THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP:

In my Editorial, Part 2 - The Donald's Address, dated January 24, 2017, I briefly touched on The Donald fulfilling one of his campaign promises and withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

This action appears to signal a new international direction for the United States that could impact the Chinese and Asian trade markets. The Donald's reason for rejecting American participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was quite understandable. He felt the pact was detrimental to American businesses and would not be a boost for American workers. The bottom line: it is about time the US starts looking out for the best interests of its own.

Signing the Executive Order withdrawing the United States from the TPP was mostly a symbolic gesture because Barack Obama never forwarded the accord to Congress for ratification. So, in reality, this was an example of The Donald having to clean up another one of Obama's worthless messes.

Several years were wasted by the Obama administration negotiating the TPP involving eleven Pacific Rim countries in the first place, and the Washington consensus on the deal soured over time.

MEXICO CITY POLICY:

In addition to eliminating the TPP, The Donald signed a memorandum that froze federal governmental hiring, except for the military. He also reinstated a ban on the Mexico City Policy that has been batted around since 1984.

This is the most significant US policy initiative on abortion in the area of foreign assistance. The Mexico City Policy requires "non-governmental organizations receiving US aid to refrain from performing or promoting abortion as a method of family planning in developing nations."

If these organizations can not follow the requirements, then why should they receive American aid? Go ahead and apply for a loan for a new home, but don't submit all the required information. Do you think you should still recieve the loan? The same general principle applies here.

Specifically, what The Donald did was to reinstate a ban on federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on them, thus fulfilling another one of his campaign promises. Historically, Republican Presidents reinstate this ban and Democratic Presidents provide this money to these organizations.

IMMIGRATION:

When addressed about immigration at the start of Trump's first full week as President, Sean Spicer, The Donald's Spokesman, said, "Trump intended to follow through on his proposals," and that "he would not move quickly, or perhaps at all, to reinstate deportations {for a certain group of young illegal immigrants protected under the Obama administration known as Dreamers}."

Spicer also stated, "Trump's focus would be on people in the US illegally who have criminal records or who pose a threat to the country. That's where the priority's going to be, and then we're going to continue to work through the entire number of folks that are here illegally."

In my opinion, exactly what The Donald needs to do is clean up the riff-raff hanging out illegally in the United States and send them back to whence they came. Let them be a problem for their own native lands. Those kinds of issues are not needed here in America.

NOTES:

Perhaps a real good step in the right direction is that The Donald shows a penchant for consulting with numerous people before making decisions. Is this a good step in the process or should he go the course alone?

I will write a follow-up on the illegal immigrants known as the Dreamers. That's another whole can of worms all by itself. Be looking for that Editorial.