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Donald Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The decision on whether Trump will continue to fulfill his duties will now have to be made by the Senate in January 2020.

The article on abuse of power received 230 congressional votes for impeachment and 197 votes against.

Article on obstruction of the work of Congress - 229 votes for impeachment and 198 against.

For the announcement of impeachment, it was enough to get 216 votes on either of the two articles of charges.

230-197 Abuse of power

229-198 Opposition to the work of the Congress

0 republicans supported both charges

2 democrats against the first charge

3 democrats against the second charge

Source: BBC

On the eve of the vote in the House of Representatives, the Democrats made it clear that they are not going to abandon attempts to remove Donald Trump from power. This vote, however, does not mean that the President of the United States will have to leave office, and the officially announced impeachment will not prevent him from being elected for the next term.

• Impeachment: Democrats bring two charges against Trump at once
• Impeachment: Democrats filed claims against Trump. What's next?
• Impeachment of Trump: how the process works and whether the Democrats will remove him from power

Last Monday, Democrats in Congress released a 658-page report, accusing the president of bribery and trying to force the Ukrainian president to launch an investigation into former US Vice President Joe Biden.

Articles of impeachment

Prior to this, the congressional legal committee approved articles of impeachment of the president - abuse of power and obstruction of the work of congress. The abuse meant only the conversation between Donald Trump and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25 this year.

During the conversation, the head of the White House asked him to open an investigation into former Vice President Biden. His son Hunter Biden was a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian state oil and gas company Burisma from 2014 to 2019, and, according to the US president, was involved in corruption schemes in that country.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Trump flew to Michigan's pre-Christmas rally on Congressional Election Day

Joe Biden at that time served as the US Administration's Commissioner for Ukraine Affairs, and, according to the Republicans in Congress, was involved in the dismissal of the heads of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, who were preparing investigations, including against his son on corruption charges.

The Democrats regard these accusations as a call for a foreign state to intervene in the US election process.

In addition, the Democrats in Congress have charged the US President with obstructing the work of the House of Representatives: the head of the White House banned senior administration officials from responding to calls from legislators and speaking at committee hearings as part of impeachment proceedings.

"The charges claim that President Trump put his personal and political interests ahead of national security interests, the interests of our fair and free elections ... He was involved in abuses that will continue if we do not stop them. That is why President Trump must be subjected to impeachment and removed from power, "- says the report of the congressional legal committee.

On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee approved voting rules for impeachment proceedings. However, few doubted that the process would be approved by legislators in Congress: there are nine Democrats on the committee and only four Republicans who oppose impeachment.

How many Democrats refused to vote?

Even before the impeachment debate in Congress, two Democratic Party officials publicly announced that they were not going to support the initiative to remove the US president from power.

Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Colleen Peterson of Minnesota said they would not support the charges against the incumbent. Earlier this week, US media reported that after this statement, employees of Congressman Van Drew's office had filed resignations.

How many Republicans supported the impeachment?

Even before the meeting on Wednesday, Democratic leaders called the impeachment of the current US president a "vote of conscience", stressing that it was as important as voting to send American soldiers to war.

Image copyright Reuters

In November 2019, Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives by winning the midterm elections. As a result, Trump's opponents ended up with 31 constituencies, which were previously represented by Republicans. The House of Representatives has 233 Democrats and 197 Republicans. One seat is occupied by an independent legislator, and four more remain vacant.

At the same time, not a single Republican supported the impeachment procedure. Back on Monday, two days before the vote, Republican Majority Leader in Congress Kevin McCarthy announced that he was not going to refuse the president's support, and none of his fellow party members would vote for impeachment.

What will the Senate decide?

After a vote in the House of Representatives, the decision is passed on to the Senate, which will finally decide the fate of the US President. According to the constitution, the congressional impeachment decision has a "privileged" status, so the Upper House is obliged to defer all other discussions and consider this initiative first.

Earlier this week, Democratic congressional leader Chuck Schumer proposed to Senate Republican head Mitch McConnell to conclude a compromise and agree on an impeachment procedure.

According to the constitution, the Senate must consider charges approved by Congress, and all senators in this process will serve as jurors. In turn, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is obliged to appoint lawmakers who will act as prosecutors and prosecution witnesses, and the White House will be able to send its own lawyers to hearings.

Who do the Democrats want to call?

On Monday, Democratic congressional leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the Senate asking for the hearing of four prosecution witnesses - Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulveney, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Office of Governance and Budget Office Officer Michael Duffy, and Advisor to the current Chief of Staff Robert Blair.

All of them, according to Democrats, were involved in the suspension of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of $ 391 million.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls Trump a threat to U.S. democracy and national security

On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell rejected the Democratic proposal, reiterating that he intends to coordinate all of his actions in the impeachment proceedings with White House lawyers.

According to the rules, the head of the US Supreme Court, John Roberts, must lead the impeachment process. However, it is not yet clear how long this procedure will take.

In an interview with Fox News last week, Mitch McConnell said he would insist on hearing the charges without calling additional witnesses.

