In a few weeks, President Trump will complete his second year in office. Regardless of whether you support the president or not, there is no doubt that presidential politics in 2018 unfolded at a dizzying pace. The president has shown no willingness to soften his rhetoric or conform to generally accepted ways of doing things in Washington DC. For his supporters, this is exactly why they voted for him, to shake things up and challenge the status quo. For his detractors, 2018 again showed why Donald Trump is unfit to be president.

Similar to last year, StrategicScope.com will attempt to “grade” the president on his second year in office. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of the president’s actions, nor is it a scientific grading system. It’s just a general attempt at an objective, fair and unbiased look at president Trump’s overall performance in 2018. As a reminder, we gave president Trump a C- after his first year in office.

Accomplishments (High Grades)

• Supreme Court Confirmation: For the second time in as many years, President Trump has successfully secured the confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice. Despite accusations of sexual assault during his high school years, the Senate confirmed conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The confirmation process was a contentious one, similar to the controversial confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas over two decades ago. However, the president rallied the Republicans around his nominee and stuck to his guns, refusing to abandon Kavanaugh. At the end of the day, the president’s nominee was confirmed and the conservative base was happy. Success.
• Economic Growth and Employment: The U.S. economy continued its solid performance in 2018. As of Q3 2018, annual economic growth was at 3.4 percent. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.1 percent at the end of 2017 to 3.9 percent in December 2018. Continued growth and competition for labor has driven wages higher by 3.2 percent in 2018, reasonably higher than the inflation rate of 2.3 percent, meaning U.S. workers are starting to experience a higher standard of living.
• U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (MCA): President Trump made good on his promise to refine the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), by including new provisions that open up Canada’s market to U.S. dairy producers. The new agreement also creates near parity in wages and labor rights between U.S. automobile workers and Mexican automobile workers, thus decreasing the incentive for automobile manufacturers to relocate to Mexico.
• The Retreat of ISIS: The Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) is in complete disarray and has lost most of the territory it once controlled in both Syria and Iraq. The U.S. accomplished this by establishing a military presence in the region as well as working with U.S. allies in Turkey and Iraq, as well as adversaries such as Russia.
• Legislation: The president oversaw bipartisan criminal justice reform, which was supported by a wide array of political groups on both sides of the ideological spectrum, including the ACLU. Meanwhile, the president signed into law the Right to Try bill, which “opens a new pathway for terminally ill patients who have exhausted their government-approved options and can’t get into a clinical trial to access treatments”, according to the Right to Try website.
• Retaining Control of the Senate: While Republicans lost control of the House after the midterm elections, the president campaigned hard on behalf of his party and was instrumental in keeping control of the Senate. This will ensure that the president will continue to have his nominees confirmed, including possible future nominees to the Supreme Court. Further, Republican control of the Senate almost certainly assures that the president will not be removed from office even if he is impeached by the House.

Ongoing

• North Korea Talks: Despite a much-hailed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018 in Singapore, no one is sure where things stand. On the one hand, the belligerent stance by both leaders towards one another has been replaced by talk of trust and mutual respect. Additionally, North Korea has taken some concrete steps towards nuclear disarmament as well as warming relations with South Korea. On the other hand, U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton have criticized North Korea for not going far enough towards dismantling its nuclear program. In response to the hawkish stance of senior U.S. officials, North Korea has accused the U.S. of not reciprocating its goodwill measures and not negotiating in good faith. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is definitely less tense than it was in 2017, but still characterized by a certain level of mutual distrust.
• China Tariffs: The U.S. is locked in a trade war with China. In September 2018, the president hit China with $250 billion in tariffs on their goods. The Chinese retaliated with $110 billion in tariffs of their own against U.S. products. No one can claim victory yet. The Chinese have not acquiesced to U.S. demands and a wide range of American businesses from Soybean farmers to Apple Computers have taken a hit to their bottom line. Many economists believe the U.S. holds the upper hand because of the size of its economy and that the Chinese will ultimately open up their markets to more U.S. products, including manufactured goods. Greater access to China’s 1.4 billion consumers would be a huge boon for U.S. businesses and the overall American economy, including narrowing the $222 billion trade deficit with China. However, until the Chinese government decides to open up its markets, the outcome of this trade war is yet to determined.
• Russia Investigation: Despite the fact that several of the president’s former associates were found guilty of various crimes (Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen and George Papadopoulos), the investigation into Russian Collusion has not yet produced any tangible evidence to show that Donald Trump colluded with anyone during the 2016 presidential campaign. However, the investigation is far from over.

