In his first 50 days as president, Donald Trump has accomplished more than some presidents accomplish in their entire terms in office. He’s added jobs to the economy, driven the stock market to record highs and saved taxpayers billions of dollars.
In fact, Trump has accomplished so many things that the items below are only a partial compilation. But oh, what a list! Here are some of the best of Trump’s major achievements from his first 7 weeks in office:
1. New jobs
In both January and February, U.S. companies added jobs to the economy by leaps and bounds. In January, the numbers were 238,000 jobs added, and in February the figures were 235,000, with wages growing by an average 2.8 percent and unemployment falling to 4.7 percent.
Of course, Trump has been quick to point out that the way the government calculates unemployment is currently not very accurate, and new Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been one of the first people to acknowledge this. Hopefully, a more accurate formulation will be put to use by Trump’s administration soon.
2. A Lower National Debt
An occurrence that many people didn’t expect has come to pass; Trump has succeeded in lowering the nation’s debt, instead of adding to it. The most recent figure for the debt under ex-President Obama was $19.947 trillion, but since then, Trump has subtracted $68 billion — not a bad start for a president who has vowed to cut copious government waste.
3. Manufacturing Is at Its Best Since 1984
The Philly Fed Index, which measures how well manufacturers are doing, showed its best numbers since 1984. Hopefully, Trump can top that over the course of the next several years.
4. Small Businesses and Medium-Sized Businesses Are Confident
By many accounts, the real drivers of the nation’s economy are small businesses and medium-sized businesses, which account for at least 83 percent of the nation’s employment. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index recently hit its highest levels since 2004; clearly, the nation’s business owners are optimistic about the future.
5. The Stock Market Keeps Hitting Record Highs
Since Trump was elected, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has surged more than 12 percent — greater than 2500 points — to close above 21,000 for the first time ever on March 1. It’s hard to beat a number like that as far as showing how confident businesses are.
6. Samsung Is Investing in American Production
Samsung is one of several companies (see below) that have made announcements of hiring and/or moving production to the United States from other countries. Samsung will reportedly invest $300 million in expanding its U.S. production facilities.
7. ExxonMobil Is Moving Jobs to the U.S.
ExxonMobil has announced it will build 11 new plants along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. over the next 10 years, spending more than $20 billion. More than 45,000 jobs will be created.
8. Carrier Will Keep Its Indiana Manufacturing Plant
One of the first actions that Trump was celebrated for was the saving of hundreds of jobs at air conditioner manufacturer Carrier that otherwise would have gone to Mexico. This happened even before Trump had officially started his term in office!
9. Fiat Chrysler Is Investing $1 billion in Its Factories
Fiat Chrysler will invest $1 billion in two of its factories in Detroit and Toledo, creating at least 2,000 jobs.
10. Hasbro Announced It Will Start Making Play-Doh in the U.S. Again
Toy giant Hasbro announced it will move production of children’s modeling clay Play-Doh to a Massachusetts factory from facilities in China and Turkey.
11. The Coal Industry Has Been Freed from Onerous Regulations
Ex-President Obama saddled the coal industry with regulations that were causing it to go bankrupt. Trump has rescinded many of those regulations via an executive order, helping to revitalize this proud and important American industry.
12. The Transpacific Partnership Is Dead
Trump’s first act as president was to kill the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), a so-called “free-trade” deal that would have cost the U.S. untold numbers of jobs and lowered standards for everything from food to medicines.
13. Illegal Immigration from Mexico Is Down by 40 Percent
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), border crossings from Mexico are down by 40 percent. When Trump’s anticipated southern U.S. border wall is erected, this number will likely go much higher.
14. The End of Sanctuary Cities Has Been Mandated
Trump signed an executive order withholding federal funds for municipalities that harbor criminal aliens, accelerating the end of “sanctuary cities.”
15. The Repeal and Replacement of Obamacare Has Begun
Although the replacement of Obamacare is still being intensely deliberated (and rightly so), the wheels are in motion for the repeal of one of former President Obama’s worst legacies — the overpriced, dysfunctional and enormously bureaucratic healthcare legislation formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) — a disaster from Day 1.
16. Neil Gorsuch Has Been Nominated for the Supreme Court
The president has nominated a strict Constitutionalist in Neil Gorsuch, who will add a conservative voice to the nation’s highest court to replace the sorely missed Justice Antonin Scalia.
17. The Approval of the Keystone Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline
It’s been a long time coming, but these pipelines will create American jobs and lower consumer gas prices.
18. International NGOs Sanctioning Abortions Will Lose Funding
Trump signed an executive order cutting funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that sanction and/or sponsor abortion.
19. Transgender Bathroom Policy Will Be Set By States, Not the Federal Government
Via an order to the Department of Justice, Trump has left it up to states to decide issues related to transgender bathrooms, eliminating the federal government’s role in this contentious and controversial matter.
20. American Taxpayers Will Save on the Cost of Air Force One
The planes that shuttle the president to national and international destinations will cost less, thanks to a promise Trump extracted from Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. The amount that will be saved has not yet been finalized, but will likely be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
As one can see, this is quite a list. If Trump can keep up this effort, he stands a good chance of going down as one of the greatest American presidents in history. Here’s hoping he will be in office for a full eight years!
