Trump has been extremely inconsistent and dishonest when honing his policy platform, but we should be able to predict some of his legislative agenda:
-The Affordable Care Act will most likely be gutted in the next two years. Not right away, not entirely (things like the pre-existing conditions safeguards will remain), but almost certainly so. The Republicans have made this a top priority since 2010.
-School choice programs will be expanded at the federal level. We can infer this based on Trump's choice for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. This may lead to decreased support for public schools.
-Enforcement of immigration law will be much tighter under Trump than previous administrations. I don't buy into the notion that he'd try to deport 11 million people, nor do I believe we'll see a significant border fence. But we will probably see a spike in the number of deportations and less leniency for people who overstay their visas.
-The Iran Deal is in jeopardy. Trump has consistently berated the Obama administration for our negotiations with Iran and will be a staunch ally of Israel.
-Our relationship with China will deteriorate. He has put many trade hawks on his transition team, has been very unprofessional in terms of his conduct towards the Chinese government, and has interacted with Taiwan in ways not seen since the 1970's.
-Congress will most likely start pushing for abortion restrictions. This is similar to how Bush got the partial-birth abortion ban passed in the early 2000's.
Trump does support paid family leave and investing half a trillion in infrastructure. While I am 100% behind this, I don't see these proposals getting through a Republican Congress. So I wouldn't list them as predictions. Russia is a tricky situation -- he has shown to be very amicable towards Putin but his nationalism and economic protectionism may not bode well for the U.S.-Russian dynamic. Quite frankly, I don't believe that a ban on Muslim immigrants or a registry will happen. It was probably just campaign fodder for his populist base (though if he were to institute those plans, I would be the first one protesting on the streets).
That's what I think will happen for the next 4 years. And I suspect Trump will lose in 2020. I'm certainly not going to take that for granted though.
-The Affordable Care Act will most likely be gutted in the next two years. Not right away, not entirely (things like the pre-existing conditions safeguards will remain), but almost certainly so. The Republicans have made this a top priority since 2010.
-School choice programs will be expanded at the federal level. We can infer this based on Trump's choice for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. This may lead to decreased support for public schools.
-Enforcement of immigration law will be much tighter under Trump than previous administrations. I don't buy into the notion that he'd try to deport 11 million people, nor do I believe we'll see a significant border fence. But we will probably see a spike in the number of deportations and less leniency for people who overstay their visas.
-The Iran Deal is in jeopardy. Trump has consistently berated the Obama administration for our negotiations with Iran and will be a staunch ally of Israel.
-Our relationship with China will deteriorate. He has put many trade hawks on his transition team, has been very unprofessional in terms of his conduct towards the Chinese government, and has interacted with Taiwan in ways not seen since the 1970's.
-Congress will most likely start pushing for abortion restrictions. This is similar to how Bush got the partial-birth abortion ban passed in the early 2000's.
Trump does support paid family leave and investing half a trillion in infrastructure. While I am 100% behind this, I don't see these proposals getting through a Republican Congress. So I wouldn't list them as predictions. Russia is a tricky situation -- he has shown to be very amicable towards Putin but his nationalism and economic protectionism may not bode well for the U.S.-Russian dynamic. Quite frankly, I don't believe that a ban on Muslim immigrants or a registry will happen. It was probably just campaign fodder for his populist base (though if he were to institute those plans, I would be the first one protesting on the streets).
That's what I think will happen for the next 4 years. And I suspect Trump will lose in 2020. I'm certainly not going to take that for granted though.
#FeelTheBern? Then get out there and volunteer on progressive campaigns, get appointed to government committees, join your local political party, and consider running for office. In order to push for change, you must participate in the political process.
