Trump 347 Days In The White House

A VERY GOOD YEAR!

President Trump signs the National Defense Authorization Act Dec. 12, 2017 (Official White House photo by Stephanie Chasez)

JANUARY

    1. Jobs: The unemployment rate for black Americans dropped to an all-time low in December, to 6.8 percent. The previously monthly low was 7.4 percent in 2000. The government has been tracking unemployment by race since 1972. The overall unemployment rate is just 4.1 percent.
    2. Stocks: The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 25,000 points for the first time Jan. 4, just five weeks after closing above 24,000 points for the first time.
    3. DECEMBER
    4. Counter-terrorism: The Trump administration announced Dec. 29 that the United States will deny Pakistan military aid amounting to $255 million. A spokesman for the National Security Council explained that President Trump “has made clear that the United States expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists and militants on its soil” and that Islamabad’s support for the U.S. security strategy for South Asia “will ultimately determine the trajectory of our relationship, including future security assistance.”
    5. EPA reform: More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since Trump took office, nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to Reagan-administration levels.
    6. United Nations: The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, announced days after the U.N. General Assembly condemned the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital that Washington negotiated a $285 million cut in the global body’s “bloated” budget for next year. Prior to the Dec. 21 U.N. vote, Haley warned that the U.S. “will remember this day” when “once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the U.N., and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
    7. Human rights: President Trump on Dec. 21 signed an executive order cracking down on individuals and groups that his administration deems to be perpetrators or enablers of human rights abuses and corruption. The order declared a national emergency related to “serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world” and imposed sanctions on 13 individuals. Trump was exercising his authority under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act.
    8. Tax reform: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised President Trump Dec. 20 for his leadership in the passage of the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years, with some $3.2 trillion in tax cuts along with significant simplification of the tax code.
    9. Regulatory reform: The Trump administration eliminated Obama-era rules requiring that organic poultry have enough room to run around and that organic livestock have year-round access to an outdoor space and comfortable indoor pens. Trump’s Department of Agriculture argued the rules would “hamper market-driven innovation and evolution and impose unnecessary regulatory burdens.”
    10. Climate: President Trump on Dec. 18 removed climate change from the global threats listed in his National Security Strategy, reversing an Obama administration decision. Obama, in the most recent strategy document, declared climate change an “urgent and growing threat to our national security.”
    11. ISIS: Three years ago, ISIS had made substantial progress achieving its stated goal of a caliphate, boasting tens of thousands of fighters and territorial control over an area roughly the size of South Korea. But now, under President Trump’s leadership of U.S. Armed Forces, ISIS has collapsed in its Syria stronghold and in Iraq. As Northeastern Professor Max Abrahms and CATO Institute Director John Glaser note in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, a former foreign fighter recently admitted, “It’s over: there is no more Daesh left,” using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
    12. Regulatory reform: President Trump announced Dec. 14 his administration has far exceeded its promise to eliminate regulations at a 2:1 ratio and impose no lifetime net regulatory costs. In total, agencies issued 67 deregulatory actions while imposing only three new regulatory actions, a ratio of 22:1. Federal agencies also achieved $8.1 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings, the equivalent of $570 million per year.
    13. Jobs: Some 228,000 new jobs were created in November, highlighting the strongest U.S. labor market since the turn of the century. The government also reported Dec. 8 that unemployment was unchanged at 4.1 percent, but that’s still nearly a 17-year low.
    14. Military: The Trump administration asked a federal court Dec. 7 for an emergency stay to delay a court order to begin opening the military to transgender recruits by Jan. 1.
    15. Israel: While the previous three U.S. presidents promised during their election campaigns to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Trump on Dec. 6 became the first to follow through. In his official order, Trump also ordered the U.S. Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “President Donald Trump, thank you for today’s historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful.”
    16. Immigration: The Department of Homeland Security released figures Dec. 4 showing Trump is delivering on his pledge to more strictly control immigration and deter would-be border-crossers. Border Patrol arrests dropped to a 45-year low in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, down 25 percent from a year earlier. ICE said the number of people apprehended away from the border jumped 25 percent this fiscal year. The increase is 37 percent after Trump’s inauguration compared to the same period the year before.
    17. States’ rights: President Trump signed two executive orders Dec. 4 that gave back about 2 million acres of land to the state of Utah by modifying executive orders by President Obama. Arguing the Antiquities Act “requires that any reservation of land as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic or scientific interest to be protected,” Trump reduced the federal government’s control of the Bear’s Ear National Monument to just 201,876 acres, pointing out that the important objects of scientific or historic interest described described in Obama’s proclamation are protected under existing laws and agency management designations. He also reduced the Grand Staircase National Monument in Utah from nearly 1.9 million acres to about 1 million.
    18. Immigration: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced Dec. 3 the Trump administration is withdrawing from the Global Compact on Migration, arguing the pact would “undermine the sovereign right of the United States to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders.” Tillerson made the announcement just before the opening of a global conference on migration in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
    19. Tax reform: Propelled by the engagement of President Trump, the Senate on Dec. 1 passed the biggest rewrite of the nation’s tax system since 1986, reducing rates for businesses and individuals. The Republican-led House passed a similar bill in November. The two chambers of Congress will negotiate a reconciliation of the two bills that they expect to put on the president’s desk before the end of the year.
    20. Health care: The Senate tax-reform bill passed Dec. 1 eliminates Obamacare’s individual mandate, the linchpin of Obama’s government-controlled health-care system, which penalizes taxpayers for choosing not to buy health insurance.

