There is now a question if Donald Trump will repudiate all of his campaign pledges. He is ripping them up at a very fast pace. Then will Trump start restoring these pledges, as former supporters start to rebel, or circumstances arise that he finds conducive to going back to them? We are not yet into the Trump presidency and already the following pledges have been abandoned.
1.) Waterboarding
According to CNN, Foreign Affairs Intelligence Committee chair Mich Rogers (R-Mich.) has said that Trump's waterboarding remarks were just "campaign talk." Yesterday, Trump told the New York Times that he has changed his mind on waterboarding. What changed his mind? The retired general that he might appoint to be defense secretary told him that you can get better information by building trust -- he said he could do it with "a cigarette and a couple of beers." Trump could have gotten this point of view long ago by talking to any of the top attorneys in the armed services, who vigorously opposed the torture regime under George W. Bush, even at the risk of ending their careers. Or Trump could have talked to Senator McCain.
2.) Mexico Paying for the Wall
Newt Gingrich has said that Trump "may not spend very much time to get Mexico to pay for it [the Wall] but it was a "great campaign device."
3.) The Iran Nuclear Deal
Mike Pence said in the campaign, along with Trump himself, that Trump will "rip up the Iran deal." But Trump adviser Walid Phares told the BBC on or about November 11, 2016: "He will take the agreement, review it, send it to Congress, demand that Iranians to restore (sic) [a] few issues or change [a] few issues."
4.) A Special Prosecutor for Hillary
When asked post-election on appointing a special prosecutor for Hillary Clinton for alleged wrongdoing, Trump responded: "It's something I haven't given a lot of thought, because I want to solve health care, jobs, border control, tax reform." Yesterday, Trump confirmed that Hillary has been through a lot and he didn't want to divide the country. Kellyanne Conway said that Hillary "needed time to heal." Heal from what? Her evil? Her loss of the election?
It is hard to erase that iconic image of Trump leaving his podium in the presidential debate, hovering over a seated Hillary and telling her that if he is elected president he will quickly appoint a special prosecutor to look into her possible criminal behavior.
5.) Entitlement Programs
Donald Trump has promised not to touch entitlement programs; however, when Rep. Paul Ryan said post-election that he would consider cutting Medicare, turning it into a "premium support" model, which would involve doling out federal private insurance, rather than the current single-payer model, Trump has remained silent.
6.) 45% Tax on China
In January 2016, Donald Trump told the New York Times that he would slap a 45% tax on China if it devalued the Chinese yuan -- Trump had made the same promise on several other occasions. Trump's senior policy adviser, Wilbur Ross, has denied, post-election, that Trump had ever made such a claim. Ross said that Trump would "threaten" China with a 45% tariff if it devalued the yuan by 45%. This is a distinction without a difference.
7.) The Wall
Donald Trump originally proposed to build a 2,000 -mile wall between the United States and Mexico. In the October 30, 2015 GOP debate, Trump sprang a big surprise by saying that the wall needed to be only 1,000 miles long. The only explanation that Trump gave for cutting the wall in half was that the natural terrain eliminated the need for a longer wall. It is obvious that Donald Trump didn't arrange for an aerial or ground survey to check the natural terrain.
The only description of any specificity that Trump has made for the type of wall construction is that it would be made of concrete and reinforced steel -- called rebar for short. The Trump camp has revealed post-election that some undetermined length of the wall will be made of fencing. A structural engineer consulted by the media company, Univision, has said that a fenced wall can easily be breached.
Univision's structural engineer has ruled out all other types of wall construction, except for concrete. Because concrete poured on site in a hot, dry climate tends to have adverse chemical reactions, he recommends precast concrete as the best choice. He told Univision that a wall 1,954 miles long, five feet underground and twenty feet high would use three times the concrete needed to build the Hoover Dam. Thus, Trump's 1,000-mile wall would use one and a half times the concrete. Two and one-half billion pounds of rebar wold also be needed.
The Washington Post has listed 76 promises that Trump made in the presidential campaign. Breaking 76 promises is a big order but Donald Trump is off to a strong start.
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