United States: can we say that Donald Trump did things well during his tenure?
Donald Trump's term in the White House ends. These four years have been marked by decision-making often attacked, criticized or mocked in the United States and in the rest of the world.
Can we say that Donald Trump did things well as President of the United States? The subject was mentioned in the sequence "Le Parti pris" this Wednesday morning on La Première. But none of the speakers dared to point out positive things in the billionaire's political choices.
The question is complex and leads to others: what can be called a "good deed"? From what point of view? An action that benefits its voters above all? To the entire population of the United States? To the whole world ?
Without forgetting that what could be qualified as a positive decision could be accused of opportunism, of political calculation ... or be counterbalanced by another decision much more damaging.
Lists of Donald Trump's "accomplishments" are circulating on the internet. The White House website even offered in 2018 an account of the successes of the President of the United States. Against the backdrop of triumphant music, the candidate assures us that "the best is yet to come". Many tools on the web make it possible to verify the veracity of these statements.
Salary, health, veterans ... we have nevertheless selected a few measures that could appear positive in the action of the American president. While putting them in the context of the policy he has pursued over the past four years.
Not to receive his salary as president
The pledge dates from 2015: Donald Trump swore he would not get his salary as president. This remuneration amounts, according to the Constitution, to 400,000 dollars gross per year. As the politifact.com website explains, this same Constitution does not allow the head of state to forgo his salary.
This is why the businessman has been donating it since 2017 to various federal departments. In 2020, he donated money to the Department of Health and Human Services. His wish: that his donations be used in the fight against opioids and against Covid-19.
A gesture to be compared to this information unveiled by the New York Times at the end of last September: Donald Trump paid only $ 750 in federal taxes in the year of his election.
President @realDonaldTrump made a commitment to donate his salary while in office. Honoring that promise and to further protect the American people, he is donating his 2019 Q4 salary to @HHSGov to support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain, and combat #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/R6KUQmBRl1
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) March 3, 2020
.@PressSec just announced that @realDonaldTrump's 2020 Q1 salary donation will go to @HHSGov and help in the development of new therapeutics to treat #COVID19 infections.
— Judd Deere 45 Archived (@JuddPDeere45) May 22, 2020
Wanting to fight HIV in the United States
It was one of Donald Trump's big plans: ending Obamacare, the healthcare reform his predecessor wanted. The President of the United States failed to do so during his tenure. Latest episode: a request to the Supreme Court to repeal the text.
At the same time, Donald Trump has brought public health issues to the fore. In his 2019 State of the Union address, he said: "In recent years, we have made remarkable strides in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific discoveries have brought a once-in-a-lifetime dream within reach. distant. My budget will call on Democrats and Republicans to make the commitment necessary to end the HIV epidemic in the United States within the next decade. Together we will defeat AIDS in America. "
To achieve this, he also put on the table a budget of $ 291 million. A budget well below what would be needed to eradicate the disease, according to calculations made by the New York Times.
At the end of December, the pharmaceutical company Gilead announced that some 200,000 patients would benefit from PrEP, the preventive treatment against HIV, free of charge each year (and for 11 years). But the operation concerns only the drug, not the costs of medical visits or testing.
Welcoming a historic drop in unemployment
Unemployment at an all-time low, millions of jobs created since the election of Donald Trump ... It was true until the Covid-19 epidemic hit American soil. Is this improvement (before the fall) on the employment front only the result of Donald Trump's action?
"The economic performance we are seeing today in the United States is not only the result of Donald Trump's economic policy, it is also that of his predecessor, it is also that of the American Central Bank. American growth started up again at the start of 2009. Finally, we have about 10 years of favorable economic cycles and positive growth ", analyzes Christophe Blot, economist at the French Economic Observatory (OFCE) and associate professor at Paris Nanterre University, interviewed by France Culture.
The next few months will be complicated for the United States and for many other countries which have taken action - sometimes in an emergency - against the virus. Enough to widen the gap between the richest and the poorest Americans. If Donald Trump welcomed the good results collected during his mandate, will he also assume the consequences of the health crisis in the event of re-election?
Helping US Army Veterans
Post-traumatic stress, anxiety, unemployment… the return to civilian life is not always easy for veterans. Especially since the federal administration has not always made this file a priority. In 2018, the President of the United States signed an "executive order" calling for better coordination of the various state services to offer psychological support to soldiers returned to civilian life. The Washington Post points out, however, that Donald Trump has only adopted decisions taken by Barack Obama.
Donald Trump has also created the "White House VA hotline", a telephone line to help veterans. The project was included in his campaign promises. In 2016, in his very personal style, the candidate even declared: "I will ask my team that, if a problem is not solved, it is brought to me. I will pick up the phone and I will fix things myself if it is. 'is necessary."
A Washington Post article noted in 2018, however, that "for now [those who fix it look like] Mary, a 44-year-old widow with blond hair, a cross around her neck and long blue fingernails chattering on the keyboard of his computer ". Limited field of action, ability to solve problems below expectations ... The daily gives a mixed picture of this call center where veterans or those close to veterans work.
Order the rapid construction of artificial respirators
By his words, by his actions, Donald Trump has drawn criticism for his handling of the coronavirus on American soil. The White House is proud, however, for quickly providing hospitals with ventilators to treat the sick.
"The success story is that the administration has put in the greatest efforts since World War II. We have provided something like 4000 ventilators in New York," said Kayleigh McEnany, spokesperson for the House. Blanche quoted by the BBC. According to her, "not a single American has died in this country due to a shortage of ventilators."
At the end of March, the President of the United States invoked a law dating back to the Korean War to force General Motors (GM) to produce artificial respirators to deal with the coronavirus. "GM was wasting time. This decision will ensure rapid production of artificial respirators that will save American lives," Donald Trump said at the time.
What might have passed for a strong act, however, faltered in the weeks that followed. The BBC notes that "in the end, the shortage of respirators did not materialize. States that did not need them shared their stocks, demand fell and healthcare professionals did not need them. changed my mind about the advantages of these machines given the low survival rate of the patients who benefited from them ".
From Donald Trump's perspective, this is obviously a success. On April 25, he wrote on Twitter that the United States was now the country "king of respirators".