"You know, if you have enough votes, and you are sure that the charges have minimal basis, and this is what the president's lawyers prefer, you will prefer a short session," he said, answering journalists' questions.

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"Putin is laughing at us." How they voted to impeach Trump

President Trump himself, in an interview with reporters, also confirmed that he would prefer a quick review of his own case in the Senate.

"I'm ready to do whatever they want, it doesn't mean anything," he said. who is a scammer. "

What will happen next?

Republicans in Congress are set to begin considering the charges brought by the House of Representatives as early as January 2020. At the same time, few doubt that the upper house of Congress will fully acquit the president. His opponents need two-thirds of the vote in the Senate, but now the Democrats have only 47 legislators against 53.

Another challenge is the future of US politics. After Trump is impeached and then the President is acquitted by the Senate, Democrats will have to work with the White House on a whole list of legislative initiatives. In addition, the announcement of impeachment will not prevent the incumbent US president from re-running for the 2020 election and taking part in the election campaign.

How they are going to cooperate with the president after that is not yet known exactly.

"If the president is not held accountable, if my colleagues in the Senate do not fulfill the sworn commitments, then our democracy will be in jeopardy," Congressman David Sisillin told the BBC.

Donald Trump officially took office as President of the United States. The inauguration ceremony of the 45th head of the White House took place on Friday, January 20, in Washington. Trump and new Vice President Michael Pence have taken the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the country.

Context

The ceremony, held on Capitol Hill, was attended by former US presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush with their spouses, as well as Trump's immediate predecessor in the White House, Barack Obama with his wife.

Donald Trump then made a speech in which he thanked Barack Obama and his wife for "kind assistance" in transferring power to the new administration and said they were "brilliant." Meanwhile, in the further statements of the 45th President of the United States, criticism of his predecessors sounded. “Today we are not just transferring power from one administration to another, but returning power from Washington back to you, the people,” Trump said. In his opinion, "the establishment was protecting itself, not the citizens" of the United States.

Donald Trump believes that the United States used to "invest in foreign industry", "protected the borders of other countries" and "spent trillions of dollars overseas" to the detriment of its own industry, army and infrastructure. But "from this day on, America is in the first place," promised the new head of the White House.

According to law enforcement officials, about 900,000 people attended the celebrations, including protesters. On the day of the inauguration in the capital of the United States, there were massive demonstrations of Americans dissatisfied with Trump's victory in the presidential election. According to local media reports, the protests escalated into riots and clashes with the police. The protesters smashed several windows, the police responded with tear gas.

See also:

• Donald Trump "with the people"

  After a number of eminent stars of American show business more or less politely said "no, we can't," the newly elected President of the United States from the Republican Party, pretending not to be offended at all, said that he was going to celebrate the inauguration anyway "with the people"! Photo: Donald Trump with his supporters.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Beyoncé: sang for Obama

More recently, celebrities of American show business flocked to parties in the White House: brilliant Hollywood and TV stars, pop and pop music legends. The elite of the American entertainment industry did not expect a second invitation from Barack Obama. Donald Trump has a harder time. It just doesn't make sense to invite stars like Beyoncé to the concert on the occasion of his inauguration.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Bruce Springsteen: Obama Awarded

Also in support of Barack Obama was Bruce Springsteen, who received the Freedom Medal in 2016 - the highest award in the United States for "a significant contribution to the security and protection of the national interests of the United States, to maintaining peace in the world, as well as to the social and cultural life of the United States and the world." ... It is unlikely that the twenty-time Grammy and other prestigious awards winner would accept Trump's invitation.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Katy Perry: Hillary supporter

American singer Katy Perry openly supported Hillary Clinton and even starred nude in a provocative campaign video. Her example was followed by Madonna, who also explicitly called for voting for the US presidential candidate from the Democrats. There was no point in inviting Trump to these stars either. As, however, and Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Bon Jovi, who supported the Democrats.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

The Beach Boys: questionable

Received an invitation from Donald Trump The Beach Boys. The musicians who celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their group in 2012, in their current line-up, accepted the invitation. According to American media reports, they may perform at a concert on the occasion of the inauguration of the new US president.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Elton John: rebuttal

Elton John thought briefly. To a statement made by one of Trump's employees in one of the BBC programs about the alleged intention of Elton John to sing in support of the new American president, the British performer responded with a sharp denial.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Andrea Bocelli: Despite Friendship

The Italian opera singer is considered a friend of Donald Trump. There are two versions of his non-participation in the inauguration. One says that the tenor first agreed, and then refused due to the protests of the outraged fans. Trump's version: Bocelli himself offered his services, but the president turned them down. Be that as it may, Trump will not sing Andrea Bocelli.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Celine Dion: busy this day

The Canadian singer turned down the invitation to Donald Trump's inauguration not because of her antipathy to the president, but because she is already performing in Las Vegas on January 20 and would not want to disappoint her fans.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

The Chainsmokers: manager intervened

A press report that American DJs Andrew Taggart and Alex Paul would perform at Trump's was denied by the duo's manager.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

