30 Ways President Trump is hurting the US and the World

1. Demolishing US reputation. The US reputation has been so tarnished by President Trump's behavior, beliefs, and mistakes that it will take years to recover. Rather than being considered as the reincarnation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a poll of nearly 200 political science scholars ranked Trump 44th out of the 44 men who have occupied the US presidency (for those wondering why Trump is the 45th president, Grover Cleveland served twice). Never have we witnessed a US leader who has so flagrantly flouted the normal rules of presidential behaviour: the blurring of ethical lines, the hundreds of false and misleading claims, the chumminess with adversarial authoritarian leaders, making the presidency more uncouth and less trustworthy, the foreign policy by tweet, the shameless macho mindset, so many senior figures within his administration and party treating him like a child monarch, etc. 
2. Seriously hurting our planet. By pulling the US out of the Paris climate accord, weakening or scrapping many of the US’s anti-pollution and environmental regulations, rewriting the Environmental Protection Agency's pollution-control policies, and increasing the usage of fossil fuel, President Trump is not only hurting our one and only planet, but also helping destroy nature in the US.
3. Making racist remarks. Trump has used racially incendiary language. At a meeting in the Oval Office negotiating a bipartisan immigration deal, Trump said "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?". This comment adds to his long-standing tendency to make racially charged remarks — including attacks on protesting black athletes, his claim that Barack Obama was not born in the US, his advertisements calling for the death penalty for members of the Central Park Five (four black youths and a Hispanic youth who were accused of a brutal rape in New York and were later exonerated), etc.
4. Taking children from their parents to detention camps. A surge of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border has contributed to a humanitarian crisis. The Trump administration has forcibly separated from their parents more than 3,500 migrant children, which are held in detention camps, in spite of the fact that US District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the government to halt its controversial "zero tolerance" policy in June 2018.
5. Overlooking the separation of powers. The founders built a system of government with three separate branches – it is called the “separation of powers” – that are each supposed to monitor and check the actions of the others in order to prevent abuses of power. Since taking office, Trump has made a series of escalating attacks on the federal judiciary in response to judicial decisions against him. He has also refused to comply with many congressional subpoenas and other oversight requests. According to Politico, the Trump administration has denied or delayed the release of information sought by Democratic committees on more than 30 occasions, and 6 administration officials have refused to appear before House panels.
6. Making improvisational and often contradictory assertions. Trump once endorsed a massive surtax on the rich, but he now wants the top income tax rate cut in half. He opposed the war in Iraq, but says he now has a “foolproof” plan to defeat ISIS. He has praised single-payer health care, yet loathes Obamacare. But a decade ago he proposed “health marts” that sound suspiciously like today’s Obamacare exchanges. Over the past two decades he was a Republican, then an independent, then a Democrat, then a Republican. Finally, registered as an independent, he led and won the 2016 Presidential elections for the Republican party. Therefore, it is no surprise that most Americans have never trusted Trump.
7. Revealing a flawed philosophy. Trump stunned the world and shocked the conscience of the US when he said after the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, that there were ‘some very fine people on both sides’. With those words, the President of the US assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. President Trump likes to use content and images from some of his supporters, tweeting their memes and opinions out to his 63.7 million followers. A video supporting his 2020 campaign that he tweeted by the end of August features a logo that was first used by both a fascist vigilante group and a white supremacist website.
8. Building trade barriers. International trade has been critical to US's prosperity - fueling economic growth, supporting jobs, raising living standards and helping Americans provide for their families with affordable goods and services. Departing from its traditional policy, the US administration is promoting protectionism and this will lead the US and the rest of the world to a vast downhill spiral.
9. Entering a very costly war. Over the past year, President Trump has fueled a costly trade war against China and Europe. Negotiations are ongoing, but have proven difficult. Tariffs have been imposed on billions of dollars worth of goods and according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, these tariffs have been almost completely passed through into US domestic prices, so that the entire incidence of the tariffs is falling on domestic consumers. The US and China remain far apart on issues including how to roll back tariffs and enforce a deal. In fact, Trump’s biggest mistake has been his clueless approach to Asia. The uncertainty is hurting businesses and weighing on the global economy by causing a slowdown, potentially leading to a global downturn. Unfortunately for Trump, he has built his argument for reelection on American prosperity. His hopes for winning the race hinge in no small part on stopping the US from tumbling into a recession before November 2020.
