Since mid-Jan., we have sat back and watched the man that the majority of Americans who voted to elect reclaim his position of power as the President of the United States. He has made waves across the media through his abundance of executive orders and marginalizing rhetoric that is dividing the country before our eyes. Without a doubt, he has made changes, but we must ask ourselves … what has he done well?

President Donald Trump has made the front page since emerging from Mar-a-Lago to the White House last month. But his drastic actions did not come without warning; as his campaign trail was ablaze with fiery promises — which are listed on his “Agenda 47” — that aimed to make the United States clearly nationalist and exclusive to differences from his idea of a traditional citizen. He’s succeeded in coming closer to these goals, as his second presidency has already made a mark, and it hasn’t even been a month. 

It’s important, as much as it may be difficult, to analyze the actions that he has carried out and attempt to find the truly beneficial moves he has made as President thus far if there are any. Posing the question of what has been done well, we must contextualize what we mean by “well.”

If in the context of effectiveness, Trump has indisputably been impactful as he has swiftly redirected the course of the United States. The transition from the Biden administration to his has been striking as his press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced, there will be “no more funding for…wokeness.” Funny that as a woman in a position of power in our government, that “wokeness” paved the way for her success, but that’s a tangent for another time. 

Back to Trump, what exactly has he done so far? I mean, he put a pause on tariffs for Mexico and Canada which had the [JUMP] potential to instigate a massive trade war, but then again, he was the one who enacted the laws in the first place. He cut all federal DEI (Diversity, equity and inclusion) programs, which caused a ripple effect throughout major corporations to follow suit and triggered an uproar across corporate America. And let’s not forget his recent statement to take over Gaza to create a “Riviera of the Middle East” that will displace millions of Palestinians and directly violate international law. 

In short, President Trump has successfully initiated his fracturing of the diverse makeup of the American population. From challenging birthright citizenship to violent attacks on the transgender community, he has used his signature as a sword to harshly cut through decades of progress toward love and unity.  

He has done well at moving our country in the direction that he promised — a country that is fueled by hatred and marginalization, aiming to forcefully divide itself. 

In terms of the economy, as Press Secretary Leavitt argues, “President Trump is delivering on his promise to restore our broken economy, revive small business optimism, create jobs and ignite a new golden age for America.” This promise has seemingly become second to other efforts to de-wokeify the country, which is why we must continue to track this progress and see how our economic standing fares under this administration, especially in regard to the unemployment rate. 

Under my own standards, President Trump’s divisive actions have inherently outweighed any possibly beneficial moves he could make to be seen as a leader who has “done well.” A President who wants to actively hurt and rip apart support systems for minority groups simply cannot be seen as someone who is doing a good job.

But, as the PEW Research Center states, “47% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president.” This makes it clear that several citizens do believe in this new era of Trump’s presidency and back his agenda to “Make America Great Again.” This rating demonstrates that although I may not have this same approval, almost half of the country does.

President Donald Trump’s second term is only beginning, which leaves us to wonder how Americans will be impacted throughout the next almost four years. We are faced with a new era of divisiveness that has erupted across the United States and will only continue to become more damaging as his presidency continues to propel itself forward.

So, to answer my original question, no, Trump has not done well. He has been successful in fulfilling his own agenda, but under my own terms, since his promises are ones of polarization and instill fear in the security of so many Americans, I can’t argue for anything but inadequacy. There are many more years ahead of us where his administration may prove me wrong, and let me tell you, I really hope he does.