The Dixie Chicks: From Bush to Trump

The female country trio from Dallas was at the center of a scandal in 2003 when one of the participants, Natalie Mans, said during a speech in London that she was ashamed to be from the same state as President Bush, who started the war in Iraq. Natalie is now criticizing Trump and the "two-faced" radio stations that broadcast Trump, despite his attacks on Hillary Clinton.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

KISS: on tour

American rockers, according to the wife of Gene Simmons, "politely declined" Trump's invitation. Simmons said the band will be touring Europe during this time.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Garth Brooks: on the lists

The American country music performer is also on the list of celebrities who have turned down Trump's invitation, although the musician himself previously said that he would "consider it an honor" to speak at the inauguration.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Rebecca Ferguson: The Condition Impossible

The British singer has agreed to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration only if she is allowed to sing the song "Strange Fruit". The song, best known by Billie Holiday, has been and remains the protest anthem of the African American civil movement. Originally written as a poem, the lyrics criticize racism in the United States and African American lynching.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

DJ Moby: clearly in the wrong place

A vegan and animal rights activist, American DJ Moby has publicly supported the Democrats as "a million times better than any Republican alternative." Nevertheless, he was also invited to Trump's inauguration. The reaction of the surprised DJ on Instagram: "Ha ha ha ha ha, wait a second, ha ha ha ha ha, right?" He went on to write what he would think if Trump made his tax return public.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Jennifer Holiday: misunderstood

The American singer and actress decided not to perform at Trump's concert after fans and the public viewed her agreement as a political gesture and a manifestation of solidarity with the president.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Ice-T: joking

American rapper and actor Ice-T revealed on Twitter that he received an invitation to the inauguration by phone. He allegedly declined the invitation and blocked the caller's number. Then, however, the rapper admitted that he was joking and that there were no calls.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Alec Baldwin: a trick initiative

The Hollywood actor himself invited Donald Trump to make him happy with his presence at the inauguration and even sing the song of the rock band AC / DC "Highway to Hell" (English - Road to Hell). It is difficult, however, to imagine that the President-elect of the United States would welcome a guest who parodies him on Saturday Night Live. Pictured: Actor Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Jackie Ivanko: a star for Trump

The now 16-year-old singer Jackie Ivanko agreed to shine her radiance on Trump during his inauguration. The great-granddaughter of immigrants from Transcarpathia with a pleasant soprano gained fame thanks to her participation in the television show "America's Got Talent" (English - There are talents in America) in 2010. Then she was 10 years old, and she took second place in the competition.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

The Radio City Rockettes: dance for Trump

The women's dance group from New York, founded in 1925 in St. Louis, also agreed, combining the traditions of a French variety show and an American dance musical. The dancers are renowned for their impeccable synchronization. One member of the ensemble, however, got out of the slender ranks and complained on social networks that she was forced to speak at the inauguration against her will.



Donald Trump's inauguration: music score

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: sing for Trump

The Mormons did not leave the president in trouble. The Salt Lake City Mormon Temple Choir, formed back in 1847 and participating in the inauguration of five U.S. presidents, also agreed to perform at the inauguration of Donald Trump. True, one member of 360 people still left the choir, refusing to perform for the new president.

Donald Trump officially took office as President of the United States

Donald Trump officially took office as President of the United States © Freeze frame video

Donald Trump took office as President of the United States. He was sworn in by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Businessman Trump, who is 70, became the 45th President of the United States, replacing Barack Obama as head of state, who has completed two terms in office.

“I, Donald Trump, solemnly vow that I will faithfully fulfill my duties as President of the United States and will uphold, protect and defend the United States Constitution to the best of my ability,” Trump said, raising his right hand and placing his left hand on two Bibles.

The first is the book on which the 16th Abraham Lincoln took the oath. The second is Trump's personal Bible, which his mother gave him in 1955 in honor of his graduation from Sunday school.

In addition, in his speech, President Trump thanked his predecessor Barack Obama and stressed that at this ceremony, power is not only transferred from one president to another or from one party to another, but in this ceremony, power is transferred from Washington to ordinary Americans.

The inauguration of the 45th President of the United States is broadcast live by leading American TV channels NBC, CBS and C-SPAN and British SkyNews. USA Today TV even showcases 3D videos on its YouTube channel. Live broadcasts are also conducted by the TV channel "Russia 24".

The chairman of the inaugural committee, Senator Roy Blunt, who opened the ceremony, noted that the text of the oath pronounced by Trump exactly matches the text that was pronounced by the first President of the United States, George Washington, in 1789.

After taking the oath of office, Trump will deliver his first speech as President of the United States, which he has already independently written, having refused the services of speechwriters. When writing, he was guided by the inaugural speeches of Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.

Inaugural events began in the United States yesterday, January 19, when Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence laid wreaths at a military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. This was followed by a "MakeAmericaGreatAgain!" Welcome concert near the Lincoln Memorial in downtown Washington. (Let's Make America Great Again!) Featuring musicians Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, 3 DoorsDown, TheFrontmenofCountry and DJ RaviDrums.

Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Idina Menzel, Jennifer Holliday and the rock band KISS refused to perform at the concert. Commenting on the difficulties of inviting musicians, the head of the inaugural committee said that during the ceremony, Trump will not be surrounded by celebrities, since ("the greatest celebrity in the world") will already be on stage.

We add that the expenses for the inauguration were estimated at $ 200 million, which is significantly more than the cost of the last ceremony. In addition to Trump's own promise to stage a "grand show", considerable funds were spent on strengthening security measures: the protest movement against the elected president has not yet subsided among the people.

Equator of Donald Trump. How America Gets Great Again

January 20, 2019 marks exactly two years since the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Then, two years ago, the whole world froze in anticipation, and to say this would not be an exaggeration, whether someone likes it or not. Because the change of the official supreme power in the most influential state on the planet is always, at least, a very important event for everyone. Moreover, when such an ambiguous and for many extremely unexpected figure takes office. But it would also not be an exaggeration to say that America itself was especially holding its breath. I suppose the reasons are quite obvious. And now two years have passed. Mr Trump's presidential term has reached its equator. It is too early to judge the global results of his rule. About what his presidency gave to the world, it will be possible to reason more or less confidently, at least towards the end of his first term. And, preferably, even the second. But what does his rule give to America itself? What happens under Donald Trump within the country he rules? What is "Trumpism" in different spheres of US life?

Foreign policy

If one could name one main defining feature of the foreign policy of the era of Donald Trump, for example, describing it in one word, then I would say that this word - confusion... And it manifests itself not only in the periodical obvious gaps between the vision of the foreign policy of the president and his administration. In addition to this obvious phenomenon, there is also a deep, viscous quagmire of contradictions in the actions of Mr. Trump himself, in his impulses and unexpected turns, which often contradict each other.

On the one hand, Trump, even during the election campaign, insisted on the return of American soldiers from Syria and Afghanistan. Moreover, immediately after the current Christmas holidays, he confirmed his intention to a group of US Republican senators, as reported by The Hill on January 16. But at the same time, he literally shocked from time to time with his belligerence. Sometimes even their own advisors. This was manifested, for example, in relation to Iran, on the issue of which Donald Trump has declared pronounced hawkish intentions from the very beginning of his rule.

However, the confusion manifests itself here too. Openly demonizing, of course, a highly controversial Islamic regime in Tehran, President Trump, at the same time, does not question Iranian interests in Syria - at least, without doing anything like this openly and diligently observing the parity of the Iranian expeditionary force in this country with the forces of the American army ...

A very similar situation is developing in his relations with the DPRK. He then threatens North Korea with "complete destruction", moreover, doing this from the UN rostrum, then, after a while, claims that he "fell in love" with Kim Jong-un ... Despite the fact that the head of the DPRK, who has not yet become a real political heavyweight, has by no means shown even a symbolic readiness to dismantle his nuclear arsenal.

As for relations with Russia, if you look at it, they are a reference reflection of those internal contradictions of foreign policy Trumpism, which were already mentioned above. On the one hand, the Putin he criticizes, in general, very reluctantly, which, of course, reinforces the long-standing suspicions of his "being under the rule of the Kremlin", still whipped up by the "democrats" press. It can be assumed that President Trump himself, perhaps, would not mind some detente in bilateral relations with the largest state in the Eastern Hemisphere. But his administration has clearly taken a much tougher position on this issue. In fact, opposing Russia, she adheres to a much more radical line of behavior than her predecessors of the times. Barack Obama, initiating more and more sanctions, blocking Moscow's economic initiatives, supplying lethal weapons to the ruling regime in Ukraine.

However, this has happened before.

But there are three fundamental points that make the foreign policy of the Trump period completely different in nature from all of his predecessors over the foreseeable period.

The second fundamental point in Donald Trump's foreign policy vision is the desire to erase the legacy of Barack Obama and many of his other predecessors... Almost everything that Obama once actively advocated was either torpedoed or questioned by Trump: from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Agreement.

And the third fundamental point of foreign policy trumpism is distrust of multilateral agreements and collective political institutions. For the seasoned New York businessman Trump, a template in negotiations (and he does not see the difference between business and political negotiations, which has already been noted many times), and in the conclusion of transactions is, first of all, direct communication / clash / confrontation between two personalities - a kind of duel between two powerful people standing face to face. This is undoubtedly a kind of professional deformation of the personality - the vision and understanding of the processes by which he was guided all his life, having been doing big business for many years. And he continues to be guided by this after he became the head of the United States. All kinds of "round tables" with many opinions and endless conversations openly irritate him - he sincerely cannot understand why he should listen to all these foreigners of different caliber, different positions and views, many of whom are not at all vested with power and do not decide anything at all the world. Well, if so, why should he know their opinion? He chose John Bolton national security adviser, primarily in order to stir up this anthill, to make American policy extremely brutal, ready to cut those knots that are too long and difficult to untie.

