Is The Trump Revolution Over?

Written by Frank Li

This post was triggered by two recent news stories:

1. Senate overwhelmingly votes to impose new sanctions on Russia over election meddling.
2. Russia considering retaliatory sanctions against U.S.: Kremlin.

With that, the Trump revolution is over, almost at least! Puzzled? Hear me out …

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1. What is the Trump revolution?

Big and positive changes for America!

Americans were so fed up with the political establishment that they elected, on November 8, 2016, Donald Trump, an outsider with many flaws, the American President, expecting a Trump revolution, including draining the swamp.

How has President Trump been doing, so far? Not very well! Let’s start with Russia.

2. Russia and Donald Trump

Russia was obviously exceptionally good to Donald Trump throughout his Presidential campaign, and as the President-elect. Two examples:

1. 2016 general election: Russia was obviously in favor of Donald Trump (US election 2016: Russia’s weird victory celebrations).
2. President-elected Trump: Putin says Russia will not expel anyone in response to US sanctions.

Donald Trump, as a Presidential candidate and President-elect, loved Russia back. Two examples:

1. Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails.
2. Trump praises Putin’s decision against Obama’s Expulsion of Russian diplomats.

More profoundly, in the last phase of his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump presented, via a major speech on foreign policy (America’s Post-WWII Foreign Policy), a new vision that was good not only for America, but also for the world, including Russia. Two examples:

1. NATO: Donald Trump is right about one thing: NATO is obsolete.
2. Foreign policy: Donald Trump reveals his isolationist foreign-policy instincts.

As a result, Russia has been very patient with President Trump, hoping for a positive change in US-Russia relations, until now.

3. President Trump changed on foreign policy

Once in office, President Trump dramatically changed on foreign policy, including reversals on several key issues. Two examples:

1. NATO: Trump says NATO ‘no longer obsolete’.
2. Afghanistan: Trump Gives Mattis Authority to Send More Troops to Afghanistan. In other words, he is not remotely as good as he was in 2013, as shown by the image below. For more, read: Sending No More American Troops to Afghanistan!

More broadly from the Mideast to Afghanistan, President Trump has, so far, proved to be no better than President Obama, a total disaster! The image below highlights one aspect.

Worse yet for Russia, the U.S. recently demonstrated more hostility directly against Russia’s key interests (US Shoots Down Syrian Jet, Russia Threatens to Target US Planes). Consequently, Russia’s patience with President Trump seems to have finally run out (Armed Russian Fighter Jet Comes Within Feet of US Recon Plane).

4. Why did President Trump change?

I do not think Donald Trump has really changed much since becoming the President – He is too old to change! For example, he can’t even change his old habit of tweeting, let alone his way of thinking.

It is very likely that his new job has defined President Trump’s top priority: getting re-elected ad nauseam, with everything else being secondary, including the long-term well-being of his country. It is for this reason, I believe, that he has caved to the MIC (Military-Industrial Complex), just like his predecessor did (Correctly Assessing President Obama)!

For more, read: President Trump: Getting Re-Elected in 2020, via Tweeting?

With President Trump incapable of changing the course on foreign policy, let’s look at the other important aspect of his new job: domestic policy.

5. President Trump and his domestic policy

Unfortunately for President Trump, unlike foreign policy, in which he has a lot of room to maneuver, he is handcuffed on domestic policy, thanks to the power-sharing structure of our government.

Worse yet for President Trump, the Democrats have been, and will continue to be, doing everything possible to obstruct his pro-business agenda.

Worse still, the foreign policy and the domestic policy are related. For example, President Trump recently proposed to increase our already totally out-of-control military budget by yet another outrageous 10%, while cutting everything else.

Worst of all, American politics is so destructive and so nasty that President Trump will likely be drained by the swamp, rather than draining the swamp. For more, read: President Trump Will Be Impeached in 2017, Most Likely!

6. Discussion

It is not very hard to become an American President, with no hard earned measureable skills required (e.g. serving one full-term as a state governor). For more, read: American Presidency: Is It a Joke (III)?

Once elected, it is easy to be a good American President: just be pro-business! This is especially true when so many recent American Presidents have perpetuated much more damage on America than all of America’s enemies have done, combined! For more, read: Three Worst American Terrorists: JFK, GWB, and BHO!

It is hard for an American President to be recognized globally, especially when President Trump has to compete, chiefly, against Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi. Both of them are proven leaders, who are not only widely popular at home, but also highly respected abroad.

Moreover, America needs more than Putin or Xi! America is desperately in need of a great peaceful transformational leader like China’s Deng Xiaoping.

President Trump has a chance to match China’s Deng (Donald Trump vs. Deng Xiaoping), but he is losing the chance, fast. Instead, he is likely to become just yet another victim of our failing political system: getting re-elected ad nauseam. For more, read: President Trump Must Be One-Term, Voluntarily!

For a holistic diagnosis of our failing political system and the best possible solution, read my book: American Democracy – Why is it failing & how to fix it?

7. Closing

Before the so called “Trump Revolution” is finally over, let’s continue to wish President Trump well. One simple reason: the root cause of many of our biggest problems is our failing political system. If President Trump can’t step up to fundamentally reform it, as I have suggested (Donald Trump 2.0), who can?

Now, please sit back and enjoy the short video below. Still wondering why Trump admires Putin?