Trump's promises and challenges

People take part in the Women's March in New York City to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, the United States on Jan. 21, 2017. At least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The day has come when Donald Trump grabs the reins of government. At the ripe age of 70, the 45th president of the Unites States is the oldest person to assume the top office of the sole super power of the world. But he showed through the excruciating primaries and presidential campaign that age has failed to wilt his spirit or stamina.

Apart from his age, Mr. Trump is also one of the most controversial presidents in the history of his country. Some of the things he has said during the campaign or promised to accomplish at the earliest, set the alarm bells ringing. It will be interesting to see what he does in the first week and first 100 days.

Starting from January 20, the 100 day period will be completed on April 29. Since President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office, the symbolic 100 days are used to gauge the performance of a new president.

There are issues both in domestic and foreign policy domains where Mr. Trump will be watched and judged by his critics and supporters. For the outside world, his handling of foreign policy and security matters like the Afghan war, the Iraq/Syrian crises etc. are of huge importance.

The Afghan war has become a long exhausting engagement as still thousands of troops are in the war-torn country to provide training, security and sustenance to the Kabul government. He may be tempted to pull back the soldiers but it would be an undoing of years of work by America and its allies for the stability of Afghanistan.

The Middle East is more complex and despite President Obama's decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq, the U.S. has maintained soldiers there and is also deeply involved in the conflict against the so-called Islamic State. The situation is brittle as Washington has failed in its objective to bring regime change in Syria where Russia is the master of the situation. Mr. Trump may use his links with Mr. Putin to improve the situation but it is easier said than done.

A key foreign policy issue for the new president will be his handling of relations with China. His flip-flop attitude towards the "one China policy" is a major source of concern. The new president pushed by his sheer business instincts might try to use the "one China policy" to extract trade concessions but it could easily backfire.

Another test for Mr. Trump will be relations with Russia. The history of ties and hacking allegedly by the Russians to influence U.S. elections are already impacting the situation. Mr. Trump will have to tame the hardline U.S. establishment before yielding even an inch to Moscow on the key issues. The expectations are high in the Putin camp but the issues are deeper than aspirations.

Other foreign policy matters like an announcement to shift the U.S. embassy to east Jerusalem might create chaos, and already leaders such as the French President Hollande have warned against it.

Similarly, trade related matters will be important to watch in the early days of Trump's presidency. During the election, he called for a re-negotiation of free trade agreements, including NAFTA, among the United States, Canada, and Mexico that entered into force in 1994.

He also promised that among the first steps at the White House would be to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement among several nations that border the Pacific Ocean.

Any unilateral step to roll back the multilateral trade agreements or jingoistic measures like building a security wall on the border with Mexico will ignite strong reactions and heavily dent the standing of the United States.

Apart from the foreign policy areas, Trump will be under the spotlight for some of the provocative promises related to domestic issues. For example, during elections, he repeatedly attacked Obamacare, but a decision to do away with them without an alternative would draw flak.

Also, during the campaign trail, he wanted to expel nearly 11 million illegal immigrants. But it is one of the areas where none of his predecessors could interfere in. There are chances that he would be advised to avoid such a provocative step.

Mr. Trump needs to take immediate measures to restore pride and confidence in the economy instead of stoking controversies. Being a successful businessman is a huge advantage for the president, who should use his experience and acumen to expedite growth and create employment opportunities.

There is a sense of relief that Trump has already modified some of his stances like showing his preference for having some kind of fence with the Mexicans instead of a real wall as well as his intention to retain some parts of Obamacare.

He should also be more careful to deal with issues like global warming as during the campaign, he expressed skepticism about the very existence of this issue. He should have been tutored by now that global warming is a matter of life and death for all of us and the key Paris Agreement should be respected and implemented for the sake of the future of mankind.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

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