An Overview of Our New President

“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans,” Donald Trump announced in his speech accepting the 45th presidency of the United States. He is the first president of the United States to have no previous political background before elected president.  Trump was a businessman, real estate developer, and reality star in the show The Apprentice. Trump emerged politically when he ran in the 2016 election under the Republican ticket.

As a real estate developer, Trump created many well known and successful business, as well as some failed ones. It all started in New York City, the place where Donald Trump grew up. His father, Fred Trump, was a real estate developer himself. Throughout his time off from school in the summer and during his collegiate years, Trump worked part time in his father’s business, “Elizabeth Trump & Son.” He later renamed the business “The Trump Organization.” After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he joined his father’s business as a full time worker. In 1971, after completing three years working for his father, Trump took ownership of the business from his father. As New York City was leaning towards bankruptcy, Trump set his eyes on saving the Commodore Hotel from failure. Through this project, he transformed the hotel into the well-known Grand Hyatt. He went on to build more luxury real estate, including the famous Trump hotels, plazas, golf courses, ice skating rinks, model agencies, wineries, and even expanded his estates internationally. After many years of, for the most part, successful businesses, Trump did not approve of  the direction the country was heading in, so he decided he had to run for presidency in order to “Make America Great Again.”

Trump, through the years, noticed with disdain that the United States had lost it’s place in world affairs. He was upset with the country’s exponential rise in debt, the trade deals that deprived America, the loss of domestic jobs, and the rise of terrorism. The combination of all these issues prompted a beginning to his political career.

After a long, hard fought, and grueling campaign, polls showed that the most outspoken in favor of a Trump presidency were middle class voters.  He voiced the concern and disgust many Americans were experiencing about their country. He hit home with many voters on major issues such as taxes, terrorism, corruption, and jobs. Many voters were disgruntled with the rise in taxes under the Obama administration and Trump promised the biggest tax cuts since the Ronald Reagan era. He will do this by reducing tax brackets to 10%, 20%, and 25%. “The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with two children will get a 35% tax cut,” according to Trump’s contract with the American Voter. A fun fact about his tax reduction plan: childcare and eldercare are tax deductible.

With conundrums such as the rise in ISIS, North Korea gaining nuclear weapons, increase in illegal immigrants, refugee issues, and the poor relations between the U.S and Russia, it comes as no surprise that Americans were concerned with the safety of this country. Trump proposed to take a strong stand against ISIS, while gathering our NATO allies to do the same. In order to defeat ISIS, Trump asserts, the country must establish ground forces in ISIS contained territories while taking their major source of income: oil. In regards to the border, a very touchy subject for some voters, Trump wants to build a wall across the Mexican border to help prevent illegal immigration and the transportation of harmful illegal drugs.

In order to fight corruption, Mr. Trump wants to impose, according to his contract with the American Voters, “a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service. A lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. A complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.” This ‘corruption’ played a huge role in the election, and is speculated to be a factor towards why Trump won the presidency. After the FBI said that they were reopening their investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, many independent voters started leaning toward Trump.

As part of his campaign promises, Trump will have to preserve and restore jobs in America. In order to do this, Trump will lower the business tax rate from 35% to 15%, hoping to incentivize new businesses to grow within the borders of the country. If an American business moves out of the country and wants to sell their product back into the United States, their products will be taxed at a rate of 35%, as a form of retaliation. Businesses in the US will be permitted to move from state to state tax free.

As president, one of his biggest challenges will be to unite this seemingly divided country. But, he believes that as the nation becomes more and more successful under his leadership, everyone will unite and prosper together. But until then, he reaches out to Americans, hoping they will come together.

Regardless about how you feel about the outcome of the election, it will be very interesting to see what Trump can accomplish in office after he is sworn in on January 20th. As Donald Trump said, “In the end, you’re measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplish.”