In what can only be described as the most tumultuous Presidency in modern history, Donald Trump will officially become a private citizen again on January 20, 2021 at noon. The peaceful transition of power will continue as Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States.
There is no doubt, Donald Trump was an unconventional President. From the moment he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the people of this country have been on the edge of their seat, for better or worse, waiting to see what his Presidency would bring.
We take a look back at 10 photos that can describe the Presidency of Donald J Trump.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,”
This was the theme delivered by President Trump during his inaugural address back in 2017.
George W Bush reportedly said of Trump's speech, "That was some weird shit".
Trump's dark speech that spoke of undocumented immigrants running wild, high crime, gang activity, and drugs, laid the foundation for what many find to be a grim and dark period in the history of the United States.
The Trump Presidency can be defined as trying to weather a storm. There were constant controversies and scandals throughout his tenure. Many of which were self-inflicted. Such as firing the National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, a month into his Presidency after it was discovered he had lied to Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russians.
We also found out the President paid $130,000 in hush money to silence Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election to keep her from disclosing she had an affair with Trump in 2006, while his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, was pregnant with their son, Barron.
In October of 2020, The New York Times released Trump's tax returns which showed the President had not paid his fair share of taxes in the last several decades. It should be noted, there were no illegal actions found in those tax returns.
The scandals throughout the Presidency ranged from salacious events that were on the front page of every tabloid, to events that impacted national security.
A few months into his Presidency, Donald Trump fired FBI Director, James Comey. This caused a firestorm in Washington DC as he was overseeing the investigation in Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.
The Attorney General at the time, Jeff Sessions, who was the first major politician to endorse Donald Trump during his campaign, recused himself from the Russia investigation. This led to the Department of Justice appointing a Special Counselor to investigate whether the Trump Campaign had colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign. It also led to President Trump and Jeff Sessions relationship to falter.
Democrats on the Hill, especially Congressman Adam Schiff, had told the American people there was smoking gun evidence the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russians.
The Mueller Report took nearly two years to complete and concluded (paraphrasing) the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump but the Trump campaign was too stupid to collude with the Russians. Robert Mueller had not found any conclusive evidence the campaign had colluded with the Russians. There was no smoking gun the Democrats had promised the American public for two years.
The report did say President Trump obstructed justice but he was not charged.
Every President in the last 30 years, including Democrats Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, advocated for strong border security. However, the Trump administrations rhetoric was particularly divisive and inhumane in some instances.
The United States government separated children from their parents at the border in late 2017. This policy was enacted to deter future migrants from showing up at the border.
Border security is essential and free flowing open borders with no structure or legal immigration is a recipe for disaster. There is no denying that. But to separate children from their parents is inhumane and against everything humanity stands for. It was one of the most or the most abhorrent policy implemented by the Trump administration.
To this day, 500+ children have still not been reunited with their parents because officials don't know who their parents are.
Every scientist in the world, warned the general public to not stare at the "Great American Eclipse" which occurred on August 21, 2017. However, like he has shown with his rhetoric and response to the coronavirus, Trump went against the advice of scientists and stared at the eclipse directly with no eye protection.
This is the man we trusted with the nuclear codes.
President Trump had no greater foe in Congress than House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who became Speaker of the House after the 2018 midterm elections, which saw Democrats re-take the majority in the House of Representatives.
Speaker Pelosi brought articles of impeachment against the President twice. President Trump will go down as the only President who has been impeached twice while in office.
She also played hardball with the President with various policy debates that helped further divide the country. Why she held up COVID stimulus for months is infuriating.
The biggest failure of the Trump Presidency was its failure to properly address the coronavirus pandemic. He and his administration consistently downplayed the virus and have gone against the advice of the scientific community.
This has resulted in 400,000 dead Americans, the worst economy since the Great Depression and half the nation questioning science. The COVID aspect reached its climax with President Trump when he, himself, was infected in early October and had to be airlifted to Walter Reed Medical Center to receive treatment.
His administration did manufacture the vaccine in record time. An amazing accomplishment that should be applauded.
However, 400,000 Americans are dead.
20% of the world's COVID deaths are in the worlds richest and most powerful nation. It cannot be understated how big of a failure this is.
During his campaign and Presidency, President Trump railed against foreign nations, both allies and enemies. His America First policy contradicted many of the views of his own Cabinet members, including Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, who eventually resigned.
Trump threatened to leave NATO, left the WHO, demanded South Korea pay its fair share of American protection and met face to face with North Korean despot, Kim Jung Un.
The Americans who voted for him in 2016, wanted something different, They got their wish with Trump and his foreign policy decisions. Many might say his actions and rhetoric towards our allies and alliances were dangerous but for the people who voted for him, America First is what they wanted and when it came to foreign policy, he tried to deliver that.
The Trump Administration should be commended for brokering diplomatic relations between Israel and other Arab nations such as the UAE and Qatar in the "Abraham Accords".
President Trump and his administration passed the First Step Act, which was a bipartisan agreement that addressed criminal justice reform. A piece of legislation that lowered federal sentences for some nonviolent offenders among other things.
However, in the summer of 2020, the United States erupted after the tragic lynching of George Floyd, at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. A nation already on edge from the coronavirus pandemic, broke out in protest across the country to address systemic racism.
Unfortunately, violence and property destruction did occur which diverted attention away from the real issue of police brutality and other systemic issues in our country.
After hiding in his bunker several days before, President Trump ordered law enforcement to tear gas peaceful protestors so that they can clear a path for President Trump to have a photo-op at the historic St John's Church in Washington DC.
President Trump used the Holy Bible as a photo-op to boost his image as a "strong" leader. Instead of helping lead the nation through turmoil, President Trump consistently added fuel to the fire with his divisive rhetoric and racist dog whistles.
No picture better represents President Trump's tenure as President than this photo of the US Capitol from January 6, 2021. After losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential election, President Trump for 2 months spewed lies that the Presidential election was stolen from him.
Every federal and state court Trump's legal team brought a case to was dismissed immediately. President Trump's own Attorney General, Bill Barr, said they found no evidence of election fraud. The Supreme Court, which has 3 justices President Trump appointed, refused to hear the case as they believed there was no merit to the allegations.
However, none of this stopped Trump from his constant spews of lies about the election. After thousands of people came to Washington DC to listen to the President, they proceeded to march to the US Capitol where they attacked the Capitol and attempted to stop the certification of the election. Five people were killed, including a Capitol Hill Police Officer.
Four years of divisive rhetoric has left the nation more divided than ever.
A President asks the country if they are better off now than when he/she took office four years prior. The answer under Trump is a resounding no.
The President was elected four years ago with the promise of Making America Great Again. Well, now the nation has to hope that President Joe Biden fulfills the promise that his predecessor made to us four years ago.
Good riddance 45 and good luck 46.
PS: The best video from the Trump Presidency. Not a blooper. This is real life.