While president, what did Trump do that was GOOD for the country?

I think he signed in the “pizza is a health food law” with congress. He also raised the debt ceiling one or two times with congress, and the house.

Both are questionable as good or bad.

President Trump signed a massive number of executive orders.

He reduced the size of the tax code, when printed, to something that can be lifted by one person, where the old code would have killed a pack animal.

@Strauss Well, you sure do know how to make a point. Well taken :)

Woke up present-day Americans on the need to protect American Democracy…now.

Made America energy independent and an exporter of energy which could have lead
to greater world stability.

Wanted to give people more say in the government instead of unelected bureaucrats
or the swamp.

Gave black teens the lowest unemployment in history along with the pride and
possible family unity that comes with a job and a work ethic.

Was holding china accountable for trade imbalance and for not being open
about the corona virus that could have saved millions and millions and
the world economy.

Gave Hispanics the lowest unemployment in history.

He started “The Wall.”

Nothing that I’m aware of.

Exposed most of the modern Republican Party politicians for what they are, and showed the necessity of never letting anyone do the things he did, again.

@WhyNow Made America energy independent and an exporter of energy which could have lead to greater world stability. That is not exactly the whole story. https://www.factcheck.org/2022/03/examining-u-s-energy-independence-claims/

*Wanted to give people more say in the government instead of unelected bureaucrats
or the swamp* He wanted to be king and tried to overthrow election results by kicking out who the people chose. I don’t see how you think this translates to giving the people more say. You mean he wanted to give republicans and the rich more power? I don’t see that as being for the people when you want to commit treason. Trump didn’t get rid or even tried to get rid of the swamp, he imported more swamp monsters.

Edit: Script mystery solved. ;)

@Raya Trump motivated the left and democrats to try to save our democracy from the likes of someone like Trump and he showed us how weak our laws really are when someone like himself can’t be held accountable for his crimes. Just recently the taking of top secret documents. He could burn our nation down and his cult will still follow him.

When Puerto Rico was hit by a hurricane, destroying their power supply, potable water, and many homes, he threw paper towel rolls at some of them.

Gave Hispanics the lowest unemployment in history & Gave black teens the lowest unemployment in history along with the pride and possible family unity that comes with a job and a work ethic
While unemployment figures for african-americans and hispanics were at record lows under Trump arguing that Trump casued that is a bit of stretch. Those rates were falling for years before Trump took office (started around 2010 under Obama weirdly enough) and the decline did not change under Trump so saying he did anything is a bit of stretch. The best you could say is that he didnt fuck up the hard work of Obama.

I guess you could look at what Trump claims as his accomplishments and decide for yourself

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/

Reading the first section, and seeing the words, “China Virus” tells me who wrote the document and I need not continue reading, @seawulf575.

Similarly “Great Healthcare for Americans”. Only true if Americans are defined as white millionaires who cast legitimate votes as opposed coloured inner city inhabitants whose votes are all bogus.

Had he included among his achievements his 97 stroke personal best on the Mar-a-Lago golf course I might have believed him, though on second thoughts I probably wouldn’t. His catalogue of “accomplishments” is just a long trail of bullshit.

@seawulf575 HA HA HA HA the document is pure Trump propaganda !

I give his admin significant credit for the rapid development of the COVID vaccines. It was mostly the individuals at Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J, but the administration didn’t muck things up. I’m not saying he did a good job with the pandemic in general, but the vaccine development seemed to exceed expectations and saved a lot of lives.

@Tropical_Willie Such a brilliant insightful analysis of the link.
AND good writings standards.

The single thing the pig achieved was in testing the country’s capacity to survive a madman at its helm. The country made it (more or less). It is the fate of the political party which suffered the misfortune of his affiliation that is uppermost in question now. We’ll have a more definitive answer on that come November. Meanwhile, his failure to procure a second term combined with his current entanglements in the snares of the judicial branch allow us some glimmer of optimism.

@gorillapaws the development of those vaccines was achieved IN SPITE of Trump and his refusal to take the outbreak seriously. The unnecessary corpses piled high as a result of the pig’s indifference are a major factor contributing to his current status as exPresident.

@WhyNow if you don’t include Canadian oil the USA is far from energy independent.

We were energy independent and now we’re not. Forget all the machinations from the factcheck link, they have an agenda. We were exporting more than we were importing. That’s energy independence.
Real wages were increasing, now they’re decreasing
Inflation was near zero, now it’s over 8%.
Illegal immigration was under control, Now it’s not.
No US troops were killed in Afghanistan in Trumps last year, Biden killed 13 and handed over the country to the Taliban.
Significant progress was made in Middle East peace with the Abraham Accords. Most of that has been lost as the Middle East doesn’t trust the US anymore.
No new wars were started under Trump, Now we’re staring down the throat of WWIII.
Violent Crime has been escalting out of control since Trump left office.