In general, Trump, as the supreme leader of his country, has not yet passed the test of a real international crisis, which he did not create and in relation to which his will is not decisive. Well, there are two years left until the end of his presidential term - we'll see if his geopolitical luck continues.

Economy

“There has never been such strong economic growth in US history,” Donald Trump told reporters last year. And this is not far from the truth. He clearly has something to brag about for two years in the White House.

America's current unemployment rate is close to unprecedented since the landing of a man on the moon. It is noted that a large number of the economically active population left "by the sidelines of life" and began to look for work. There is a reason for this: in two years under Trump, there was more than 5 million jobs were created.

Yes, of course, the claim that presidents “create” jobs is rather dubious. But it is even more doubtful to believe that their course has nothing to do with this - the fact remains. However, the current economic growth in America began under Barack Obama. That, however, does not negate the success of Trump himself, expressing his intentions to become "the greatest job creator that God has ever spawned."

In this he has something to strive for, since he is not a record holder for this indicator. At the moment, the record is held here Bill clinton, which created 23 million jobs in two terms. Barack Obama , who was elected in the wake of the worst recession in the memory of the living generation, created 10 million jobs in two terms and is in second place. Nevertheless, it is too early to draw conclusions here - the start in this matter is still promising. Although, this is a big danger - after 99 months of growth in the number of jobs in the country, the probability of a significant recession is very high.

In some ways, however, Trump already has a fundamental advantage over Obama: under him, wage growth has finally begun to gain momentum - and this is happening after years of stagnation.

In other areas, Trump's economic performance has been mixed.

To date, his biggest economic policy achievement is considered to be a new $ 1.5 trillion tax cut from November 2017. This move is perceived as extremely controversial and has critics of both left and right views. In particular, the most criticized is the reduction of the corporate tax from 35% to 20%, which was probably one of the reasons for the victory of the Democrats in the midterm elections in November.

And, of course, speaking about Trump's economic policy, it is impossible not to mention its most obvious sign - trade wars ... Trump, in fact, canceled out decades of long-standing trade agreement system and pitted America against its biggest trading partners. The consequences of the turmoil he sowed are still being evaluated, but the obvious ones are dramatic sell-offs in stock markets and, possibly, a slowdown in the Chinese economy. That, in particular, affected the corporation "Apple", which issued the first warning since 2002 to investors about a decrease in profit forecast, citing the state of affairs in China. Well, this is probably not the last warning.

The indisputable fact is that Trump's economic populism helped him become president. Whether he succeeds in running for a second term will most likely depend on whether he can keep the promises he made when running for the first. So far, his steps in this direction can be considered successful. How productive they will be in the end - time will tell very soon.

Judicial scope

In the American picture of the world, this area is one of the key ones, and understanding what is happening there, in describing America, is no less important than the economy and foreign policy. And what is happening in the US judicial sphere now could be safely called "Operation Patriarchy". Yes, old white males are not the dominant demographic in the United States, but the 72-year-old president and 76-year-old Senate leader Mitch McConnell do their best to ensure their superiority in American courts.

Over the past two years, they have diligently staffed the high courts of the United States with those who belong to this particular group of the population - white men of conservative views, whose lifelong status anchors the appointment data tightly.

Of course, for any party in power such a line of behavior is a common thing, and not only in America. Here, oddly enough, Turkey is very similar to it, where the attitude towards the judiciary is no less reverent. True, this is expressed a little differently: after the recent coup attempt, mass purges there took place not only in the army, but also among the judges - a fifth of them were replaced. However, returning to American affairs, we can say that in this case it is part of Mitch McConnell's long-term strategy. At one time, he blocked dozens of Obama's candidates for the US federal courts, refusing to vote in the Senate, joining the game to drive a Republican to the presidency in 2016. For example, after the death of a Supreme Court judge in 2016 Antonina ScaliaMcConnell used his control of the Senate to keep the seat vacant for 293 days by blocking Obama's nomination Merrick Garland... For which, subsequently, the Democrats took revenge on Trump himself. What is happening now is a logical continuation of this strategy.

For white evangelical Christians in America's Bible Belt, the vacant Supreme Court seat was the most compelling reason to vote for Trump, a three-time alleged serial adulterer who bragged about his sexual exploits and was clearly not their dream candidate for religious conservatives. And Trump did not disappoint their expectations by nominating a conservative Neil Gorsach.

Already in 2018, another candidate was appointed to the Supreme Court - Brett Cavanaugh, which had a rather scandalous character in American society. Allegations of sexual harassment were brought against him, which he denied. As a result, despite the protests of opponents, this appointment was nevertheless carried out in an almost compulsory manner.

As a result, Trump and McConnell formed a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, which could now last for decades, which, in the long term, gives them hope for very significant anti-liberal transformations. For example, to cancel the well-known so-called. Roy v. Wade, 1973, which established the right to abortion.

Equally fast, McConnell and Trump are moving towards a "shift to the right" in appeals and district courts.

