By Adeleke Adefioye
I had a ‘wow’ moment reading some of the concocted achievements attributed to Trump by his core supporters.
Brokering Middle East Peace Accord
My take: The supposed peace deal was between Israel and two Gulf Arab states, but unfortunately, it was not attended by heads of state/government of UAE and Bahrain. The said deal itself subsequently propelled, at least, the launch of more than 12 rockets from Gaza to South Israel with Israel retaliating with air strike on several targets in a Palestinian enclave.
This same deal has been criticized by Iran, Turkey and Qatar. Even Saudi Arabia, the supposed biggest Gulf power has been so very taciturn about the supposed deal. That sends a strong signal to all stakeholders that they are still sitting on the fence. Technically, they wouldn’t want to openly disapprove for obvious reasons. But unfortunately, some folks will just read packaged releases from Trump’s White House as regards the peace deal and roll with it.
In addition, what president seeks for peace in a specific region and incites chaos and insurrection in his own country? Only a deranged accidental leader who does not understand the concept of leadership does that.
Not engaged in Foreign War since Eisenhower
My take: I give this to him. However, this is not because of his diplomacy as he’s known to be a guy with zero diplomacy, it just happened that new war didn’t break out under his chaotic presidency. Under the Trump administration, there were more drone strikes compared to his predecessor’s administration. Former administration launched a total of 186 strikes while Trump’s administration launched a total of 238 in the first two years of the administration alone. I’m wondering why anyone would suggest that Trump, with the enormity of his narcissistic propensity, is a peace-loving individual.
Greatest Impact on the economy
My take: It is easier to tell those who do not follow history that Trump made the greatest impact on the economy and they will believe it hook, line and sinker. We are all not in a hurry to forget the magnitude of the depressed state of the economy when the previous administration took office. The war, no doubt, had a devastating impact on the economy towards the end of George W. Bush’s administration. Small scale industries and Fortune 500 Corporations were not spared in the avalanche of financial crisis that blew across the nation’s economy. Unemployment shot up astronomically and eventually peaked at 10.2 and still ticked upwards forcing the economy to go into a full blown recession with 8.7 million jobs lost when the Obama administration took the baton from Bush.
Obama inherited an economy that was described by economists as an ‘economy in free fall.’ The new administration hit the ground running immediately and was able to revamp the economy. Steadily, all key indicators that determine the state of the economy like gross domestic product, GDP, employment, wages, consumer spending and home sales began to look up exponentially. Who would forget the passage of the successful massive stimulus package which jumpstarted the economy as well as the record recurring addition of 200,000 monthly jobs that followed in quick successions.
Trump inherited a stable economy and has been cruising on the hard work of the previous administration. He has been claiming credit for the stable state of the economy from the inception of his administration and some folks chose to roll with his false claim as usual forgetting the sound state of the economy when he resumed office. It is important to note that the trade balance held steady under the Obama administration, but unfortunately under Trump, the deficit began to increase again according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Ensure NATO pays their dues.
My Take: In all fairness, I’ll give him this. Though, this assertion could be flawed if evaluated from the perspective of direct and indirect funding dichotomy. Trump was flat out wrong in his assessment of direct funding. However, it would be fair to let him take credit for raising the stake.
On what Biden has accomplished for America.
My Take: It is appalling to see that some folks give no cognizance to logic when they argue. They’ll rather compare oranges with apples illogically. You cannot, in all fairness, compare Trump’s performance with Biden’s several years of public service. One is a president, the other is a lawmaker. The only thing that makes sense logically is to compare Trump’s administration with that of Biden when he completes his first term in office as a President.
For non-progressives who would rather falsely accuse a man who has meritoriously served his nation of doing absolutely nothing, I’ll just cherry-pick some of his numerous achievements which range from reviving the economy, expanding access to healthcare, promoting peace and security, protecting children, climate change activism, advancing women’s right and gender equity to policing and criminal justice reform.
· As Vice President, he oversaw implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, then the biggest economic recovery plan in our country’s history. Helped rebuild the American economy and save the American auto industry, lifting the United States out of the Great Recession.
· Brokered Senate negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to pass the Budget Control Act of 2011 and avert a federal government shutdown.
· Led a review in 2014 of federal employment and training programs that reach more than 21 million people per year, retooling $1.5 billion in grants to align with job-driven training best practices.
· Helped pass Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), guaranteeing health coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions and 20 million who were previously uninsured.
· Helped launch a “Cancer Moonshot” initiative in 2016 to accelerate efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
· Sponsored the original Violence Against Women Act in 1994, leading to a major decline in intimate partner violence, from 2.1 million victims in 1994 to 907,000 in 2010.
Cosponsored proposed legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions in 2007.
Introduced one of the Senate’s first climate change bills, in 1986, leading to the creation of a task force on global warming.
· Secured the passage of arms limitation agreements in 1979 between the United States and the Soviet Union, reducing the risk of global nuclear disaster.
Advocated for economic sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid government.
Supported expanding NATO to include Warsaw Pact nations Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, advancing the cause of an undivided, democratic and peaceful Europe (Credit to Miami Dade Dems).
The Most Committed President to the Black People
My Take: Though, personally, I’m not a big fan of playing the race card, however, I always have the ‘are you serious’ moments when I hear Trump supporters say he’s committed to the Black people. It’s obvious that they have not studied who Trump actually is. They are quick to cite working with Kim Kardashian on the call for clemency for a black prisoner on a death row to funding HBCUs.
Trump is a schemer - an evil genius at that. He knew he would need Black votes and as such, would do anything to get those votes. As a result, he worked with Kim in the first phase of the clemency campaign. The same Black people’s savior who offered blanket presidential pardon to his convicted cronies and allies, deliberately looked the other way when the same Kim Kardashian pleaded for him to look into the case of Brandon Bernard, a Black man, who was on a death row. He never, for a second, considered evaluating the numerous pleas on behalf of Barnard let alone taking an action.
Barnard was eventually executed on December 11, 2020.
At the time he was bombarded with pleas on behalf of Barnard, he knew he would no longer need Black people’s votes, so he became the real Trump again. It was his way of flipping the middle finger at the Black community on his way out of office.
I wish some of his core supporters could evaluate Trump’s racist comments before he hopped into politics, and study some of his real estate escapades that crossed paths with Black folks. In addition, they need to read Trump’s comments in the story of the Central Park Five in New York just so they could reach a logical conclusion about Trump’s racist status.
Lowered Taxes
My Take: How I wish folks that are praising Trump for the purported tax cuts really study what it really entails and make out time to understand why he privately told his wealthy friends that they just got richer after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 which is said to be the largest tax overhaul in about three decades.
The act was rushed through the Congress and it is expected to translate to more money for the wealthy at the expense of the working class. Otherwise, if a president claims that the stock market is already ‘bullish’ and unemployment is already at the lowest rate, what would then be the economic rationale behind tax cuts? It is very glaring that this is a deliberate effort to add additional pay days for the rich.
The main beneficiaries are venture capitalists, private equity managers, hedge fund managers and their likes. Ironically, they are already benefiting from the tax loophole and now, they are benefiting some more. Economists have argued that if the tax cuts are deficit-financed, then resources would have to be taken away from the current working class and future generations.
I believe it would have made more sense if student loan interest rate was lowered or credit offered to first time home buyers instead of a systematic attempt to continue to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the working class.

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