This is all just off the top of my head. I’m sure a more comprehensive list could be generated. It is also significant to note that trump did all this with constant harassment from the Democrats with one hoax after another.

Ok @Jaxk why is the us not energy independent under Biden, but was under Trump?
And leave out Canadian oil in your explanation.

Might it have anything to do with the world economy being shutdown due to covid. No gas lines during the disease the pig promised would “fade away like a cold”.

I remember Donny T making big promises in Coal Country, that he was going to “bring back coal.” Most people knew it wasn’t happening but he probably got a bunch of votes from the people in coal country, with his empty promises. Did he bring back coal? Hellz no.

@Jaxk In NYC I saw for the first time a public service announcement (PSA)
on what to do in case of a nuclear strike on the city.

I’m not sure what that means but it can’t be good.

@SQUEEKY2 Oil is a global commodity so we can’t leave out Canadian oil.
Besides that we have the largest reserves of natural gas known. Political agreements
to purchase oil from here and there (russia) are in place, yes. Stable global supply
of oil goes a very long way to promoting a stable globe,,, which we don’t have,
thanks to Biden and crew.

PSA for Nuke Attack is due to Putin (Trump’s friend) making threats.

So Putin (trump’s friend) is threatening to blow up trumps birth city.
That would immediately disqualify him from being my friend!

@WhyNow that’s right. It’s Biden who destabilized the world. Conservatives will tell their useful idiots that it is he who invaded Ukraine, so that YOU might repeat it here.

Can I add ‘useful idiot’ to my list of complimants on this site.
Let’s take a look around the world…

The pacific rim nations are increasing their % of GDP expenditures in arms because
they don’t trust the US to protect them against China.

In the middle east the Saudi’s want to prepare themselves against Iran who feel
not only embolden to complete their nuke program and more importantly are
testing ICBM’s with range to start ww3. The Taliban is a proud recipient of a US gift
of (last figure) 8 billion dollars worth of killing equipement, but the stones needed to
kill wayward girls they still have to hand pick.

Russia and Ukraine well…

The heart of Europe, Germany and France are facing a very tough winter. All for
climate change. Fire up those coal plants.

Africa… There is surely a world food shortage coming. Poor Africa will be the first
to starve.

Thank you Joe Biden.

So climate change, the rise of the Taliban, as well as the war in Ukraine—NONE of these things existed while the pig ruled the barnyard?

@SQUEEKY2 – Here is a graph of the US oil production. I’ll give you the pandemic depressed demand and production but as you can see the production has not come back. Biden has made it clear that he intends to kill the oil companies and has made it more difficult to acquire leases, permits, and pipelines. Who in their right mind would make massive investments in drilling and construction in this atmosphere of uncertainty. These are investments that take years or decades to breakeven. The moratorium on pipelines does not restrict just the Keystone but many others as well. You still need to get the opil from where it is to where you need it and a pipeline is the safest and cheapest way to do so. So new wells, new refineries, and production has been severely curtailed.

Well it’s not a good thing but I don’t think there has ever been a US president that has truly divided the country, the Government used to to do what was best for the country, and despite differences would find a compromise that both sides could agree to and get it done.
TRUMP seemed to end that, now it’s just political posturing and seeing how much you can screw the other side and who gives a shit about the country as long as we have lobbyists money filling our fright wing pockets.

I’m pretty sure that Biden didn’t cause the droughts in Africa (MAYBE Climate Change did it) @WhyNow !

Or maybe the lack of fertilizers did it.

Lack of water; that is a drought @Jaxk .

The problem with the pipe lines is those companies CAN NOT guarantee a rupture or spill won’t happen, shit they can’t even guarantee a spill would be very minimum at best.

Oh sorry @RayaHope you wanted to know what Trump did that was good for the country, Well he told the auto sector they didn’t have to build more fuel efficient engines that Obama legislated them to do, and that is a good thing with todays gas prices right? well maybe not.

^^ sarcasm I get it :) I heard some states are going to ban gasoline-powered cars by 2035

@RayaHope: Right, like California.

Electric vehicles is a big thing, but will electrical grids be able to take the influx of all these new vehicles plugging in?
Plus with the demand for electricity will it push the price through the roof.

@SQUEEKY2 EV’s can charge at off-peak hours (e.g. in the middle of the night). If rooftop solar production keeps pace, there’s a good chance things will generally work themselves out. That’s overall beneficial as domestic sunlight and wind are the ultimate in energy independence. And by mitigating some of the worst of climate change, it’s going to be infinitely cheaper than the wars, refugees/migrations, and natural disasters that result.

