by Lil Tuttle
The White House released a four-page fact sheet last week touting Trump Administration accomplishments in the first 500 days. Largely ignored by mainstream media, the list of the administration’s achievements is impressive.
Below are just a few of the items on the list:
U.S. Economy:
- Nearly 3 million jobs created (including 304,000 manufacturing jobs and 337,000 construction jobs)
- Employment rate at 3.8, the lowest rate since April 2000 (and matching the lowest level in nearly 50 years)
- Consumer confidence highest in 17 years
- Historic Tax Cuts & Jobs Act legislation that (a) doubled the child tax credit and yielded $3.2 trillion in gross tax cuts for families; and (b) lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%
- Cut back on federal government regulations, “issuing 22 deregulatory actions for every new regulatory action”
- Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act
World Affairs:
- Moved U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem (fulfilling a promise made by several previous presidents)
- Ended the Iran deal
- Initiated a campaign to peacefully denuclearize the Korean peninsula
Safety and Border Security:
- Began enforcing existing immigration law
- U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 110,568 arrest of illegal aliens in FY2017, a 42% increase over FY2016
- Of the 110,568 arrests, 92% had a criminal conviction, pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive, or had a reinstated final order of removal
- Cracked down on the import and distribution of illegal drugs (Border Patrol seized 284 pounds of fentanyl in FY2018, already surpassing the total of 181 pounds seized in FY2017)
- Department of Justice worked with partners in Central America to file criminal charges against more than 4,000 members of MS-13 gang
Government Affairs and Reform:
- Secured Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Confirmed the most circuit court judges of any President in their first year
- Department of Justice issued new guidance to all executive agencies on protecting religious liberty in federal programs
- Eliminated the penalty for Obamacare’s individual mandate
The President deserves a great deal of credit, from conservatives especially, for following through on so many of his promises.