In 2017, Trump’s first day focused on the infamous “Muslim Ban”, increasing manufacturing and oil drilling, and building the wall at the Southern border. So, with these issues in mind, oil, immigration, and international relations, where does a returning Trump stand? And what other issues did he cover?
The Economy:
With the topic of tariffs currently circulating the news, Trump promised to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens”, and to set up the External Revenue Service, that will collect all of the money made from these tariffs, that will be put to the Treasury.
On inflation, Trump claimed that this was caused by “massive overspending and escalating energy prices”. For the latter, he claims to have a solution. Trump commented that the wealth he plans for America to enjoy will come from “that liquid gold under our feet”. What he was referring to was oil.
Oil:
Trump claimed that in order to turn the nation’s finances around, he was going to “drill baby drill”. He claimed that the United States of America has “the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth”, which at first, sounds confusing. This is because the country with the most oil reserves is Venezuela, followed by Saudi Arabia and then Canada, and the country with the most natural resources is Russia. However, the US is currently already the world’s largest oil producer, and Trump is only set to increase that. He plans to “export American energy all over the world”, to end the Green New Deal, and to “revoke the electric vehicle mandate”.
International Relations:
Trump’s biggest international bone to pick wasn’t in the Middle East, or between Ukraine and Russia, but about the Panama Canal. After adressing that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed “The Gulf of America”, Trump went on to declare that the Panama Canal should never have been given to Panama at all, and expressed upset at China’s use of it. “China is operating in the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back”. On worldwide conflicts, neither Russia or Ukraine were adressed at all, and neither the words “Israel”, “Palestine”, or “Gaza” left the president’s mouth, but he did mention that “the hostages are coming home”. Additionally, whilst he did not address any conflicts specifically, he did express disagreement with how the US funds foreign wars: “We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defence of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders or more importantly, its own people.” Regarding this, let’s look at what he said on immigration.
Immigration:
The first Executive Order that Trump mentioned today, was to declare a national emergency at the Southern border. He declared that he would deploy troops to the US Mexico border, in order to “deter the disastrous invasion of our country”. He wants to reintroduce the “Alien Enemies Act” of 1798, which allows the president to deport non-citizens who come from nations with which the US is currently at war. Trump also promised to “eliminate the presence of foreign gangs” in the US, and that he would tackle undocumented immigration “at a level nobody’s ever seen before”.
Equality and Free Speech:
After declaring the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (the department to be ran by Elon Musk), Trump adressed the issue of free speech, promising to “sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America”. This was followed by his promise to “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life”, promising to forge a society “that is colourblind and merit based”. Trump then officially declared that there are only two genders: male, and female. He did not elaborate on why he declared this, or how it connects to any government policies.
Overall, Trump has promised a number of Executive Orders, all of which will create a drastic shift away from the Biden administration. His three main focuses seem to be immigration, free speech, and wealth creation via oil drilling.
Featured Image Credit: Library of Congress
4th year Politics and Journalism student.
Secretary for Brig
The Herald Student Press Awards Columnist Of The Year 2024 (which sorry i’m still not over)
