Trump’s America: shrinking our way to excellence
Abroad, Trump is sending American hard power in retreat by pulling back on NATO and threatening to invade and take over a NATO country. American soft power under Trump is also in retreat, with the abandonment of USAID and Voice of America.
At home, Trump is shrinking American agriculture by the USAID cuts. He’s levied consumption taxes on American consumers through tariffs, shrinking Americans’ buying power. He’s shrinking American research by his cuts to the NIH and NSF and driving trainees and researchers to other countries that embrace science. He’s shrinking future American innovation and productivity by deporting and intimidating immigrants, who have historically been America’s strength. He’s shrinking state economies by cuts to National Parks and Forests, which had been tourist magnets. He’s shrinking healthcare access by massive cuts to Medicaid, which will force rural hospitals to close.
What Trump hasn’t been shrinking is the deficit and the national debt. Those are set to explode with the passage of his Big Bad Bill. Whether that results in shrinking the number of Republicans in the House and Senate remains to be seen. While Trump is doing his best to achieve that, the outcome also depends on Democratic Party leadership.
At home, Trump is shrinking American agriculture by the USAID cuts. He’s levied consumption taxes on American consumers through tariffs, shrinking Americans’ buying power. He’s shrinking American research by his cuts to the NIH and NSF and driving trainees and researchers to other countries that embrace science. He’s shrinking future American innovation and productivity by deporting and intimidating immigrants, who have historically been America’s strength. He’s shrinking state economies by cuts to National Parks and Forests, which had been tourist magnets. He’s shrinking healthcare access by massive cuts to Medicaid, which will force rural hospitals to close.
What Trump hasn’t been shrinking is the deficit and the national debt. Those are set to explode with the passage of his Big Bad Bill. Whether that results in shrinking the number of Republicans in the House and Senate remains to be seen. While Trump is doing his best to achieve that, the outcome also depends on Democratic Party leadership.