Donald Trump was unable to challenge the voting results in the 2020 presidential election.
The Electoral College has decided in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, which means Trump's presidential term will end at noon on January 20, 2021.
Thus, he will become president of one term.
Experts interviewed by RT note that Donald Trump will be remembered as the most controversial US president in recent decades.
He used Twitter as his political mouthpiece, criticized the mainstream media for spreading fake news about it, and ruled the country like a business empire, leading to chaotic presidential administration and frequent personnel changes.
Despite the successes in domestic politics - the reduction of unemployment and the return of American companies to the United States from abroad, Trump did not fully implement his program, which was supposed to "make America great again."
In particular, he was unable to reverse Barack Obama's health care reform and stop the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.
On the international stage, Trump actively fought for US dominance in all spheres, breaking the usual system of checks and balances, political analysts remind.
He unleashed a trade war with China and unilaterally withdrew the United States from all international agreements that he considered disadvantageous to Washington.
Trump also criticized the US's Euro-Atlantic allies and urged them to increase spending on NATO.
Trump wall
During his 2015-16 election campaign, Donald Trump made a number of high-profile announcements about his plans for US domestic and foreign policy.
One of the most famous was his promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico to stop the uncontrolled flow of illegal migrants into the United States through the south of the country.
At the same time, Trump initially stated that the Mexicans themselves would pay for the construction of the wall.
Subsequently, he abandoned these words.
Part of an unfinished wall on the border with Mexico
Reuters
© Lucy Nicholson
However, this project was not implemented.
In December 2018, the inability to agree on the allocation of $ 5 billion from the federal budget for the construction of the wall led to a halt in the work of the government - the so-called shutdown.
Trump later tried to use Pentagon funds and other budget flows, but they were not enough.
According to the US Customs and Border Protection Service, 704 km of the wall was built from January 2017 to December 18, 2020.
At the same time, the length of the border between the United States and Mexico is 3.1 thousand km.
New course
Experts noted that one of Trump's goals was to dismantle Barack Obama's political legacy.
The 45th President launched the fight against the "conquests" of his predecessor in several directions.
In particular, Trump wanted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.
Republicans were unhappy with this legal act, as it allegedly leads to an additional burden on the economy.
However, Trump and his party have failed to reverse Obamacare entirely.
Throughout his tenure, Trump has repeatedly spoken about his unwillingness to participate in new military adventures and his intention to seek the withdrawal of American troops from the Middle East, the number of which has grown under Obama.
At the end of 2018, the head of the White House ordered the withdrawal of all military personnel from Syria, but then it was decided to leave about 500 soldiers in the country to "guard" the oil fields.
US military in Syria
AFP
© Delil SOULEIMAN
In February 2020, Washington signed an agreement with the radical Taliban *, according to which the US contingent in Afghanistan was reduced from 13 thousand to 8.6 thousand people.
In mid-November and.
about.
US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said that by January 15, 2021, only 2.5 thousand American troops will remain in Afghanistan.
Trump also ordered to reduce the presence of American troops in Germany.
His plans to reduce the American contingent outside the United States were condemned by both Democrats and Republicans, and even members of his own administration.
So, the decision to withdraw troops from Syria led to the resignation of the head of the Pentagon, James Mattis.
However, Trump did not manage to leave the Middle East completely.
Even during his election campaign, Trump criticized environmental restrictions, which, in his opinion, hinder the development of the US economy.
In 2017, he announced the country's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, under which the United States pledged to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025.
According to Trump, following the agreement would lead to job losses and trillions in losses.
The US officially left the agreement on November 4, 2020.
Joe Biden has already announced that he will return the country to the Paris Agreement.
Trade deals and tariff war with China
Trump has repeatedly stated that free trade agreements, of which the United States is a member, are disadvantageous and harm the country's industry and economy.
One of his first decisions as president was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which unites the markets of the USA, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, New Zealand - a total of 12 states.
Also under pressure from his administration, the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump called "the worst trade agreement ever in existence," were revised.
Instead, the USMCA came into effect.
In addition, Trump has launched a real trade war with China over what he says is too large a trade deficit.
The main instrument of Washington in it was the increase in import duties on Chinese goods.
In June 2018, the US authorities imposed duties of 25% on the import of 818 types of products from China in the amount of $ 34 billion per year.
In January 2020, the United States and China entered into an agreement on the so-called first phase of the trade deal.
According to the agreements, in two years Beijing should increase the purchase of American goods by $ 200 billion, which, as expected in Washington, will significantly reduce the trade imbalance with China.
Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that the policy of containing China will continue under the new administration.
"The rhetoric of trade wars against the PRC will be softened, and Biden will demonstrate that he wants to conduct a dialogue with the Chinese side, but there is an understanding among the elites that Beijing is a rival that throws an existential challenge to Washington," the expert explained.
Dismantling the security system and the nuclear deal
One of the main achievements of Obama, which was criticized by Trump, was the so-called "nuclear deal" with Iran.
It was concluded in 2015 by Tehran and the six countries (USA, Russia, China, Germany, France and Great Britain).
According to its terms, Tehran abandoned its nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
Trump has repeatedly called the agreement the worst deal in history and said it would lead to Iran's nuclear weapons.
In May 2018, Trump announced the unilateral US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, since, according to Washington, Tehran allegedly violated its terms.
At the same time, the rest of the parties to the agreement and the IAEA emphasized that Iran fulfills all the terms of the deal and does not develop nuclear weapons.
