Tuesday, February 4, 2025

President Trump Hits the Ground Running

No sooner than Donald J. Trump had been inaugurated as 
president for a second time he had hit the ground running,
working at a frenetic pace to get done what he wants to get
done --- and has he ever gotten a lot done!

In shoring up the security of our borders with Mexico and 
Canada he has gained the cooperation of Mexico's president,
Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada's Prime Minister Justin 
Trudeau in working to make the borders stronger in the face
of increasing hordes of people having walked up from Mexico 
and Central America to enter the U.S., some seeking asylum, 
some seeking residence with an eye to citizenship, yet going 
about it illegally. President Trump gained their cooperation 
by promising to impose a 25% tariff on imported goods from
their respective countries if they didn't take their own measures 
in tightening security at the borders, and right away President 
Sheinbaum announced she would deploy 10,000 troops to the
U.S. border with Mexico to fight drug trafficking, fentanyl in
particular. The two heads of state, it is reported, will continue 
to negotiating on "security and trade" while President Trump 
stated that he would pause his tariffs for a month. P.M Trudeau
pledged to station more law enforcement at the U.S.- Canadian
border, for his part.

On immigration, President Sheinbaum basically agreed to play 
ball on restoring the Remain in Mexico policy for immigrants 
who reach the U.S. - Mexican border. Meanwhile, illegal border
crossings have been dropping like a stone in a pond in response 
to President Trump having sent a signal that illegal immigrants
won't be allowed to remain in the United States. 

This is but one of the many things President Trump has achieved 
since his very recent return to the White House. In the weeks to 
come we shall be poring over the executive orders and other 
measures by President Trump bringing reform and renewal to
many aspects of American governance and the U.S. economy.
It must be noted though that this is the biggest economic risk 
of our once and again president's second term thus far. 
He has to play his Mexico and Canada cards with skill and 
care, rather than as a riverboat gambler with more finesse than
bravado. But so far, so good.

However, although President Trump likes tariffs, he also wants 
a weaker U.S. dollar in order to promote U.S. exports. These 
two desires are in conflict with one another. A stronger dollar
is a consequence of the tariffs, everything else notwithstanding.
Reducing American purchases of foreign goods reduces demand
for the currencies of those currencies as fewer dollars are 
converted into the other countries' home money. The dollar is
bound to gain in value amid increasing demand for said dollars.
Result? Cross-purposes with Trump's desire for a weaker dollar.
He would be forced to choose one or the other in his trade activity.

Some of his economic advisors are in disagreement with the president
while the others are of one mind with Trump on all this. Although a 
stronger dollar will help tamp down the inflationary effect of higher 
import prices, an overvalued U.S. dollar is the main cause of the 
United States' trade deficit with the rest of the world. Your mindful
Peasant for one, while seeing that sometimes tariffs can be helpful,
they should not be the first shots fired in international disagreements.
That being said, at least our once and again president has already 
has already taken care of something that his predecessor had ignored
to our peril. he strengthened border security with cooperation 
the two countries with which we share our each of our two borders.
And that is nothing to sneeze at. 


MEM

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