According to FactCheck.org (“Trump’s Final Numbers,” updated July 26), the Trump administration’s accomplishments are a decidedly mixed bag. There were some positives, such as paychecks growing faster than inflation (average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.4% after inflation).
But offsetting the positives is a long list of negatives, including the following:
The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce escalated. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016.
The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.
The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion, an increase of $7.2 trillion or 50%.
Illegal immigration increased by 14.7%.
The murder rate rose to the highest level since 1997.
Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the loss of reproductive rights for women.
Trump ended his presidency with an economy of 2.7 million fewer jobs than when he started, becoming the first president in modern times to experience a net loss of jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All of the preceding are facts, not opinion. It is true that the massive loss of jobs was a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck in Trump’s final year in office. Although scientists developed very effective vaccines in record time (two of which were authorized for emergency use during the Trump presidency) by the day Trump left office, 401,000 people had died from the disease. Trump’s “mishandling” of the COVID pandemic (including suggesting “injection of bleach”), is estimated to have resulted in at least 200,000 unnecessary deaths. For those who believe “things were better under Trump,” be careful what you wish for!
Don E. Gardner, Ogden