10. Constantly telling blatant lies. President Trump has just become one of the most prolific liars in the history of American governance. The White House incumbent has told more than 10,000 lies since taking office, some big, some trifling. A few of his most memorable lies include "I won the popular vote", "Mexico will pay for the wall", "Mine was the biggest inauguration crowd ever", "Family separations began under Obama", "Thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered on 9/11", "The United States, under the Trump administration, will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on earth", or "We just approved $700 Bn for our military, (...) that also includes raises for our military. First time in 10 years".
11. Reducing the Research budget. For the third year in a row, President Trump’s administration has unveiled a budget that calls for deep spending cuts in research, including a 13% cut for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a 12% cut for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cutting science funding means sacrificing the US’s future. Furthermore, President Trump ignores that government-funded innovation is one of the things that made America great.
12. Reducing American influence abroad. President Trump has visited fewer countries than his predecesors and his visits have typically caused protests. Trump decided to risk the relationships the US has built over 70 years in pursuit of relatively small economic gains. Even if he wins, the geopolitical damage will probably leave the US weaker. Not only is this a big mistake and a giant step backwards for the US. It is also a huge opportunity for China to benefit from it (and will certainly achieve it).
13. Cutting education funding. Trump's administration has traditionally proposed cuts for the Education Department. This is purely and simply a shameful attack to US children and youngsters. Fortunately, the US Congress knows better and roundly rejects the Trump administration’s budgets.
14. Putting press freedom in jeopardy. What started as a theatrical rivalry between the White House and the media is now putting press freedom in jeopardy. President Trump’s continual vilification of the press has seriously exacerbated an ongoing erosion of public confidence in the mainstream media. Among other steps, he has repeatedly threatened to strengthen libel laws, revoke the licenses of certain broadcasters, and damage media owners’ other business interests. The US constitution provides robust protections against such actions, but President Trump’s public stance on press freedom has had a tangible impact on the global landscape.
15. Making false statements about health. Trump believed that childhood vaccinations were related to autism, a hypothesis which has been repeatedly debunked. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Autism Speaks patient-advocacy group have "decried Trump's remarks as false and potentially dangerous". In 2010, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy's nonprofit organization that advocates the incorrect view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by vaccines.
16. Positioning against renewable energy. Trump is highly critical of the "big push" to develop renewable energy, arguing that it is based on a mistaken belief that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. In his book "Crippled America" (2015) he wrote "There has been a big push to develop alternative forms of energy from renewable sources. That's a big mistake. To begin with, the whole push for renewable energy is being driven by the wrong motivation, the mistaken belief that global climate change is being caused by carbon emissions. If you don't buy that—and I don't—then what we have is really just an expensive way of making the tree-huggers feel good about themselves".
17. Advocating for torture. Trump has said that he believes that "torture absolutely works". During his campaign, Trump said that "I would bring back waterboarding, and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding". However, since becoming President, he has not brought back waterboarding, or anything worse.
18. Inept handling of some of America’s most important allies. President Trump conducted confrontational phone calls with the President of Mexico and the prime Minister of Australia, presided over an embarrassingly awkward meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and keeps tweeting not-so-subtle expressions of support for presidential candidate Marine Le Pen in France. Trump's erratic personal conduct remains a serious liability.
19. Disrespecting America’s military. It took almost two years for President Trump to visit the troops in a war zone. He has skipped Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery. The military bureaucracy has been caught entirely off guard by unexpected presidential pronouncements... Trump loves splashy expressions of might, but he is uninterested in accepting accountability for the decisions he makes as the commander in chief. When something goes wrong, he blames his generals. It bodes ill for the country if its highest-ranking public servant seems not to grasp what service really means.
20. Dramatically increasing the military budget. The US military budget is set to grow for a fifth consecutive year to near-historic highs in 2020, as the Trump administration pushes increases in defense spending while making steep cuts to domestic programs in health care and education.
21. Refraining from honoring the dead due to the rain. President Trump cancelled a visit to a World War I cemetery in November 2018 due to the rain. Despite of the weather, an American delegation led by Chief of Staff General John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford still attended the event. "They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate Donald Trump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen," said Nicholas Soames, Churchill's grandson and a member of British Parliament.