Over the past two years, up to 85 judges have been appointed by Trump: 2 to the Supreme Court, 30 to US courts of appeal and 53 to district courts. This is much faster and more effective than Obama, whose eight-year record has been 2 Supreme Court justices, 55 appellate judges and 268 circuit judges.

Moreover, Trump currently has 70 more candidates in the "operational reserve", which can be approved by a simple majority in the Senate, where Republicans have a 53/47 seat advantage. And also dominated by white men of a respectable age.

House of Representatives, newly controlled by Democrats under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi , of course, can block republican legislative initiatives. But against Trump's determination to appoint and appoint conservative judges, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are powerless.

Ecology

Trump’s attitude toward the environment is perhaps most dramatically characterized by the fact that he canceled Obama’s plan to fight global warming, calling it warming itself falsification, as well as the corruption scandal around Scott Pruitt, now the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

But it is, rather, what on the surface reflects only a small part of the processes going on much more quietly and everyday. For example, during the sleepy and relaxed period between Christmas and New Years, the EPA decided that regulations that limit emissions were too onerous for coal mines and should be eliminated as they are.

This list of rules is the latest in a list of about eighty environmental regulations that have either already been repealed or are slated for repeal by the Trump administration. It also dismantles Obama's fundamental policies and reverses all of his actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector, the planned ban on pesticides, and significantly relaxes the environmental standards of vehicle fuel systems.

As for the latter, here the new vehicle environmental regulation regime is entering a fierce battle with the state of California, which has much stricter pollution control regulations in this area than federal standards. It is difficult to predict what the outcome of this confrontation will be.

Emigrants

Here Donald Trump immediately took a very serious start. In the first half of 2018, Trump legalized the forcible separation of migrant children from their families, often provoking very dramatic scenes in border courtrooms and within the walls of local temporary detention centers, where mothers and fathers asked to return their children. In fact, already since 2017, thousands of expatriate families across America have gone through this procedure. It is in this context that very significant bipartisan pressure was exerted on Donald Trump. Trump's daughter and his closest adviser Ivanka described this moment as critical for her father's administration, which formally abandoned this policy in June 2018. However, the radical agenda on the issue of emigrants has not been replaced and continues to be implemented in other ways.

This applies not only to the natives of Mexico. For example, Trump imposed a ban on travel to America from a number of Muslim countries, including visits to relatives already living in the United States.

The newly empowered immigration authorities continue to increase the number of arrests and deportations. Currently a record 44,000 people held in an "immigration report" because the immigration courts simply cannot cope with the influx of new cases. The new deportation rule also includes those who have already lived in America for decades, got a family and completely settled their lives in a new place.

At the same time, the Trump administration has reduced quotas for admitting refugees to the country to a record low - 30,000 people a year... The quotas for the issuance of "green cards" were also reduced, the lottery for the issuance of which was proposed to be canceled altogether. In addition, Donald Trump announced that he intends to stop the practice of obtaining American citizenship by illegal children born in the United States.

The real "cherry on the cake" in this matter is the decision to build a concrete wall on the border with Mexico, which President Trump intends to finance Mexico itself.

In general, the vector of his administration's policy on the emigration issue is formulated very clearly, clearly motivated and is unlikely to change under any pressure.

"Make America Great Again"

Let's Make America Great Again. The slogan under which Donald Trump was elected president. And the promise he made to those who chose him. Will he fulfill what he promised? It is difficult to say so far: two years is too short a time to state anything reliably. But one thing is clear - he strives for this... And at least he wants to make America great again. At least in the sense that he himself puts it. How good it is for Russia - time will tell. As well as how good it will be for America itself.

Donald Trump is a highly controversial person and a highly controversial president. His decisions are controversial and in America itself evoke a whole spectrum of emotions, from enthusiasm to violent indignation. The intensity of criticism against him is very high and does not subside. The policy that he is pursuing is not supported extremely radically by a part of American society. But the voters of Donald Trump himself belong to another part of this society. His policies are supported by those who voted for him. And who, without any doubt, will vote for him again, if what he has already undertaken will be completed to the end. He knows it. Consequently, the policy he pursued in the past two years will not change in the next. And everything described above there will be a logical continuation... And the opposition within America will also be very serious. This is already quite predictable.

DUSHANBE, 22 Jan - Sputnik. On Sunday, two years have passed since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, writes RIA Novosti.

In the middle of his four-year term, Trump is at war on all fronts - with the elite of American society and opposition Democrats, with allies and potential enemies in the world.

Coming to power, Trump promised to cut taxes and achieve rapid economic growth, "get along" with all countries of the world, defeat terrorists in Syria and the entire Middle East, fundamentally revise US trade agreements and withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, and, finally, build the full-length wall of the US-Mexico border.

Even the most ardent supporters are unlikely to agree with Trump's claim that he is the most successful president in American history.

At the same time, he has accumulated a lot of fulfilled promises. True, mainly due to the fact that in the first two years, both houses of Congress were controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans.

However, there were also painful failures.