Just look at the war in Ukraine. That’s a war over fossil fuels and water. How many billions is it costing so far? What about in lost global trade?

You can churn out a list of things done by practically any US President (or any political party) and frame them as positive accomplishments. It is stock self-serving rhetoric.

The US has a ruling ideology that is consistent and persistent, and it matters not what President is in power. Trump and Obama and Biden are all alike, and differ mostly by aesthetic and rhetorical appeal.

When “your guy” is in power, it’s common to find decontextualised and convenient metrics to make him look like he did something positive. It is ingroup bias.

You’ll typically find fairly meaningless economic indicators, like single digit or even decimal point moves in employment rates and GDP (they could just be part of the business cycle, or be caused by policies established years before the incumbent).

Something like energy trade balance, or just balance of trade in general, is of dubious relevance to anyone.

From my view, I don’t rate anything any US President has done since the New Deal, and even that was a compromise to stave off mass insurrection and save capitalism from itself.

Meanwhile, the US still has one of highest infant mortality rates in developed world, the lowest life expectancy, the highest income and wealth inequality. It is still has one of the world’s largest carbon footprints (I realise this is of no value or concern to many conservatives).

Actually, there is one lasting and defining accomplishment of Trump: he made a lot of people laugh.

He also made a LOT of people cry in exasperation and fear for the sanity of the country. The laughter was loudest from those outside the country at the tasteless joke in the White House.

^ Did you really say rational? With all ad hominem attacks could it be TRD?
Could it be hate? I think you
I will stop.

@Kropotkin Good read

Which attack is unjustified. Where is your counter argument?

And resist the lazy wulf defense of hatred as the answer to everything Trump. Of course I hate him in exactly the same sense that I HATE athlete’s foot. I hate him as YOU should any other fungus attacking this country. He is a disgusting orange parasite and little else.

Yeah @HP I am getting very tired of their ,your nothing but a hater, they can talk about democrats, Obama, Hillary, Hunter ,AOC, with vile and disgust and you accuse them of being a hater they say oh no just puking the facts.

Yes indeed. @WhyNow you wanna know what I REALLY hate? It’s inane knucklehead bullshit such as Trump is in trouble because democrats don’t like him.

Recent threat from Putin towards the west, re: nuclear attacks:

https://www.aol.com/news/putin-announces-partial-mobilization-russian-062025101.html

I can only think of two.

(1) The GOP tax law limited the mortgage interest deduction:

“The mortgage interest deduction limit was signed in 2017, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, lowered the mortgage deduction limit, altering individual income tax, and placing a limit on the amount you may deduct from your home equity loan debt.

Prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the limit for mortgage interest deduction was $1 million. In 2022, however, the limit dropped to $750,000, meaning that this tax year, married couples filing together and single filers can deduct the interest as high as $750,000. Married taxpayers filing separately can deduct has high as $375,000 each.” Source

It should be limited further, but this was a start.

(2) UAE, Morocco, Sudan, and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel during Trump’s term. That counts for something.

There is a case to made for renegotiating our trade relations with China and Europe, but the way he went about it was stupid. We should have presented a united front with Europe against China, and then after getting concessions from China, we could have worked out our problems with Europe.

There is also a case to be made for getting out of Afghanistan, but again, the way he did it was terrible and left a mess for Biden to deal with.

Just about everything else Trump did was bad. Certain positive developments that his supporters claim as his achievements were things that came to fruition due to work done before he took office.

My stocks did quite well during the Trump years, but that doesn’t begin to compensate for the damage he and his enablers did to this country.

The only good Trump did was in handing the presidency over to someone who knew how to do the job. He did this with a quiet dignity and grace that helped to unite a deeply divided country and ensured that the flame of American democracy continued to flourish in a deeply troubled world. Oh no that’s not right, sorry must be thinking of someone else, probably John McCain.

@Kropotkin You’ll typically find fairly meaningless economic indicators, like single digit or even decimal point moves in employment rates and GDP (they could just be part of the business cycle, or be caused by policies established years before the incumbent).

Very true. A good illustration of that was a poll referenced on the Chapo podcast in which people surveyed about gas prices believed overwhelmingly that Biden caused them go up and when later asked what made the prices go down as they did this summer, the number 1 answer was also “Joe Biden”.

I don’t think all that much changed under Trump other than certain “norms”. Presidents are powerful figureheads that get credit and blame for things that often have little to do with them. I think, as a people, we need that, as the change of presidency is one of the most obvious effects of our voting power, and we like to think our decisions have more influence than they actually do.

Excellent answers from @HP, @Kropotkin and @Demosthenes…something I hope you appreciate @WhyNow, just like I do.

Excellent response from @Zissou as well. Very informative. I happen to read it just now.