22. Building badwill. The US used to be an admired country and served as an example to developed countries. Due to President Trump's policies, most of the world now laughs at the expense of what once used to be the most porwerful country on Earth. Even the United Nations General Assembly has laughed at President Trump! Additionally, fewer foreign tourists are coming to the US: travelers cite Trump policies and fears of gun violence as the main reasons.
23. Enabling easy access to guns. In 2015 Trump described himself as a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment. He proposed eliminating prohibitions on assault weapons, military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. One month after his inauguration, he reversed an Obama-era regulation that had been intended to prevent weapons purchases by certain people with mental health problems. Meanwhile, 53 people died in mass shootings in August 2019 alone in the US.
24. Claiming he has the absolute right to pardon himself. The US constitution allows the President the "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment". Trump thinks he could be a judge and a party at the same time if he were convicted. The exact legality of a self-pardon is unclear and there is no precedent for a US President pardoning himself.
25. Causing the longest ever government shutdown. The last shutdown wasn’t just the longest - it was different in a meaningful way. Trump has been the first president to weaponize a government shutdown in an attempt to strong-arm policy concessions from his opponents. When eight hundred thousand government workers aren't getting paid because the US president behaves like a baby in diapers, putting personal interests above those of the country, you realize Trump is not fit for office.
26. Helping the Saudis cover up a murder. What would other presidents have done if Jamal Khashoggi’s murder had happened on their watch? The CIA came to the view that the murder couldn’t have happened without an order from the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. However, President Trump doesn't believe that, maybe because he approved a $110 billion worth sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
27. Speaking like a petulant 10-year-old. In yet another childish reaction, in January 2018 President Trump boasted his nuclear button is bigger than that of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Unfortunately, Trump is the US Comander in Chief, and he has given many more examples of immature quotes.
28. Proving to be a lousy manager. President Trump talks too much about his business successes, but he has had more than a few failures over the years, including Trump Airlines (after a default on its loans, the ownership was turned over to creditors), Trump Mortgage (due to bad timing and bad hiring, the firm closed shop within a year and a half), Trump Entertainment Resorts (in February 2009, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the third time in a row), Trump Steak (the company was discontinued), Trump Magazine (a year and a half after the launch, the magazine ceased publication), GoTrump.com (this luxury travel search engine was shut down a year later), or Trump University (Trump and this firm were sued for $40 million for allegedly defrauding students).
29. Trusting his gut more than anybody else's brain. “I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed. I’m not happy with the Fed. They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me”. The President seems convinced that his instincts and intuition are more valuable than evidence and reason. He assumes he knows more about the military than his generals and more about climate science than his administration’s climate scientists. Trump has embraced an anti-knowledge posture. He is not just uncomfortable with expertise and evidence, the President is actively hostile toward them because of the degree to which they contradict his “gut.”
30. Demeaning native Americans. In 1993 Trump gave testimony to the House Natural Resources subcommittee on Native American Affairs, devoting much of it to bad-mouthing Indians and their casinos. He asserted that "organized crime is rampant on Indian reservations". Trump offered no evidence in support of his claim, and testimony from the FBI's organized crime division, the Justice Department's criminal division, and the IRS's criminal investigation division did not support Trump's assertion. While campaigning in 2016, Trump repeatedly belittled Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts by calling her "Pocahontas". These comments were criticized by a number of public figures as racist and inappropriate. Gyasi Ross of the Blackfeet Nation, a Native American activist and author, criticized Trump's comments as "simply the continuation of his pattern of racist bullying".

Due to the aforementioned mistakes and many other stupid deeds, the US risks becoming increasingly isolated. President Trump’s protection policy has prompted a surge of new trade deals that exclude the US. Since he took office, 17 new preferential-trade agreements have been registered with the World Trade Organization. Luckily, the world will move ahead with or without the US. The decay of the US and its institutions is on full display right now. Americans may not be able to stop the decay but this may be the very opportunity they need to unite, to speak out, to fight against what they know to be wrong. At the very least they need to be outraged against a President who has proven to be a liar and is playing fire with some of the world's most sensitive topics.