Trump meets the middle of the presidency amid sharp attacks, record-breaking confrontation with Congress over the budget and endless "Russian investigation" by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, which has literally flooded the American agenda of recent years and does not allow to talk about any other successes and failures.

The incumbent president also did not improve the situation with rising prices for medicine, which worries Americans more than Russia, North Korea, Mueller and the elections combined.

And, of course, he didn't build a wall on the border. But Trump also has a reason to be proud - the economy.

Rise and clouds on the horizon

Trump went to the polls as a business candidate.

He got Congress to cut income taxes sharply. And although this did not help return trillions of dollars in profits of American corporations from abroad, the business climate did improve, and in the II-III quarters of 2018, economic growth at times exceeded 4% per annum.

Unemployment has been at its lowest in recent decades. Ordinary Americans did not receive such benefits as business, but they also began to pay less taxes, and this supported consumer demand.

At the same time, Trump did not extend the powers of Fed Chairman Janet Yellen and immediately began to conflict with his own nominee for this post, Jerome Powell.

Trump has reasonably argued that the policy of gradually raising the discount rate is bringing down stock indices and hurting growth in general.

True, Trump himself had a hand in the sharp downturn of the stock exchange in December 2018, de facto organizing a budget crisis over financing border security.

It should be noted that the future for the United States is not cloudless: there has been no decline in GDP for 10 years, since the "great recession", and the cyclical nature of the economy says that sooner or later this will happen.

And Trump is not only the solution to the problem, but also part of it.

However, the president's influence on the economy should not be exaggerated: the cyclical nature of economic development is still stronger than Trump, and the colossal US private sector leaves a relatively compact, albeit rich, government far behind.

Taking advantage of his reputation as an unpredictable politician, Trump has been successful in pushing for concessions.

In particular, he de facto renegotiated the world's largest trade agreement with Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) on slightly more favorable terms. For now, the US is winning the "war of duties" with China - Chinese manufacturers suffer more than US consumers, although the end of trade negotiations is still a long way off.

And again, Trump is part of the problem here: no one can rule out that the "tariff war" will finally slow down the Chinese economy so much that it will already affect the United States.

Trump has pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership concluded by previous US President Barack Obama, and analysts disagree on whether the move is beneficial to Washington or not.

The short-term benefits of energy, especially coal, will come from the Trump-approved US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, but the long-term consequences of global warming threaten the US just as much.

Isolationist at war

Trump is a political dinosaur of sorts, championing the seemingly extinct ideas of American isolationism.

After the collapse of the USSR, the American political elite was convinced that the United States no longer had and should not have a global rival in the future, that America was called to world domination and would always receive great dividends from it.

Thus, in the minds of the American establishment, the United States is the natural arbiter of all disputes, and as a result, it must be able to resolve any conflict by force.

This reality has "broken" more than one president.

Barack Obama came on promises to leave Iraq and Afghanistan, but he did not make any progress in this - on the contrary, an attempt to withdraw troops from Iraq turned into an instant expansion of the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS, or IS - banned in Russia), so the United States began to put together coalition to fight IS and sent their troops to the powder keg of Syria.

Trump bickered tirelessly with General Advisers James Mattis, Herbert McMaster and John Kelly, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The advisers tried to convince them that it was necessary to "finish what we started" and not abandon our allies.

From Trump's point of view, this only led to endless wars with no hope of victory and to trillions in costs.

According to leaks in books and the press, Trump sought to leave Afghanistan at any cost, including at the cost of a big lie - to declare victory and leave, and then whatever happens, the main thing is that the Americans will not die.

It is for this, according to journalist Michael Wolfe, that Tillerson called the chief "an idiot."

By the middle of his term, Trump's patience snapped, and he, bypassing his advisers, announced the withdrawal of troops from Syria. Of the four mentioned advisers, only the head of the Pentagon, Mattis, had not yet resigned by that time, who immediately left his post after Trump's statement.

Congress is outraged that Trump is leaving Syria and wants to reduce forces in Afghanistan. But this is almost the only area where Congress cannot influence Trump - foreign policy and war are de facto the prerogative of the president.

However, under Trump, the United States actually began to dismantle the entire system of strategic stability: the issue of withdrawing from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles under the pretext of Russia's failure to comply has been practically resolved (Moscow denies this).

Trump is also confident that the START-3 Strategic Missiles Treaty is not beneficial to the United States. He is not averse to increasing America's nuclear arsenal at times - and here even Obama pales when he has proposed spending more than a trillion dollars on re-equipping nuclear forces.

The new Pentagon report even mentions a system for intercepting missiles with lasers in space - how not to recall the "Strategic Defense Initiative" system, conceived under Ronald Reagan.

So Trump is not going to abandon the idea of \u200b\u200bAmerican dominance and exclusivity - he simply does not want to shed the blood of American soldiers abroad.

Unpredictable?

Trump has brushed aside all standards of "presidential behavior", especially in contrast to the cold and important style of his predecessor Obama.

He deliberately broke down the barriers of the acceptable and shocked the public, and sometimes caused a strong fear in people, up to and including the fear of nuclear war.

