Back in 2016, a businessman named Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States. When Trump was running for President, with no political experience, he promised a lot of things. He promised to guarantee healthcare for everyone. He promised to end the endless war. He promised to increase wages for families. He promised to eliminate the federal debt.

However, since he was inaugurated, he has tried to throw 32 million people off of their healthcare. In fact, Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina said if the Republicans control Congress and Trump wins reelection, they will repeal Obamacare.

Trump is trying start a war with other countries–despite the fact that the United States has been in Afghanistan for over 18 years, spending over 2 trillion dollars, and the U.S. is still in Iraq for the last 16 years, spending over 7 trillion dollars. A country that might be next on the list is Venezuela.

The United States is regularly using sanctions, for instance with Iran, that is blocking food from entering the country, starving citizens. Sanctions are also being used to block medicine from entering the country. Instead of helping families, families are being hurt.

In December of 2017, President Trump signed legislation that gave a tax break to those people who were making $75,000 or more each year. Rich and wealthy corporations saw the most benefits, while everyone else, making less than $75,000, had their taxes raised.

America’s first fascist President?

People have been asking themselves, is President Trump a fascist? Trump denies this and does not show outward signs of being fascist, but his ideas might prove that he is one:

Internet censorship. Trump doesn’t like it when the media criticizes him, even when he’s wrong all the time. He calls it “fake news” or “corruption” and wants censorship. According to leaked draft, Donald wants to use an executive order to censor the internet. Denounced as dangerous and unconstitutional, if this were to happen, it would be a violation of the first amendment of freedom of speech. When Trump found out, he said that was “fake news”, allowing him the power to do whatever he wants. The constitution says what powers can a president can do.

Total control. In the president’s mind, he can a lot of power saying “Article 2 of the constitution allows me to do whatever I want”. Article 2 is the executive branch and its role in the U.S. government. The president’s job is mainly to sign laws, veto laws, pardon people, appoint federal judges, rerun as an incumbent for his/her second term. It’s most likely, though, that President Trump doesn’t understand the constitution or has never read it to understand that difference.

Nationalism. The president wants every American citizen to think our country is better, especially for having the freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Not only that, but for a booming economy and low unemployment. He takes a step further by making everyone think the United States is first in everything. He hates the country for disrespecting the U.S. and threatening the people. Listen to what he has to say or give him credit for an accomplishment. Follow any of his interests and be a part of Trump, he insinuates.

BCCHS history teacher Mr. Komen gave his thoughts about Trump: “Trump is fulfilling some of his promises. The economy is booming. Wage growth increased by 2%. He’s not the worst, but not the best president. He’s dividing everyone. He reflects the values of a racist, xenophobe, sexist, and a religious bigot. All the media has bias, but Trump utilizes the media. He has violated American law and should be impeached and removed from office. Trump believes he can change the Constitution and Americans will be impacted. Appointing judges that listen to him, civil rights and abortion rights are threatened. Society is not paying attention and taking a step backwards and I don’t know who is the best Democratic presidential candidate to defeat Trump.”

Another BCCHS history teacher, Mr. Fishler, also gave his opinion: “Trump is fulfilling some of his promises. Unemployment is low, but the economy is not booming. He is a racist, xenophobe, sexist, misogynist, and a religious bigot, reflecting white values and the wealthy. Labels anything he doesn’t like “fake news” or “bias”. My life was impacted since I had to pay more in taxes.”

The fact of the matter, ultimately, is that anything can happen in the future if Donald Trump is reelected. Whether or not Trump causes more harm to the country or realizes that he has done many awful things is anyone’s guess.