When Will Trump Start Acting Like a President?

Trump speaking at a rally held shortly after his inauguration

Photo Credit/ Gage Skidmore

Trump speaking at a rally held shortly after his inauguration

Over the past month of October, Trump has threatened to pull federal  relief from Puerto Rico, ignored calls to address gun control after the largest mass shooting in recent history, and has had several twitter meltdowns. Yet, he has found very little time to deal with the issues that Americans currently face.

Over Trump’s presidency, a common theme has emerged: Trump doesn’t tackle issues, he talks about them. For example, take his response to the the opiod crisis. As millions of Americans struggle with addiction to drugs such as heroin, deaths due to overdoses have become in increasingly more common. Trump recently took a step in the right direction, when on October 26th, he declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. However, most emergencies require immediate action to be resolved. Trump has done no such thing. As of now, Trump has neither created any new programs for struggling addicts nor set aside any money for these programs to be created. This does very little to help people who struggle with addiction. While this declaration does do some things, such as remove some technical barriers for addicts getting help, it does not create any new solutions to this issue. This decision has not resulted in any new treatment centers or drug awareness programs. Instead, it merely gives Trump a cover to pretend like he’s addressing issues that he has taken no real action on.

His response to the recent Las Vegas shooting followed an eerily similar pattern. After the tragedy, Trump delivered several speeches about the shooting and even met with the victims’ families. Nevertheless, the aftermath of the shooting clearly did nothing to motivate him towards action. As of now, Trump still has not created any new policies to prevent gun violence. However, this is a problem which has been affecting Americans for years. Just last year, America experienced its second largest mass shooting, the Pulse Massacre. Clearly, America needs real solutions to prevent deaths due to mass shootings like we’ve seen in recent years. Yet, despite the ongoing and deadly nature of this issue, Trump still hasn’t taken a stand against gun violence.

This inaction is not presidential. As the leader of the United States, Trump should be expected to find real solutions to the problems that affect real Americans. Imagine if presidents throughout history addressed the issues of their times the way Trump addresses the issues of ours. Imagine if Abraham Lincoln commented on southern succession, but then made no effort to reunite the union. Imagine if Franklin D. Roosevelt commented on the poverty created by the Great Depression, but didn’t create the New Deal. Their words would have been meaningless. Presidents such as Lincoln and Roosevelt are not remembered for what they said, but for what they did to help Americans. Similarly, if Trump truly cares about the people he leads, he can’t just talk about the problems, he has to come up with solutions. If he can’t do that, then maybe he doesn’t deserve the title of “president.”