Soon after the US withdrew from the agreement, the Trump administration resumed sanctions against Iran and introduced new ones.
Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Reuters
© Kevin Lamarque
However, the Trump administration achieved the greatest "success" in unilateral withdrawal from treaties that governed the nonproliferation of strategic weapons.
So, in 2019, Washington withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), and in the spring of 2020 from the Open Skies Treaty.
Also unclear is the fate of the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (START III), which will expire in February 2021, unless extended for another five years.
Space and military budgets
In 2017, after taking office as President, Trump announced that he would rebuild the American military.
During the years of his rule, defense budgets have reached record levels.
The Pentagon's 2020 budget was $ 738 billion, exceeding the 2019 budget by $ 21 billion.
The 45th President of the United States paid special attention to the space program.
So, in 2017, he signed a directive on flights to the Moon and Mars.
Then in 2019, Trump, by his decree, established a new, sixth branch of the armed forces - the US Space Force.
This is the first new type of troops that has appeared in the country since 1947, when the Air Force was allocated to a separate type.
Trump at an American military base
Reuters
© Issei Kato
Also in 2020, the 45th President of the United States signed a decree approving Washington's right to develop minerals on the moon and in outer space.
In addition to increasing his own military budget, Trump actively sought an increase in military spending from US allies in the NATO bloc.
He has repeatedly demanded that all member countries of the alliance as soon as possible bring defense spending to 2% of GDP.
Political analyst Alexander Asafov, in a conversation with RT, noted that in the United States, an increase in the military budget is an effective way to saturate the economy with money, since the Great Depression.
“This should be viewed primarily as an economic measure, as a basis for which various military threats are proposed.
Considering a certain level of inflation, stories about the privatization of the Moon, the opening of the Space Military Forces - all this is associated with the saturation of the US economy with money, which was a priority for Trump, ”the political scientist said.
Relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem
During his election campaign, Trump promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Other presidents promised to make this symbolic gesture to Washington's main ally in the Middle East, but only Trump decided on it.
Ivanka Trump and Treasury Chief Steven Mnuchin open U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem
Reuters
© Ronen Zvulun
The American diplomatic mission opened in Jerusalem in 2018, which coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding.
The move was met with unrest in Palestine, especially in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip.
Speeches and protests against the relocation of the US Embassy were held in other countries.
Sanction pressure
During the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump announced his intention to improve relations with Russia.
However, under his administration, Washington has launched increased sanctions pressure on Moscow.
Both personal sanctions against individual citizens and restrictions against Russian companies in the defense and banking sectors were introduced.
Washington made separate efforts to hinder the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project, which competes with the supply of American liquefied gas to Europe.
In early December, both houses of Congress agreed on a draft US defense budget for 2021, which included new restrictions against the construction of the gas pipeline.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 are part of a hybrid war against Russia.
In addition, on December 21, the United States imposed sanctions against more than 40 Russian companies, as well as the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow would not leave them unanswered.
"These actions by Washington reflect, one might say, the strategic line of the United States to try to weaken competitors in world markets as much as possible in order to introduce methods of unscrupulous competition in gross violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization," Lavrov said.
US relations with Russia under Trump can hardly be called friendly, notes Alexander Asafov.
“Trump has always perceived the Russian Federation as a geopolitical opponent, although he tried to divert the attention of the American society and the establishment to the Chinese threat, he said that China is more dangerous for the United States than Russia.
However, the sanctions pressure, the strengthening of NATO at the Russian borders and the anti-Russian factor in the EU countries happened under Trump, ”the political scientist said.
Contradictory results
Konstin Blokhin, in a conversation with RT, noted that Trump's presidency revealed the internal problems of American democracy, demonstrated that there is no political pluralism in the country.
“If his predecessors tried not to notice them, pretended that everything was fine inside the United States, then Trump tried to raise and present these problems,” the political scientist noted.
Experts note that Trump was characterized by actions uncharacteristic for a politician at the level of a head of state.
Especially his excessive passion for the social network Twitter - through it he made statements on domestic and foreign policy and even fired members of his cabinet.
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“It is worth noting that Trump's resonant statements, his inconsistent actions, inconsistent policies, constant staff reshuffling, involvement of his family members in politics, as well as the style of conducting diplomacy also influenced this situation.
For these 4 years, he attracted attention to himself in every possible way, made many gross mistakes, although he realized that the establishment considered his every step through a magnifying glass and had no right to make mistakes, ”said Konstantin Blokhin.
After Trump leaves the White House, most likely he will publish his memoirs, further promote his brand, business and become a symbol of "Trumpism" as an independent political movement, the political scientist noted.
“Trump managed to integrate into the Republican Party his ideas regarding protectionism and national selfishness, when the stake was placed not on allies, but on the interests of his own state.
Despite the fact that he will leave the White House, Trumpism as a movement will continue and will strengthen thanks to global trends, ”Blokhin emphasized.
Andrei Sidorov, in turn, noted that the Trump presidency revealed deep internal contradictions in American society.
"Trump's main historical mission is that he revealed and brought out the internal divisions that exist in the United States, demonstrated to America that there is a deep division within it, and if the country wants to survive, then this division must be eliminated," Sidorov said.
“Trump wanted to change America, drain the Washington swamp, but in the end this swamp swallowed him up, he could not overcome it.
But he managed to show that there is another America.
It is not known how this other America after Trump will develop, ”the expert concluded.
* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.