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Look ....... I don't think there is any way you can cast Trump's behavior at the Helsinki Summit with Putin, of course, as it is being portrayed widely among media outlets, as something positive for American interests in general. Certainly, and this is also being widely reported, his behavior does serve the President's interests. I'm giving the media's portrayal of DJT's behavior at the summit a good deal of deference, i.e., I'm skeptical of it's real value in rendering an accurate picture of what really went down in Helsinki in the first place.
What I am seeing develop is a more robust understanding of what the Presidency of DJT is actually about. I will acknowledge that I favor a good deal of what he has already done with respect to his campaign platform. He's addressed taxes, albeit the net result of changes to the tax code are yet to be fully realized but a positive so far for Business potentially at the expense of decreased consumer protections in the law and an untoward trend in the corporate world to buy back shares using the tax savings for that purpose.
He's addressed immigration and I'm in favor of improved boarder security (stop and/or take steps to discourage illegal crossings). The downside is that his approach and how his administration has sold it has ignited a firestorm of criticism from the left emotionally based as most of it is. That is harmful to meaningful debate of the immigration laws overall. I favor a clear path to citizenship for select groups of immigrants who are already here - legally or illegally. I think there are reasonable paths to do this if Congress can get by the partisanship it suffers from currently - and Trump's leadership has been piss poor in this are if I am understanding it correctly.
On the trade front, my view is that the steps that DJT has taken so far are misinformed and will end up doing more harm than they will good to the American consumer and economy. The notion that he can keep ratcheting up tariffs (arm twisting) until China calls uncle is wrong minded. It appears that the administration has no off-ramp for it's protectionism and no plan to appropriately address valid trade concerns that do exist.
On the international relations front, the NK diplomacy has turned out to be a big nothing-burger and I'm confident nothing will come of NK's denucleariztion that the US seeks going forward. Trump's getting no where in the ME or with Iran with respect to America's interests there. His own interests? He's done fine. NATO is a perfect example of his penchant to announce how screwed up things are and then, after a summit, boast about how he fixed things; the reality is that nothing changed with regard to the structure of the NATO alliance and how it will address the current threats through structural changes that are urgently needed. Missed the boat here. Finally, I think that, all things considered, Putin and his Russia got the upper hand over Trump and the American people he ostensibly represents. There's nothing much else to add.
On balance, then, the Trump presidency has had some successes for America but they are overwhelmingly over shadowed by his arrogance, self serving interests and naivete regarding the nuances of international relationships.
What I am seeing develop is a more robust understanding of what the Presidency of DJT is actually about. I will acknowledge that I favor a good deal of what he has already done with respect to his campaign platform. He's addressed taxes, albeit the net result of changes to the tax code are yet to be fully realized but a positive so far for Business potentially at the expense of decreased consumer protections in the law and an untoward trend in the corporate world to buy back shares using the tax savings for that purpose.
He's addressed immigration and I'm in favor of improved boarder security (stop and/or take steps to discourage illegal crossings). The downside is that his approach and how his administration has sold it has ignited a firestorm of criticism from the left emotionally based as most of it is. That is harmful to meaningful debate of the immigration laws overall. I favor a clear path to citizenship for select groups of immigrants who are already here - legally or illegally. I think there are reasonable paths to do this if Congress can get by the partisanship it suffers from currently - and Trump's leadership has been piss poor in this are if I am understanding it correctly.
On the trade front, my view is that the steps that DJT has taken so far are misinformed and will end up doing more harm than they will good to the American consumer and economy. The notion that he can keep ratcheting up tariffs (arm twisting) until China calls uncle is wrong minded. It appears that the administration has no off-ramp for it's protectionism and no plan to appropriately address valid trade concerns that do exist.
On the international relations front, the NK diplomacy has turned out to be a big nothing-burger and I'm confident nothing will come of NK's denucleariztion that the US seeks going forward. Trump's getting no where in the ME or with Iran with respect to America's interests there. His own interests? He's done fine. NATO is a perfect example of his penchant to announce how screwed up things are and then, after a summit, boast about how he fixed things; the reality is that nothing changed with regard to the structure of the NATO alliance and how it will address the current threats through structural changes that are urgently needed. Missed the boat here. Finally, I think that, all things considered, Putin and his Russia got the upper hand over Trump and the American people he ostensibly represents. There's nothing much else to add.
On balance, then, the Trump presidency has had some successes for America but they are overwhelmingly over shadowed by his arrogance, self serving interests and naivete regarding the nuances of international relationships.
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