Political Science Essay Example: Trump's Administration

The administration of president Donald Trump has elicited diverse reactions both locally and internationally. Since assuming office in late 2016. Trump has brought many changes in both domestic and foreign policy in the US which has led to various reactions concerning its impact on the relationship with other countries. The paper aims at analyzing some of his actions on domestic and foreign policy as well as determining good and bad activities done under trump administration.

Trumps domestic policy is characterized by several reversals of the efforts done by previous governments. Among his first initiatives include repealing of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), tax reductions for small businesses and individuals, tax code overhaul, strong views on immigration issues, and major investments in public infrastructure. President Trump domestic policies sharply with those of his predecessor (Barack Obama) in multiple ways with relatively few similarities. Among the things they differ includes affordable health care, gun restrictions, increased police surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods, affirmative action programs, and immigration issues (Amedo). However, they similarly agree on various policies concerning banning gun possession for a specific group of individuals, patriotic Act, properties Acts, social security issues, and government grant immunities among others.

Trumps move on Obamacare has remained to be the most significant impact his government has had on domestic issues. Since campaign periods, trump continuously criticized Obamacare terming it expensive and ineffective. Among his perceived changes is scrapping subsidies to health insurance companies and eliminating individual mandate of health insurance. Regarding this, trump administration has done a commendable job in scrapping penalty fee for individuals not having health insurance, increasing age rating of health insurers, and expansion of Medicaid in several States. However, trump administration has created many problems that could result in destabilization of the individual market and increasing medicals costs for consumers.

Immigration policies is another subject that trump administration has strongly reviewed. Under the banner Make America Great Again, Trump has come up with various immigration reforms that aim at minimizing illegal immigration and prioritizing American workers. Among his top planes included building world along Mexico border, tripling the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, enhancing penalties for overstaying a visa, nationwide e-verify, and putting American workers first. Although these plans have significantly reduced the number of illegal immigrants and crime rates in the US, it has affected the diplomatic relation between the US and other countries. Mexico is among the countries that have strongly opposed trump administration and could result in the diplomatic rivalry between the two nations (Amedo). Others affected by Trump plans are Muslim dominated nations who accuse trump of targeting Muslims in the US.

Trump plans on abortion rights has also been a center of controversy. Although he had initially supported planned parenthood and abortion rights in the past, Trump later supported republicans plans of defunding organizations supporting safe women abortions. He rather diverted the funds to supporting prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptives, and cancer diagnosis. This move is commendable except for the fact that some medical conditions may require safe abortions thus the laws may affect the health of a certain portion of the citizens. Introducing strict rules on same-sex marriage has also been a commendable effort of Trumps administration.

Other than domestic policies, Trump administration has had the different conduct of foreign policy. Trumps foreign policy can be termed as incoherent since his plans on global issues have left many Americans worried about the countrys position in the world. Donald Trump has had strong positions on border issues, terrorism, trade, international relationships, and nuclear proliferation (Amedo).

The America First strategy in Trumps trade plans sets global clash between the US and other countries. This strategy is based on new trade policies that aim at emphasizing on local industries rather than exports from global markets. This move has already experienced retaliation from global economies and can result in a trade war. According to Trump, US has for a long time been facing unfair trade practices thus making him weigh on trade policies of countries like China and Mexico (Amedo). Trumps preference of bilateral trade deals over multilateral ones is expected to benefit a portion of the global population at the expense of others. In general, new trade policies has been termed as a looming disaster that can hurt international trade relations.

Regarding terrorism, trump administration has strongly targeted Islamic extremism. His recent moves of introducing travel bans to countries dominated by religious extremist have elicited both negative and positive reactions. Trump has been dedicated to dealing with terrorism threats from ISIS and other Islamic terror groups to secure the Americans. However, several countries have accused Trump of wrongly targeting them though associating criminal activities to a certain religion. Asa result, international disputes has increased between the US and Muslim dominated countries in the Middle East, Asia, Indonesia and North Africa (Calmes). According to the analyst, Trump administration should tackle terrorism as a global issue rather than engaging in the blame game with other global nations.

Another foreign policy concerns border control with close neighbors. Trump administration has openly condemned Mexican immigrants as well as Muslim immigration into the US whether legal or not. According to the trump, illegal immigration of Mexicans has been the cause of rising crime rates and increased drug trafficking. To mitigate this problem, he promised to build a wall along Mexico border and other strict immigration policies. It is important to note that this move will reduce drug importation and crimes in the US but it may affect foreign relations with Mexico (Calmes). According to experts, border wall will worsen issues with Mexico which has been a longtime economic partner.

Furthermore, Trump administration has affected international organizations and multinational treaties. Within a year of trumps rule, US has withdrawn from Paris Climate Agreement, UNESCO, TPP and NATO (Calmes). These high profile withdrawals have put international issues such as climate, security, and trade at risk. In fact, many foreigners have criticized Trump administration for being selfish by largely focusing on local issues at the global expense issues. Trump administration international relationships will eventually result in rifts between the US and other global nations.

The most pleasing thing in Trump administration is cutting illegal immigration and reducing drug smuggling. The number of illegal immigrants has significantly reduced due to fears of foreigners on Trumps immigration policies. Additionally, border security has been enhanced, and less drug trafficking has been observed in the country. The most disappointing thing in Trump administration is the way he is handling the North Korea nuclear weapons issue. The move by the US to intensify pressure on North Korea to disband nuclear weapon program has been done harshly and could affect the global peace. Trump has continuously threatened to destroy North Korea hence escalating tension rather than engaging in diplomatic talks with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

Work Cited

Amedo, Kimberly. "Donald Trump's Economic Plan: How Donald Trump is Changing the Economy." Journal of Economic Development (2017).

Calmes, Jackie. Donald Trump: Domestic Affairs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, ( 2017).