Trump’s first year in office: State of the economy

During his election campaign, United States President Donald Trump portrayed himself as a savior of the abandoned and a beacon of hope for those left unemployed. He promised he would give these people their jobs back, which were stolen by China.

Americans have become used to promises made by politicians and have also grown accustomed to the breaking of these promises. People have become increasingly frustrated and disappointed. Elections appear to throw up promising presidents, but by the end of their terms they appear pretty ordinary.

Keeping promises

Donald Trump, unlike his predecessors, understood that he had to be honest about his promises! He said he wanted to review the open trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and he did so. He said he would force US companies to open factories in the US, not in China, and this year several large companies have announced they would do so. Two decades ago, US banks and major companies moved their money abroad to evade taxes. Trump changed the law and cut taxes on these companies. This brought huge sums of money back to the United States.

There are a lot of risks attached to delivering promises, and the most worrisome aspect is Trump’s insistence that he upholds his commitment to the American voters.

Of course, I do not encourage the American president to lie to anyone, but the US president wants to appear honest mainly to his White voter base in the states he won, and he also wants to prove to those constituencies in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan who voted for Hillary Clinton that he would meet their demands at all costs.

That’s what he did when he signed a decision to impose “high taxes on the import of washing machines and solar panels,” saying that “this move shows that the United States will not be exploited by anyone, anymore.”

The White man’s president

It was this zest for delivering promises that made him declare that the United States considered Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. “Former presidents made this promise and did not deliver, and now here I am fulfilling the promise,” he said.

After a year of his presidency, the US president seems impervious to the risks he’s taking, as he is on a clear mission to satisfy a constituency that guarantees his reelection, regardless of the risks to others who won’t elect him or the allies of the United States around the world.

Like anyone living in the US, I want its economy to grow, I want tax reduction and I hope that every unemployed person will find work, but I feel that Trump works only for the White man in a red state that vote for Republicans, and that Trump does not care about others. This is my cause for concern.

And I have so many others who feel the same, and they are worried not just because of the economy.

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Pierre Ghanem is an Al Arabiya correspondent based in Washington, D.C.