Trump and the American National Emergency

Donald Trump’s Presidency now seems to be in more trouble than it has ever been. He has introduced the tax cuts which have enlarged the fiscal deficit by a large extent. Many critics are of the opinion that Donald Trump’s tax changes are the primary reason that the deficit has gone beyond $1 trillion. Clearly, Trump’s policies are putting America in a tough fiscal spot.

However, Trump has been belligerently pursuing more of his policies despite opposition. One such policy is the building of the border wall. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump insisted that he will fortify America’s southern border by building a wall and getting Mexico to pay for it. Obviously, Mexico is not willing to pay for any wall being built. After two years into his Presidency, Donald Trump has decided to hold the nation at ransom by declaring a national emergency in order to help build the border wall.

In this article, we will have a closer look at what a national emergency means. Also, we will understand the history of American national emergencies.

Why Has Trump Declared A National Emergency?

During the first two years of his tenure, Donald Trump has been trying to get funds sanctioned in order to build the border wall. Democrats are not willing to give any funds since they believe Trump promised to make Mexico pay for the wall. This political spat got ugly when Donald Trump decided to shut down the government, and thousands of federal workers were out of a job for more than a month. However, that too was not able to solve the issue.

Hence, now Trump is using the national emergency as a blatant way to bypass the executive branch. Under normal circumstances, the Congress has complete control over the way money is spent by the government. However, under an emergency, certain powers get taken away from the Congress and get given to the President. Therefore, declaring a national emergency gives Trump exactly what he wants, i.e. control over taxpayer’s money which he can then use to build the wall.

The American constitution gives a lot of power to the American President in the event of an emergency. For instance, Trump can single-handedly make decisions about the manner in which military funds are used. Also, the constitution does not really define what an emergency really is. This means that Trump or any other President can make anything sound like an emergency and put their hands in the taxpayers’ wallet.

It is surprising to know that Trump is not the first or the only President to declare an emergency. In fact, there have been 31 national emergencies which have been declared in America till today! However, none of these emergencies have anything to with the internal situation of the country. The American government has always used national emergencies to embezzle taxpayers’ money and then use it for other causes.

History of American Emergencies

America has declared several emergencies in the past four decades or so. Some of the most famous ones are the war on drugs in Colombia as well as stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Emergencies were also imposed to prevent the government of Venezuela from abusing human rights. Syria, Sudan, etc have all been the subject of American national emergencies one time or the other.

Not only have these national emergencies not accomplished anything for America, but they also have not accomplished anything for other countries either. Venezuela is a failed state now. The Colombian drug crisis still continues as more and more Americans are dying from drug overdoses. Countries like Syria and Yemen are in the grip of Islamic terrorism. It seems like the American taxpayers’ money has been completely wasted in the name of economic emergencies. If the stated objective was to bring peace to the region, then the American state has failed miserably.

Is National Emergency the Only Approach?

America’s dismal record of interfering with foreign countries only raises one question. Why is the wall even required? The answer is that America wants to keep out drugs and bad immigrants.

However, the irony is that America has not been able to keep drugs out of its own prisons. The fact of the matter is that prisons have a lot of walls and many guards too. No matter how high Trump’s wall is, it cannot be more secure than a prison, right? If walls can’t even stop drugs, then why build one!

Also, America was built by immigrants. The only reason that America cannot accept any more immigrants is because of government implemented welfare policies. Immigrants don’t really harm the economy unless your economic policies invite a bunch of freeloaders and make it mandatory for the government to serve them.

The bottom line is that instead of declaring a national emergency, America would be better off doing some introspection and repealing the policies which are creating these catastrophes in the first place.


❮❮   Previous Next   ❯❯

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.


Globalization

                                         Â