President Donald Trump has officially been in office for more than 2 years.
How’s he doing? We consulted 13 different metrics to find out https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/JAhh64ic3Q
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
In the eyes of the public, President Trump’s second year was bad – but not worse than 2017, which was a public opinion disaster. The shutdown didn't help his already-low ratings:
👍🏽Approval: 40%
👎🏽 Disapproval: 55% https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/U19xcUg0x9— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
While approval ratings capture the wisdom of crowds, the Dow provides a measure of how the economy is doing under President Trump.
2018 for the Dow? Not great. It saw a 5.6% decline – the worst since 2008 https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/kthWfVyIHU
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
If growth falters, Trump could be the first president to preside over perennial deficits exceeding $1 trillion https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/zvUIxgc1NE
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
Trump promised to lighten the regulatory burden and, as president, he seems to be delivering.
In 2018, the number of restrictions actually fell for the first time since 1996, dropping by 1% https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/h4jtO6FF6s
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
The Trump administration imposed trade restrictions in 2018 and two things happened:
1⃣ Manufacturing employment rose
2⃣ The trade deficit rose, tooIf trade restrictions don’t lead to lower trade deficits, isn’t the case for imposing them much weaker? https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/bnRX2KATGL
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
President Trump said he expected $4 trillion of overseas cash to be brought back to the U.S. By multinationals in 2018.
In the first three quarters of 2018, $557.1 billion was repatriated https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/dkuF86fGiH
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
At the end of last year, 12.8 million people in the U.S. were working in manufacturing.
That’s ⬆️ 473,000 from when Trump was inaugurated https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/btmVmEPMPC
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
President Trump promised an economic turnaround for the four Rust Belt states that flipped red in 2016: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
It hasn’t materialized yet: There are still no signs of a pickup in the labor force https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/rTnIhiekTX
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
Private surveys show modest gains in real median household income in the first half of 2018.
Since then, President Trump has ramped up the trade war and forced a government shutdown. Those gains might be at risk due to delayed paychecks and shaky markets https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/9LCEKlLPKD
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
Despite President Trump’s dire warnings, the era of mass illegal immigration across the southern border appears to be over.
Border apprehensions rose a little in 2018, but they’re still far below the numbers that prevailed in the early 2000s https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/5V7ZOYLbVv
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
2018 saw 1,437 children killed in Syria’s civil war.
That number is a tragedy, but represents a kind of morbid progress. Russia, Iran and Syria consolidated their gains in 2018 – winning the war https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/bsLDj2Qn2m
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
3⃣3⃣%
That's the chance that President Trump resigns or is impeached before the end of his first term, according to British oddsmaker Ladbrokes. It's down from 50% in his first year, even as the indictments and guilty pleas pile up https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/joSK8gUath
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019
Last summer Americans resumed threatening to move to Canada.
A recent poll confirms this trend: A record 16% of Americans would like to permanently leave the country https://t.co/dY9WZKsmNI pic.twitter.com/nKs9WBUb9g
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) February 5, 2019