Thread by @LostBy2864974

1/ THE TRUMP LEGACY

Millions of Americans voted for, and feel loyalty to, Donald #Trump. But does his record as President justify this loyalty? In this thread we'll look back at Trump's term and see if he actually was able to "Make America Great Again".
#MAGA #KAG #StopTheSteal

2/ While campaigning, Trump made grand promises. At the cornerstone of these promises were his tax cuts. The GOP Congress made them permanent for corporations but only temporary for individuals. These cuts were supposed to be "rocket fuel" for the economy.
nytimes.com/2017/09/29/us/…

3/ Warned of the potential financial impact, Trump promised a 4% GDP or higher. The tax cuts would pay for themselves. The deficit would fall. Companies would abandon China and invest in the U.S.. Manufacturing would return. Jobs and wages would skyrocket.
cnbc.com/2019/08/16/tru…

4/ But that didn't happen. Companies took the money, increased dividends, and bought back their own shares at a record pace, boosting their stock prices to benefit their executives and shareholder members of the 1%. CEOs now earn 320x the average worker.
treasuryandrisk.com/2020/06/04/cor…

5/ Even with his signature tax cuts in place, job creation during Trump's first 3 years in office (pre-COVID) trailed that of Obama's final 3 years. Encompassing the pandemic of 2020, Trump will actually end his term with nationwide job losses.
cnn.com/2020/02/06/eco…

6/ Lower incomes did see a limited rise in wages, much of which can be attributed to states approving minimum wage increases. Meanwhile both Trump's promised "Tax Cuts 2.0" package and his additional 10% tax cut aimed at the middle class never happened.
brookings.edu/policy2020/vot…

7/ While average workers didn't see money trickle down, the stock market rose and income disparity between the haves and have nots expanded further. Companies did leave China, encouraged by Trump's tariffs, but only for other low wage nations like Vietnam.
bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-…

8/ Back home U.S. manufacturing went into recession. Trump's promised 4.0% GDP growth was a more pedestrian 2.5% pre-COVID, barely outpacing Obama's 2.4%. Over his entire term, including its tumultuous final year, Trump's GDP growth averaged an anemic 1.8%
cbsnews.com/news/u-s-manuf…

9/ This low growth under Trump coupled with his tax cuts and profligate spending caused the annual deficits and national debt to explode. By early 2020 Trump's "greatest economy ever" was hitting $1 trillion deficits and adding $4.7 trillion to the debt.
crfb.org/blogs/presiden…

10/ Add in the pandemic 4th year and Trump's deficit closed in on $4 trillion with $6.6 trillion added to the national debt. As corporate tax revenues declined, Trump pursued spending cuts, targeting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security even before COVID
wsj.com/articles/trump…

11/ Despite failing spending audits, Trump increased the military's 2021 budget to $740.5 billion while slashing the EPA's by 26%. For the poor, Trump sought to redefine "poverty" and tighten qualifications for food assistance, making both harder to claim. usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

12/ As Trump's tariffs increased consumer prices and failed to produce new trade deals, farm bankruptcies set records leading to $28 billion in government bailouts. Amidst higher prices and absent an infrastructure plan, the steel industry crashed as well.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

13/ The coal industry fared no better. Plant closures and job losses continued thanks to automation and alternatives like natural gas even as Trump's deregulation allowed coal mines and power plants to increasingly dirty the air and pollute the water.
dispatch.com/story/news/env…

14/ Phase 1 of an intended multi-phase trade deal with China yielded few concessions, and China has only reached 53% of promised purchases of American goods as of September. Meanwhile, Phase 2 and beyond have been terminated due to souring relations.
piie.com/blogs/trade-an…

15/ Failing to negotiate Congressional funding, a specious "National Emergency" redirected billions from the military budget for Trump's border wall. Four years in, and billions over budget, only 15 miles of actual new barrier have been built as of October
bbc.com/news/world-us-…

16/ And human trafficking prosecutions have declined. Despite cheering legal immigration, Trump sought to strip birthright citizenship and pursued multiple restrictions based on nation of origin, financial means, or those seeking refugee or asylum status.
axios.com/human-traffick…

17/ On the nuclear front, Trump befriended dictator Kim Jong-un to no avail with North Korea introducing its largest ballistic missile ever in October. And a terminated Iran deal was not replaced, raising tensions, and driving Iran closer to China.
bloomberg.com/news/storythre…

18/ While some troops were withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, few came home. Many were redeployed amid rising tensions with Iran. And Trump's withdrawal from Syria abandoned Kurdish allies to attacks from Turkey, allowing 800 ISIS prisoners to escape.
businessinsider.com/us-veterans-tr…

19/ After condemning Obama for negotiating with the Taliban, Trump invited them to Camp David. A celebrated "peace deal", that did not involve the Afghan government, has repeatedly failed as the Taliban have continued their attacks within the country. cbsnews.com/news/us-and-ta…

20/ And even as a bipartisan Senate panel concurred with the U.S. Intelligence Community that Russia interfered in U.S. elections, Trump sided with Vladimir Putin, and reports of bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan have gone largely unchallenged.
apnews.com/article/d09491…

21/ While continuing his pursuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Trump's own promised healthcare plan repeatedly failed to materialize as insurance and drug costs rose and millions lost access to healthcare. Then came 2020 and the coronavirus.
usatoday.com/story/news/hea…

22/ As Trump downplayed the severity of COVID-19 and contradicted his own health experts, he pitted states against each other for vital PPE gear for health workers. By mid-December, the U.S. was suffering a 9/11 in deaths every day.
cbsnews.com/news/trump-sta…

23/ And throughout his term Trump sowed division as he hosted over 100 highly partisan rallies filled with invective in states he won in 2016, rallies which became the source for thousands of COVID-19 infections and hundreds of deaths as Trump campaigned.
cnbc.com/2020/10/31/cor…

24/ As Trump continually fomented this division between Americans it revealed itself through a spike in hate crimes, rising racial tensions, numerous mass shootings, protests, riots, and distrust between communities and law enforcement.
apnews.com/article/hate-c…

25/ In 2015 Trump campaigned as the solution to "Make America Great Again" based on promises of prosperity, health, happiness and putting "America First". The results have fallen far short, even as Trump contests his 2020 election loss, still pitting Americans against each other.

@threadreaderapp unroll