and “Make America Great Again”? That is in the hands of the American people. Provided, of course, there is an America after two more years of Joe Biden.