The first 10 days of President Donald Trump

The first 100 days of a new President or Governor is commonly used to measure the successes or failures of the new administration. Both those in power and those in opposition look forward to this anniversary. President Franklin Roosevelt conceived the idea of the first 100 days during a radio address in July 1933. He used it while referring to the 100-day session of the 73rd United States Congress rather than the first 100 days of his administration. The tables have since turned as it is now a yardstick for the Executive.

In the case of President Trump, it is obvious that it’s unnecessary to wait for the first 100 days to decipher what path his presidency will chart. His first 10 days have been literarily packed and, for many Nigerians, it was a good distraction from the rumours about the death of President Buhari. It also gave an insight into how a person with Executive power can and should behave.

Within these days Trump has reinvented the presidency, he has also reshaped the United States’ role both in national and global affairs. People can sense he is ready and prepared for Washington.

One striking thing within these first days is his fidelity to his campaign promises and the timeliness. This isn’t going down well with the liberals and those who underestimated him. President Trump was written off right from when he declared his intention to contest for the presidency under the Republican Party till he finally clinched the ticket. It all seemed like a joke. Then he went on to win the election. To naysayers this was definitely an expensive joke. The next plan was to bring Trump down. In fact, Frederick Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer wrote in The Guardian on the 24^th of January, that the same way the media broke the Panama Papers; Trump should be their next mission. One way of achieving this was to make him accountable to his campaign promises. They felt he had overpromised and were certain he would fail.

Trump has defied their expectations and they are aghast that he has, basically within his first 10 days, fulfilled some of his campaign promises.

Gregory Krieg of CNN captures this shock in this words, “Now, less than a week into his presidency, he is beginning to carry them out. The grinding machinery of federal government has not checked his most extreme ambitions, as so many savvy observers predicted, and the weight of the office has not humbled or aroused in him some reservoir of internal reflection. Instead power only emboldens him.” This may be a bit strange for us since we are accustomed to politicians who don’t fulfil their campaign promises, some even forget all the promises they made. In fact the present administration at the federal level is the embodiment of “promise and fail”.

The actions of President Trump in these past days are the reasons the electorate wanted him in the Oval Office. This may sound cynical to all – including Pastor T.B Joshua – who swallowed the predictions of CNN and New York Times, hook, line and sinker. But that is the truth. Far too many observers thought the 2016 presidential election was a gender equality issue, about giving the world a female US president. Ultimately they were wrong.

The election for the voters was centred on more important issues. Foremost on voters’ minds were the future of Planned Parenthood and Obamacare, the next Supreme Court justice, the renegotiation of NAFTA, the defence of the second amendment, illegal immigrants, the rise and fight against terrorism and Islamic extremism, protection of religious freedom among others. Hilary Clinton, enrobed in her regalia of political correctness, could not achieve this and so they opted for Trump.

Unlike our president, days after his inauguration, Trump really “hit the ground running” – and he began by reinstating the Mexican City Policy. This Executive order blocks international global health groups from receiving millions in US taxpayer dollars if they promote, lobby or perform abortion. This will change the course on US global health assistance from promoting abortion to prioritizing health interventions that safeguard the lives of women and children.

He also signed an executive order directing federal agencies to undermine the operation of Obamacare while efforts are put in place to get a suitable replacement soonest.

While Trump’s team is almost fully constituted, President Buhari took 6 months to give us a team that is directionless, unqualified and inexperienced.

Trump has nominated Neil Gorsuch, a conservative, to fill up the vacant seat at the Supreme Court while we’re still pleading with the almighty presidency to submit the acting Chief Judge’s name to the National Assembly for confirmation.

President Trump has also made good his promise to protect the territorial sovereignty of the US by building the wall. It’s important to note that he isn’t the first President to build a wall. There is a 700-mile fence, begun under George W. Bush and completed under Obama. Trump wants to extend it to 1,000 miles.

His conversation with the Mexican president, Enrique Nieto, confirms that Trump isn’t in the mode for political pretentions. He insisted that if Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall, then why hold a meeting and pose before the camera and the world assuming all was fine?

His stance on terrorism and Islamic extremism isn’t also in doubt. The Executive Order on terrorism, immigration and refugees gives an insight into his ideas. This order, which has been temporarily suspended by the Court, prevented the entry into the US for 90 days all persons from seven countries named by Obama’s administration as state supporters of terrorism. It suspended the refugees processing for 120 days and it reduced the number of refuges to be admitted from 110,000 to 50,000.

While admitting that he may have gone a little overboard with this Executive Order, we have to admit that terrorism is on the rise and an urgent and rapid antidote has to be provided. President Hollande and Justin Trudeau who condemned his action got a taste of terrorist attacks in their country days after they condemned Trump.

Without a doubt, Trump’s 4 years promise to be interesting because it’s unprecedented and it’s unpredictable. World leaders and diplomats – while waiting for Trump’s next tweet – are still trying to study and understand him. They all need to quickly realise that Trump isn’t trying to imitate charismatic Obama. Despite his lack of political experience he has come with the mentality of a chief executive who knows how to get things done.

If most leaders in Nigeria had a similar drive, our polity would be a better place.

 

Joshua Nwachukwu

Joshua B. Nwachukwu is a lawyer and a writer