Shortcomings (Low Grades)

• Failure to Repeal & Replace Obamacare: Despite a Republican controlled Congress in 2017 and 2018, Obamacare remains the law of the land. While the Republicans successfully repealed the individual mandate penalty, which subsequently resulted in a ruling by a federal court that Obamacare has now become unconstitutional, Obamacare continues to function pending an appeal. Further, even if the landmark healthcare law is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, it is difficult to envision a scenario where the Democrats will work with the president on a viable alternative, something he failed to do when his own party controlled the entire legislative branch. Therefore, such a ruling would undoubtedly leave millions of Americans without healthcare coverage.
• Border Wall with Mexico: Regardless of your position on the border wall, it is the biggest promise that Donald Trump made to voters while he was still a candidate. Two years into his presidency, there is no border wall and Mexico has stubbornly refused to pay for anything. Therefore, the president needs American taxpayers to fund this megaproject. However, a Democratic congress will not allocate the funds needed to make progress on the proposed barrier. The stalemate has resulted in a government shutdown at the end of 2018, a shutdown that continues into the new year.
• Democrats Winning the House: President Trump had a sympathetic crowd in congress during his first couple of years in office. The Republican controlled congress helped Trump pass a controversial tax cut in 2017. Further, Republican congressman have actively worked with the White House to discredit the Mueller investigation. However, the Democrats recaptured control of the House of Representatives in 2018. This has already resulted in a government shutdown. The Democrats are already promising greater scrutiny of the president’s previous activities, including possible campaign finance violations, irregular financial activities and a possible conspiracy with Russian agents. Expect everything from hearings on the payment of hush-money to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to making the president’s old tax returns public, and impeachment, among other things.
• Departing Cabinet Members: Candidate Donald Trump promised that he would hire only the best people to serve in the White House and boasted on several occasions that the White House was a “well-oiled machine”. However, several key members have left the White House in 2018, mostly on unfriendly terms. The president lost his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and former political aide Omarose Manigault Newman. Most of the departing members of the administration left the White House amid name calling and criticism of the president. The unprecedented exchange of words between the president and his former subordinates is diminishing to Donald Trump and the office of the presidency.
• Stock Market and Budget Deficit: While economic growth is solid and unemployment is near historical lows, the economy is starting to show signs of strain. In 2018, the Dow fell 5.6%. The S&P 500 was down 6.2% and the Nasdaq fell 4%. It was the worst year for stocks since 2008. Meanwhile, the federal budget deficit surged to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, driven in large part by a sharp decline in corporate tax revenues after the Trump tax cuts took effect. The deficit rose nearly 17 percent year over year, from $666 billion in 2017.The mushrooming deficit helped increase the national debt by $1.2 trillion.
• Sudden Withdrawal of Troops from Syria: While the president had promised to bring American troops back from the Middle East, the abruptness of his decision to immediately withdraw American troops from Syria and Afghanistan  is perplexing. Further, if his Defense Secretary and National Security Adviser are both opposed to the sudden withdrawal of American troops from the region, the question becomes: Who is Donald Trump listening to? At worst, the sudden withdrawal of American troops will create a political and military vacuum, which will be filled by ISIS. At best, this vacuum will be filled by the repressive Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
• Rhetoric: There was a lot of rhetoric and inappropriate name-calling by the President in 2018. The president undermined the judiciary by labeling judges as “Bush judges” and “Obama judges”. He was critical of his own hand-picked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for raising interest rates. The president even called one of his former aides a “low-life”. This language and rhetoric is unpresidential, unprofessional and indecent.

Summary

President Trump’s second year in office was a very divisive one. While the economy did well, the stock market suffered, the budget deficit mushroomed and the national deficit grew. Meanwhile, the president’s actions and rhetoric continue to sow division not only within the ranks of the political elite, but also among the general public at large. In the meantime, many of the president’s legislative and policy objectives remain unfulfilled. This has driven the American electorate to elect a Democratic majority in the House to check the president’s actions and to further curtail his powers. As such, StrategicScope.com gives the president another C- for his second year in office.