NOVEMBER

    1. Stocks: The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 331 points Nov. 30 to close above 24,000 for the first time in history. Stocks were buoyed by the possibility of the Senate passing the Republican tax-reform bill championed by President Trump.
    2. Mining: Mining increased 28.6 percent in the second quarter and was the leading contributor to growth for the nation and in the three fastest-growing states of North Dakota, Wyoming and Texas, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    3. North Korea: In response to North Korea’s buildup of nuclear weapons and missiles, the communist nation was officially designated a state sponsor of terror by the Trump administration on Nov. 20. The Treasury Department followed up with sanctions on organizations and companies doing business with North Korea.
    4. Regulation reform: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Nov. 17 the Department of Justice will cease the practice initiated by President Obama of issuing “guidance memos” to enact new regulations that sometimes have had the effect of changing federal laws.
    5. Iran: Trump issued a memorandum Nov. 16 determining that the U.S. has enough petroleum coming from countries other than Iran to permit “a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products” purchased from the mullah-led nation.
    6. China trade: During President Trump’s visit to China in November, trade and investment deals worth more than $250 billion were announced that are expected to create jobs for American workers, farmers and ranchers by increasing U.S. exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities.
    7. Government transparency: The federal government on Nov. 9 made public more than 13,000 additional documents from its files on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, under orders from President Trump. It was the fourth released since October, when the president allowed the immediate release of 2,800 records by the National Archives.
    8. International liberty: President Trump proclaimed Nov. 7, the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, as the National Day for the Victims of Communism
    9. Religious liberty: The Department of Agriculture issued a guidance Nov. 6 that ensures Christians who opposed same-sex marriage would not be discriminated against for their beliefs.
    10. Job growth: President Trump announced in the Oval Office Nov. 2 that the semiconductor manufacturing company Broadcom Limited is moving its headquarters from Singapore to the United States. Broadcom is a Fortune 100 company that already employs more than 7,500 workers in the United States, and that number is expected to grow exponentially, with an estimated $20 billion to be spent on employees annually. Broadcom CEO Hock E. Tan said the decision to relocate Broadcom was driven by “his desire to give back to this country that has given me so much.”

Government reform: EPA Director Scott Pruitt placed 66 new experts on three different EPA scientific committees who espouse more conservative views than their predecessors. To prevent conflicts of interest, Pruitt signed a directive Oct. 31 banning scientists who receive EPA grants from serving on the agency’s independent advisory boards

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