Inauguration Day put the final seal on the 2016 presidential campaign and Donald Trump is officially the 45th President of the United States. The public can now begin to see what part of the election campaign was pure rhetoric and how much was made up of concrete proposals that will become part of American History.
From salesman to President
#Donald Trump used his past as a businessman to run an unorthodox campaign for office. While Hillary Clinton made her previous public offices as the hallmark of her own campaign and the differences between the two candidates were seen immediately.
Donald Trump officially entered the White House without the confirmation of his major nominees such as Rex W. Tillerson for the Secretary of State. In addition, only 60 odd positions were named for the nearly 300 administration posts which meant that some of Obama’s staff were asked to stay on to help with the transition.
Other aspects of Trump’s campaign also continued during the two months since the November 8th election. The first was his tendency to fire off tweets on any occasion. While this may endear him to some, this only highlighted the performance of the Secretarial nominees which contradicted the declarations made by the President during and after campaign and revealed that the new Administration’s political agenda is not set in stone.
The Oath of Office
As a businessman Donald Trump was answerable only to himself, but from the moment he took the Oath of Office President Donald Trump emerged and like any elected official he is now answerable to the public. The businessman Trump, like all businessmen, tried to work around regulations, but President Donald Trump represents the regulations and therefore must act within the spirit and the word of the Constitution and American Law.
It is a reality with which he must come to terms as soon as possible.
The news that lawyers for 'Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics' in Washington will today present documentation to the Supreme Court about infringements of the Emolument Clauses of the Constitution will be the first of what seems likely to be a series of battles regarding his conflicts of interest.
These queries were not addressed fully in his only Press Conference and also met the disapproval of former officials such as Walter Schaub Jr., the Outgoing Director of the Office of Government Ethics.
Donald Trump can no longer simply say that the solutions will come in time. These questions must be addressed quickly as they will affect the perception of the President who did not win the popular vote. Worse still, beginning running battles with the Press as he did on the weekend over crowd numbers Friday afternoon does nothing to resolve these situations.
Where to now Republican party?
Standing at the sidelines will be the Republican Party which will now bear the brunt of any controversy surrounding the new President.
The Party held majorities over recent years and used these to limit President Obama’s political agenda. Now the GOP must decide whether it will remain faithful to its past activities, or back the new President in every controversy and decision. Some politicians such as #John McCain and Mark Rubio have publicly stated that they believe that the newly installed President is unsuitable for Office and this Republican Opposition may well become the major hurdle for the new Administration.
As of last Friday afternoon the time for vague rhetoric and promises of solutions is officially over. The lack of a solid, political agenda will almost certainly mean that policies will continue to be made on the run with little or no consultation by Donald Trump with his advisors, or even his own Party.
Inevitably this will clash with the requirements of Constitution and Law which govern the powers of the President. This will be a severe test of the checks and balances contained the America’s system of government and will without doubt provide an even more insidious test for the Republican Party.
