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Election season is once again upon the United States. The nation is diligently searching to select a new commander in chief to lead the country beginning next year. One of the dominant standouts in the GOP is Donald Trump. Trump is a well-known and successful social figure. He began his career path by working alongside his father’s construction office job for five years before entering the world of New York real estate. He would go on to become a prominent name in American and international wealth by creating a chain of powerhouse investments that placed him in an elite category of sports, real estate and entertainment ownership. He initially considered running for the nation’s highest office in 1987-1988 but failed to make any serious advancement until the election of 2000, where he received over 15,000 votes in California’s primary. He would ultimately conclude his campaign shortly after, but reignited his political flame in 2015 when he declared his campaign for the 2016 election. Trump is very much a figure of the public eye. He has hosted the highly rated reality show “The Apprentice” since 2004. The show promoted Trump’s business nature and helped cultivate the persona of “the Donald” to the world’s television screens. Another way in which Trump has become successful is through his social media platforming that he promotes and updates regularly. He currently boasts over six million followers on the social media platform Twitter and uses sites such as this to further his brand and public name. Trump believes in running an outspoken campaign, as he has been very vocal in expressing what matters most to him and the American people. Trump believes in the importance of speaking his mind and believes that because of this he has created quite a following of supporters. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” said Trump, speaking of his confidence in having the American people’s votes. The controversial statement gained widespread attention and illustrated his confidence in his pursuit of the nation’s highest office.Immigration
Trump has been a prominent supporter of immigration reform and U.S. border reform. He has been very verbal as to the belief that a nation with weakened borders carries the burden of becoming weaker as a whole. His view is built upon the understanding that too many immigrants are entering our nation from the U.S./Mexico border and we should thus build a wall between our country and theirs. Trump backs this argument for immigration policy change through the belief that many immigrants bring crime and poverty into this nation. He believes that the immigration screening process is failing this country. Subsequently, he is promoting that Mexico should be forced to build the wall between the two countries as proper retribution.Foreign Trade
Another big component to Trump’s political position is the U.S.'s trade negotiations with China. He believes that the addition of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been a disgraceful move that has only given China the chance to take advantage of American resources. Trump believes that trading with China has led to the breaking down of components in our country's infrastructure. He believes that it has caused more than 50,000 factories and millions of U.S. jobs to be erased. However, what Trump believes to be most important in regards to the cooperation with China lies within power itself. He believes that it should be America’s number one goal to bring an exceeding presence of power and leadership into the trade talks between the United States and China. This means making decisions that benefit the development of our country’s infrastructure over the desire to see China remain superior in negotiations. Trump also believes in creating jobs domestically instead of sending them overseas to offshore countries that he believes are stealing our country’s potential.Jobs
Trump’s campaign has also focused on reclaiming millions of American jobs. His position is centered on reviving American manufacturing through the destruction of Chinese export subsidies and lax labor. Trump stands for providing American workers jobs within the nation and refusing to allow Chinese sweatshops to claim American industry work.Tax Reform
Tax reform is another issue that Trump has been very outspoken about. He is promoting for less of a grasp to be held upon the middle class’ taxed incomes. Trump is fighting for all incomes less than $25,000 to be exempt from income taxes. His plan also includes reduced taxes for businesses across the board that would be reduced to no more than 15 percent.Second Amendment Rights
Trump favors loose governmental control in regards to America’s second amendment rights for its citizens to bear arms. He is pushing for reform in background checks that he believes to be inadequate and a failure in reporting things such as criminal activity and mental health. He also believes that gun/magazine bans are non-essential while concealed-carry laws should be recognized in all 50 states.ISIS/War on Terrorism
In regards to Trump’s position on the war on terrorism, he has been a strong supporter of engaging and attacking ISIS head on. “Under my oversight we would hit them so hard and so fast that they wouldn't know what happened," said Trump.Abortion
Trump is in support of the pro-life initiative in regards to abortion; however, he has yet to formally explain his exact views on the details at large with the heavily debated topic. "All I can tell you is this,” said Trump, “I'm pro-life and I've been pro-life a long time."Trump's Opponents
Despite Trump’s early success, many Americans have found themselves in a position of lacking trust in the GOP frontrunner. Trump has a tendency to speak his mind and be quite frank with his belief in certain situations, political or not. As good as this trait may seem, the words that come out of his mouth frequently tend to rub some individuals the wrong way. For example, Trump received a plethora of disapproval after speaking negatively about FOX News reporter Megyn Kelly. What started as a normal presidential debate escalated into a firestorm between the news reporter and GOP frontrunner that still continues to this day. During a debate that Kelly was moderating, she asked Trump of his response to accusations that he repeatedly has been insensitive to women. Trump instead turned his attention towards Kelly and stated his belief that Kelly was undermining his credibility. “I’ve been nice to you up to this point, but I could probably act differently based on the way you’ve been treating me,” stated Trump.He would go on to later say in an interview, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
Many Trump opponents claim that a potential U.S. president should not have a track record of speaking rather questionable comments such as these. Although Trump remains one of the clear favorites in the GOP race for the White House, he has recently seen a slight decline in support via American polls. According to a recent poll carried out by NBC News/Wall Street Journal, Trump finds himself in a tight second place spot where he trails Texas Senator Ted Cruz 28 percent to 26 percent. There still may be a small while before America swears in its next president, but even now it’s clear that Trump is making a memorable run for the next presidency.
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