MAGA, China Virus, Executive Time — The Legacy Trump Leaves Behind

He’s got many flaws, being boring isn’t one of them

We’re coming to the end of a presidential term of arguably the most quirky, unconventional President the United States has ever seen, and likely will ever see. As the dust begins to settle on the roller-coaster that the US Elections have been, it is probably a time to reflect on what President Trump leaves behind.

I’ll leave the critical analysis on the state of the US and the World before and after his term to the experts, but here’s a look at the legacy that Donald Trump leaves behind — as an individual. He surely did things way differently than you’d expect from most Presidents, and there are some very unforgettable (for good or bad reasons) things he’s leaving the world with.

The President That Tweeted His Heart Out

You would think or expect a President to have an army of people within his administration who’d advise on and control every word that goes out of the White House. Carefully crafting the right message to convey the right intention and ensure everything goes down well with the public — and most importantly avoiding any controversy.

Well, scratch all that.

Because Donald Trump was one president who tweeted what he felt like. I would highly doubt if there was any control of the think-tank around him on any of his tweets that went out. Often he’d even contradict the official communication from the White House.

In 2018, he sent out more than 3,400 tweets — which is probably a very high number for someone whose JOB is only to tweet, let alone for the US President.

He took to Twitter to say what he felt like — and if it didn’t create a controversy of some sort, it probably didn’t get done right! His style was the complete antithesis of that of a traditional POTUS.

The “China Virus” That Made Him “Better Than 20 Years Ago”

The way President Trump handled the whole situation around the pandemic has been questioned by many, and probably even applauded by many of his ardent followers.

However, there were some moments around that that just left us all at a loss for words.

Trump has constantly referred to COVID-19 as the “China Virus” or the “China Plague” — which would politically be the worst thing to do, yet he’s continued to do that.

After fighting the illness himself, he claimed to have done it as it was the right thing to do to “lead from the front” and also that felt better than he did 20 years ago, after the virus.

This wasn’t the only time he made a mockery of a global health problem and there were many other outrageous moments — not the least of which when he suggested injecting disinfectants to fight the virus.

Taking Credit for Other’s Nobel Peace Prize

Last year around this time of the year, the Ethiopian Prime Minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea”.

Yet, President Trump who has also been known to lobby for the Nobel Peace Prize for himself, went ahead to take partial, or more than partial credit for the Ethiopian PM’s win.

In an appearance in front of a crowd, Trump said:

“I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, ‘What, did I have something do with it?’ ”

It wasn’t surely the first time when he felt that he played a significant role in any and all things of importance in the world.

Unique Stance on Foreign Policy

Trump had his own unique stance on most foreign policy decisions that were quite radical compared to most of his predecessors.

Especially around all things Asia — Trump had strict and often too extreme policies that have changed the relationship the US has with Asia.

Trump has led the US into a deep trade conflict with China and has had some interesting flip-flopping exchanges with North Korea as well.

Tweeting again has been a key part of his foreign policy, often conveying messages that would be suicidal for most inter-country relationships.

During the North Korean negotiations — one senior North Korean negotiating official even went on to say the following about Trump:

“As (Trump) is such a heedless and erratic old man, the time when we cannot but call him a ‘dotard’ again may come”

What President Biden can make of some of these uniquely, often delicately, positioned foreign bilateral relationships remains to be seen.

Executive Time — What Does It Even Mean?

There was apparently a leak of the President’s schedule during his tenure that had a mention of something called “Executive Time” for a significant amount of time during his day at the Oval Office. The schedule according to Axios media says the following:

• The schedule says Trump has “Executive Time” in the Oval Office every day from 8 am to 11 am, but the reality is he spends that time in his residence, watching TV, making phone calls, and tweeting.

There were a lot of varied reactions on this “Executive Time” with a lot of people criticizing the President of the United States not spending enough time on the issues that matter.

But, for a President that didn’t do any part of his job in the “conventional” sense — you’d hardly be surprised if he also decided to spend his time the way he would like to — after all, it is indeed an “Executive Decision”.

And Finally — Make America Great Again

“Let’s Make America Great Again” was first used by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 Presidential campaign but it was given a totally new and radical meaning by the Trump campaign.

This was really how Trump managed to connect with the American masses, ensuring them that he was the guy who was most closely going to guard their nation against all harm. He would bring their jobs back, stop illegal immigration, build a wall with Mexico, and numerous other promises.

He may or may not have done justice to all his promises, but the fact that nearly half of the country still voted for him in the 2020 elections, does say something about the following that he still commands in the country.

There’s this and so much more that the world will remember President Trump for. What are the most memorable things you will remember him for?