• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > World

Trump's Ambitious First 100-Day Plan Is as Bad as Expected

  • Protesters march in Chicago against Donald Trump winning the presidential elections, Nov. 9, 2016.

    Protesters march in Chicago against Donald Trump winning the presidential elections, Nov. 9, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 10 November 2016
Opinion

Trump has few foreign policy proposals for his first 100 days, though he has vowed to scrap the TPP.

Donald Trump, who defied predictions to claim the White House, has vowed to bring sweeping changes to the country regarding health care, fossil fuel exploration and immigration, as he begins to "drain the swamp" of Washington during his first 100 days in office.

RELATED:
Correa Says Trump Could Revitalize Latin America's Left

Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP, are at the top of the list of the president-elect’s plan to "Make America Great Again" during his first 100 days in office, in a document titled "Contract with the American Voter" released late Wednesday.

As part of his plan to “protect American workers,” Trump has also vowed to lift restrictions on producing fossil fuels, relaunch the Keystone XL oil pipeline project put on hold by President Barack Obama, and cancel billions of dollars in payments to U.N. climate change programs.

He also plans to overturn Obama's signature health care reform, known informally as Obamacare.

Cracking down on immigration has been one of the key cornerstones of Trump’s campaign. In the document, the billionaire promises to "begin removing the more than 2 million criminal, illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won't take them back."

He also plans to "suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur" and carry out unspecified "extreme vetting" of those seeking to enter the country. This casts major doubt on Obama’s vow that the U.S. would accept 110,000 refugees from around the world in 2017.

Throughout his campaign, the former reality TV star frequently said that many of the Middle East refugees, especially those from Syria, are undercover terrorists and members of the Islamic State group.

One of his most infamous statements was his promise of a full ban on Muslims entering the U.S. “until we figure out what hell is going on.” The press release he issued regarding that promise has disappeared from his website and is not mentioned in his 100-day manifesto.

In what became a mantra for his supporters, Trump has vowed to "drain the swamp" of what he sees as systemic corruption in Washington.

RELATED:
Trump Victory Sees Spike in Hate Crimes

He said he'd impose term limits on members of Congress, freeze federal hiring, and ban lawmakers and White House staff from becoming lobbyists for five years. He has also promised to "cancel every unconstitutional executive action" undertaken by Obama.

Meanwhile, his signature campaign pledge of building a wall on the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico remains on the table and Trump has promised to quickly begin funding for its construction.

This wall will be built “with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall," states the “End Illegal Immigration Act” section of the plan. The act also promises to impose a minimum two-year federal prison sentence on any deported migrant who tries to re-enter the country.

Beyond trade and the Mexico wall, Trump has few foreign policy proposals for his first 100 days, other than declaring China a "currency manipulator" for keeping what he believes is an artificially strong currency. Many experts question whether Trump can deliver on his ambitious promises.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.