So, when the leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-un spoke about his nuclear button, Trump immediately announced that he had a much larger button, and promised North Korea "fire and rage", which horrified not only many people around the world , but also their own generals.

Aside from the nuclear button, the Twitter submit button has become Trump's worst weapon. He arranged long series of complaints and threats, similar to tantrums, insulted opponents and even allies. Everyone got it - Democrats, Republicans, numerous journalists and media, whom Trump dubbed "enemies of the people" and "opposition party", NATO allies.

The image of an unpredictable man at the head of the most powerful power in the world has played a good role for Trump.

He did get a lot of concessions from abroad.

The DPRK leader eventually froze nuclear and missile tests, for which he was rewarded by the summit and Trump and numerous compliments.

China has entered into substantive negotiations on duties. Mexico and Canada eventually agreed to a new free trade zone treaty.

Trump on Twitter not only makes world history, but also settles scores with numerous opponents, scolding them and inventing offensive nicknames.

Any famous person who scolds the American president will get his back immediately.

Trump scolded the "highly overrated" Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro (hit him too much on the head on set), Alec Baldwin, who plays Trump in the comedy show.

The president even gossiped about plastic surgery with journalists who spoke unflatteringly about him.

"Witch hunt" and political paralysis

For two years, Trump has been hanging the sword of Damocles in the investigation of Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor appointed by the US Department of Justice after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.

Mueller is investigating allegations of Russian interference in the elections (which Moscow denies) and Trump's "collusion" with Russia, which are denied not only in the Kremlin, but also in the White House.

Society and the media are literally engrossed in this investigation, despite the fact that Mueller has not yet announced any direct ties between Trump and Moscow. However, the media creates the impression that there is no smoke without fire, and they are completing Mueller's accusations in order to somehow connect Trump and the Kremlin.

Müller accused a group of Russian citizens, presumably from the special services, of interfering in the elections, adding to them a number of other individuals and companies. In parallel, he secured the conviction of ex-Trump chief of staff Paul Manafort for financial violations.

A whole group of other ex-Trump aides fell for the most widely interpreted concept of "perjury," although they might not have been charged with other charges.

In parallel to the Mueller investigation, ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was convicted of financial irregularities in paying money for silence to women who declared past close relationships with Trump.

Many Democrats hope to impeach Trump, although no charges have been brought against him. Trump is fiercely defensive and calls the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt."

In November 2018, Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. A month later, even before the new congress was called, a budget crisis erupted.

Trump, who promised to build a wall on the border with Mexico, is demanding $ 5.7 billion for this and refuses to sign the budget without this money. The Democrats flatly refuse to allocate these funds.

As a result, a quarter of federal institutions have been closed for almost a month, and 800 thousand civil servants are not getting paid.

The situation is reminiscent of political paralysis, and the parties have already come to the steps that Senator Lindsay Graham aptly dubbed sophomore antics.

New Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Trump that she would not invite him to Congress for an annual speech while the budget crisis continues.

Trump responded by waiting for Pelosi's visit abroad and literally at the last moment banned her from using the government plane for the trip, also referring to the "shutdown".

But Trump and Pelosi have two more years to live in such a power-sharing situation, so no one knows what they will do in the future.

Division in society

Trump did not invent the politicization and polarization of the elites, society and the media in the United States.

It is convenient to blame the incumbent US president and the "Russians" for everything, as many in America do - especially those who are horrified by Trump's actions.

But do not forget that many Republicans were in constant horror during the Obama years - it was just less noticeable, since the vast majority of the media support the Democrats. With Trump, polarization and animosity has peaked, and many Americans literally don't hear and don't want to hear each other.

Trump is often and for the most part rightly denounced for making statements that are actually false, incorrect and speculative. His advisor, Kellyanne Conway, coined the infamous expression "alternative facts." But in fact, there are no facts left at all, with which all political opponents would agree.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a possible rival of Trump in the 2020 elections, decided to prove that it was not for nothing that she declared her Indian origin (for which she was awarded numerous benefits in her career and the nickname "Pocahontas" from Trump).

She found in her DNA one Indian ancestor in the sixth to tenth generation (one thousandth of Indian blood).

Trump and his supporters said that Warren fell for a lie - she has less DNA from the Indians than the majority of the US population.

But the media supporting the Democrats wrote exclusively that Warren "proved the connection with the Indian heritage" and thereby refuted all of Trump's insinuations.

The opinion of experts is also divided. For example, former Pennsylvania Senator and Trump supporter Bruce Marks considers Mueller's accusation of 12 Russians a "political PR trick" and does not believe in any kind of collusion between Trump and Russia.

But Roy Myers, a political science professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, doesn't just believe in Mueller's investigation - he even said that he thinks it possible that Trump staged a "shutdown" in order to divert attention from the results of Mueller's investigation, which are even on the horizon. not yet visible.

David Lublin, professor at the American University in Washington and public administration specialist, emphasizes that divisions in society are very high and only growing.

"I think the division will remain at a very high level, and it will probably get even bigger," he said.