Donald Trump Successes and Failures 

A. Successes

1. The Economy 

- Strong stock market 

- Strong currency 

- Strong employment of around 4% unemployment 

- Reduced inflation of just over 3% 

- Strong corporate profits 

2. Immigration 

Via ICE personnel: 

- Large-scale domestic deportation of unauthorised immigrants. 

- “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” provided US$170 billion dollars to the ICE project. It doubled the active personnel to more than 22 thousand agents to work in this field from 2025 to 2028. 

B. Failures 

Local 

1. The imposition of tariffs on goods imported into the USA (from countries around the world but specifically aimed at China). 

Such, by definition, is inflationary. 

2. Money received from tariffs not put towards better infrastructure, health services, educational services or social welfare services but to war commitments. 

Domestically, the average person suffers today from the cost-of-living crisis (petrol in the US is $4 dollars per gallon and higher prices on most goods and services today compared to a couple of years ago). 

International 

  1. Trump, in his second term, has sought to take control of Greenland, Canada and Venezuela. (Seized president on drug charges, but primary purpose was to commission and control Venezuelan oil and reduce its supply to China). 

  2. Make Gaza another “French Riviera”. 

  3. Supported Israel in its war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. 

  4. Attacked Iran against basic international law on 28/02/2026, which resulted in an Iranian response which blocked the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

General 

The worst feature of the current US administration is that it lacks the political professionalism to "compromise" to resolve geopolitical disputes. It has spent too much time and money on wars in the Middle East for and with Israel at the expense of resolving issues at home - the most pressing issue being to put into place a “debt reduction policy/program” to reduce its public debt. 

As a result of the US public debt, other countries in the world have lost faith in America and its administration and the US$ dollar. BRICS and China have created another monetary system to compete in the world trade market with the US$ dollar. 

Major countries in the world have sold the US$ dollar and its bonds and Treasury notes and used the proceeds to increase their holdings of gold. This conduct, particularly this year by Japan and China, has imposed further and significant pressure on the 10-year US bond. It is now around 5%. And the Japanese 10-year government bond, which for 30 years has been zero and used by US financiers as interest-free credit for “off-balance-sheet” non bank lending by US corporations. 

This practice, as I write, has “finished” as the Japanese government has recently advised the US administration that it would, in the short term, sell down its US-held bonds and Treasury notes to meet its increased debt levels now accruing from "market forces” demanding and receiving 1.7% interest on Japanese 10-year bonds from November 2025. That rate, as I write today, has increased to 2.88%. 

To me, this simple fact signals the “end of US political and economic dominance”. 

Japan is headed for a serious recession because, per GDP, its government debt is the highest in the world (twice the US GDP per capita). 

The current funding by the Japanese government goes from $0 to US $70 billion now. And going higher. 

Currently, the US administration has come to Japan's rescue and “supported” the Yen¥. But it can only do so for so long. When it runs out of money (sorry, not sounding funny as it owes US$ 40 trillion and that is the primary cause of all this geopolitical financial manoeuvring), then the world financial system under the US$ dollar takes a “real hit”. 

Hang on to your money. Things are now likely to get very rough on the high seas for most of us for a few years until a new monetary system is put into place (best not simply being debt and fiat and backed by gold) and major political, economic and social adjustments are made in the best interests of the people of the world and not by a few powerful and rich people.