Don’t Think Trump’s Changed

He may be trying to change his image post-election, but there’s little evidence his policies are following suit.

President-Elect Donald Trump (l.) and his daughter Ivanka at a rally in September (Photo: Michael Vadon)

Let’s face the undeniable: Donald Trump is set to become the next President of the United States. Since his election, he’s attempted to “soften” his image quite a bit, calling for unity in the United States. To many, he is being seen as more moderate and palatable than he was previously, a moderate Republican more in the mold of John Kasich than Ted Cruz. Proponents of the “softening Trump” view point to his victory speech, where he said: “Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division, have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.”

But has Trump really changed? Let’s take a look:

Trump on the Environment

Environmental policy is perhaps one of the most important issues for our future here on Earth — it could determine the fate of us as a species. No matter what political position one takes on the issue, it is to deny the science to say that climate change isn’t real. However, such denial is no hard task for Myron Ebell, director at the climate-denying Competitive Enterprise Institute, appointed by Trump to lead the transition at the EPA. Ebell, a self-described contrarian, is the leader of the Cooler Heads Coalition, a group that describes its goal as “dispelling the myths of global warming”. Ebell has made clear that his belief is that business is more important than its possible environmental ramifications, no matter the cost. While Trump is not alone in his climate change denialism among Washington politicians, his positions are certainly dangerous. According to preliminary reports, Trump wants the United States to back out of the Paris Agreement, potentially opening up the door to an even larger negative impact on the environment than has already occurred. The next few years are of critical importance in this field, and with Republicans running the table in Washington, humanity will be playing a dangerous game.

Trump on LGBT Rights

Trump, who promised to “protect LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology”, has been put up as a Republican with some support for LGBT rights. However, despite his occasional ally façade, Trump’s positions indicate trouble for LGBT Americans. First, take a look at Trump himself. Trump, who said in 2011 that he supported “traditional marriage” (despite the fact that he’s twice-divorced himself), said earlier this year to Chris Wallace that he would “strongly consider” appointing a Supreme Court Justice who would vote to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges. Now that his shortlist is out, it seems that he is dead set on appointing a judge who would vote to overturn that ruling. Next, one need only look to Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence’s views on LGBT rights. Remember that this is the same Mike Pence who said in 2006 that being gay was a choice and that gay marriage would bring about a “societal collapse”; this is the same Mike Pence who as Governor just one year ago championed the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which disgusted LGBT Americans and their allies with its enabling of anti-LGBT discrimination from business owners based on the nebulously-defined idea of “sincerely-held religious belief”. LGBT Americans can expect a significant step backwards for their rights under the Trump presidency.

Trump on Abortion and Reproductive Rights

Abortion is for obvious reasons a very touchy subject for many; it is never an easy decision to make for a woman to undergo the procedure. However, keeping abortion accessible and safe is quite important. Without safe and accessible abortions being made available, women would go back to back-alley practitioners who ultimately could cause great harm. Trump, who at one of the Presidential Debates inaccurately characterized Hillary Clinton as supporting babies being murdered immediately after their births, has flip-flopped on the issue of abortion over the years, as he has on many issues. However, his current positions line up closely with those of his apprentice Pence, who said last year that he wanted “Roe v. Wade consigned to the dustbin of history”. Trump himself this past March stated that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who choose to undergo an abortion. It is not only on abortion, however, where Trump supports restricting reproductive rights; his platform has also called for getting rid of provisions that require birth control to be covered by health insurance, even though birth control and teaching how to use it, not abstinence-only education, has been shown to be the most effective way of preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing abortion rates. Under a Trump presidency, women can expect to pay out-of-pocket for birth control again, a move that would likely disproportionately hit poorer women.

Trump on Foreign Policy

Unlike his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump has little to no experience in foreign policy. Where he has expressed his opinions on such issues, he has concerned many Americans. Trump, despite his reassertion that he “doesn’t know Putin”, has repeatedly praised the Russian despot, calling him “a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond” and a better leader than U.S. President Barack Obama. Trump, who asserted that he’d “get along very well with Vladimir Putin” in 2015, has made improving relations with Russia one of his top priorities. Remember that Trump’s “new friend” is the same Putin-led Russia that, against international condemnation, led an invasion and ongoing occupation of Ukrainian Crimea, as well as much of eastern Ukraine and northern Georgia. Combined with Trump’s threat to cut off U.S. support of NATO countries in eastern Europe that are not paying into the organization sufficiently, Trump sets up a potential for Putin’s Russia to take over much of the European continent. Trump’s other positions on foreign policy reflect a profound ignorance as well: he claims he will be able to easily renegotiate all the country’s trade deals, a feat that, as demonstrated by the post-Brexit U.K. government, is much easier said than done. Trump suggests that the U.S. is lagging behind China in GDP growth; while this is true, the statistic is misleading, since Trump is comparing apples to oranges: the U.S. economy is significantly more developed than the Chinese; in fact, the Chinese government, in an attempt to inflate figures, has been building empty cities, in what amounts to a GDP growth on paper but no real productive value, which is what we should really focus on.

Trump on Immigration and his “Big, Beautiful Wall”

Shifting the focus a bit closer to home, Trump’s oft-repeated proposal that the United States build a wall on the Mexican border would be both largely ineffective and outrageously expensive. For one, a wall would not be able to keep Mexicans from entering the country through legal channels and overstaying their visas; it would not prevent planes from flying into the U.S., nor would it stop the highways that already cross the southern border. Contrary to popular belief, most Mexican illegal immigrants do not enter the country by swimming across the Rio Grande or running through the desert. Even if Trump’s proposed wall were effective, though, its costs would outweigh its benefits. Trump’s wall, which he posits would be made of concrete and be somewhere from 35 to more than 50 feet tall, would like cost more than 10 billion dollars to erect, putting aside the costs involved in compensating landowners — money that, despite Trump’s claims, Mexico would be unwilling to pay. Additionally, billions of dollars each year would have to be invested in the wall’s patrolling and physical upkeep, even more money out of American taxpayers’ pockets.

Trump on Healthcare

One of the few areas in which there’s been a documented shift in opinion post-election on Trump’s part is that of healthcare. After his meeting with President Obama, Trump has suggested that he may want to keep some of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly dubbed “Obamacare”. Specifically, President-Elect Trump has pointed to the provisions of the law that allow children to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26 and provide for patients with preexisting conditions. However, as some have pointed out, these provisions do not work out without the requirement that everybody buy into healthcare insurance, which leaves a potential hole in Trump’s plan. Additionally, Republican lawmakers are unlikely to be willing to play along with Trump’s plan to keep Obamacare’s popular provisions, and a Republican-passed bill that would repeal Obamacare would likely be signed if it were to land (or, more likely, when it lands) on Trump’s desk. Additionally, as announced by Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, Trump is considering convening a “special session” on his inauguration day to “repeal and replace Obamacare”, indicating that perhaps Trump’s position has not shifted as drastically as has sometimes been declared.

Trump, the Man

Finally, let us not forget that Donald Trump is still fundamentally the same man who he was the day before the election. He still holds very few values other than “winning”. He still has disrespected women; he still didn’t pay his contractors; he still is headed to court for issues that run the gamut from Trump University fraud to alleged rape, including that of a 12 year old. He still is accused of misusing the Trump Foundation; he still said “grab her by the pussy”. He still said that he would date his daughter Ivanka; he still hasn’t released his tax returns. Despite his newfound Presidential façade and his “moderation”, Donald Trump is still the same man he was before the election. Let us not forget who was elected to lead these United States of America.