Education
Opinion | The Ugliness of the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill, in Charts
With unusual speed, and despite an armada of controversial provisions, Congress has birthed a sprawling, nearly 900-page policy bill stuffed with hundreds of changes that will bestow trillions of dollars in tax cuts on the rich and special interests while slicing deeply into social programs relied on by millions of Americans.
Much like President Trump’s 2017 tax bill, it will add substantially to the deficit and the debt without providing any meaningful impetus to economic growth. But this time, it will be much worse. This legislation will pile about $3 trillion onto the deficit over the next 10 years, double the amount its predecessor was expected to generate. And it lacks provisions that could significantly boost economic growth.
Our Rich Keep Getting Richer
Impact on the deficit over 10 years
Its signature and most expensive components make a slew of individual tax cuts — cuts instituted in 2017 that primarily benefit wealthy Americans — permanent. To help pay for them, the bill makes student loans more expensive, slashes incentives for clean energy and reduces funding for and access to Medicaid. Missing yet again, despite Mr. Trump’s promises, is any effort to raise the tax rate on carried interest earnings, a major win for private equity. But the bill does deliver on one of his campaign promises: serving up tax deductions (albeit not permanently) for overtime pay, tips, car loan interest and for seniors.
Millions Lose Access to Medicaid
The biggest and most damaging cuts are those to Medicaid — cuts that got only more draconian as the bill moved from the House to the Senate. About a third of the savings come from the imposition of a work requirement on recipients. While Republicans claim they are only attacking waste, fraud and abuse, the resulting paperwork to comply with the requirement is expected to daunt many and result in lost coverage. All told, these changes will cost over 10 million Americans their health care, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The Cost of College Will Soar
Average monthly student loan payments
The legislation largely guts the Biden administration’s student debt repayment program that offered lower- and middle-income families generous terms. As a result, average monthly obligations for borrowers will surge, with a typical loan recipient with a college degree and an annual income of $80,300 paying an additional $2,929 per year.
What Climate Change?
Clean energy investments announced since the Inflation Reduction Act
The bill rolls back many of the clean energy tax incentives and investments created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, throwing a major roadblock in the way of combating climate change. Since the passage of the act, the United States has been experiencing a boom in clean energy investments, with $321 billion spent and $522 billion more on the way. Many of these projects will very likely be abandoned. Most Republican legislators are supporting this despite the fact that a vast majority of these investments have taken place in Republican congressional districts, where permitting is generally easier and weather can be more conducive to solar and wind power generation.
Trump’s Biggest Budget Buster
The relative scale of Trump’s domestic policy bill
The package adds to our national debt in a way that dwarfs any of the other packages passed in the eight years since Mr. Trump first took office. His signature 2017 tax cut added a relatively modest $1.5 trillion to the 10-year deficit projection, but it did so by scheduling some of its provisions to expire after eight years, thereby setting the stage for the current legislation, which makes those changes permanent. (The bill uses the same gimmick with some of its tax breaks to keep costs down.)
Spending Has Drifted Out of Balance
Federal revenue vs. spending
The resulting deficit puts our economy in a perilous place. Over the past 50 years, federal spending as a percentage of gross domestic product averaged 21.1 percent. But since ballooning during the Covid-19 pandemic, spending has remained stubbornly above this average. With tax increases politically off the table, this means larger deficits.
How the Budget Fits Together
The biggest pieces of the budget
The bill is just the latest, and worst, example of a policy followed by both Republicans and Democrats in recent years: Take the easy way out and let deficits climb. The costs of Medicare and Medicaid are rising relentlessly and are now just over 5 percent of G.D.P., compared with 1.2 percent in 1975. Social Security’s outlays have also grown. And now, because of increasing debt and higher interest rates, the cost of servicing the national debt has begun to soar. Allowing the 2017 tax cuts to expire, which effectively would have raised taxes on 62 percent of Americans, could have been highly unpopular. But it was also necessary.
One Big Borrowing Bill
Instead of growing to $2.7 trillion in 2035 from $1.9 trillion this year, this legislation will boost the deficit to $3.08 trillion a decade from now, according to one estimate. Exclude the gimmick of scheduling certain tax breaks to expire — an unlikely event, as demonstrated by Congress’s unwillingness to let the 2017 cuts fade — and the projected deficit climbs to $3.21 trillion. This puts total publicly held national debt at as much as 130 percent of G.D.P., materially higher than at any other time in our nation’s history. These higher deficits put upward pressure on interest rates, weakening the economy, and even more important, create an enormous debt burden for future generations to deal with.
The More You Make, the More You Benefit
The bill’s impact on household finances, by income quintile
The legislation will be far more beneficial for the wealthiest, at the expense of those farther down the economic ladder. The bill makes permanent a regime in which the richest fifth of American households — those with annual incomes of $120,390 and above — will get an average benefit of 2.3 percent of their income, or $6,055. In contrast, the fifth of Americans with the least wealth will suffer an estimated loss of $560, largely because of the effect of the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps.
The Economic Benefit Is Negligible
The White House predicts much more growth from this bill than other models
As for the impact of the legislation on economic growth, the White House is operating in its own universe. Private forecasters generally expect only a small bump to gross domestic product, with the Budget Lab at Yale University projecting even less growth. The White House Council of Economic Advisers, on the other hand, asserts that growth could reach 4.9 percent in 2028, multiples higher than other estimates.
In my 50 years of following tax and budget policy, I don’t believe I have seen another piece of legislation that would have such broad and deep impacts on virtually every American. No important social welfare program like Medicaid has ever been rolled back to this extent. The tax changes will also exacerbate income inequality. It is a result that should embarrass the Republicans — and may well come back to haunt them in 2026 and 2028.
This article was very thought provoking and caused me to thoroughly evaluate the idea of gender and the role it plays in our society. The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily see this as a problem. God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe trying to change that would only do more harm. Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered “stereotypes”. Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.
It is frustrating to me when I read articles like this and discussion posts from my classmates of so many people trying to conform to the same mundane opinion, so they do not step on people’s toes. I think that is a cowardly and insincere way to live. It is important to use the freedom of speech we have been given in this country, and I personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God’s original plan for humans. It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender “stereotypes” because that is how God made us. The reason so many girls want to feel womanly and care for others in a motherly way is not because they feel pressured to fit into social norms. It is because God created and chose them to reflect His beauty and His compassion in that way. In Genesis, God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so He created a helper for man (which is a woman). Many people assume the word “helper” in this context to be condescending and offensive to women. However, the original word in Hebrew is “ezer kenegdo” and that directly translates to “helper equal to”. Additionally, God describes Himself in the Bible using “ezer kenegdo”, or “helper”, and He describes His
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. This week’s challenge tests your memory of random facts and information you may have picked up, especially from reading book coverage from The Times in recent years. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to the books if you’d like to do further reading.
Since the start of his second term, President Trump has cut budgets, made demands on public institutions, and attacked the media and speech in actions regularly called unprecedented.
In April, we asked presidential historians if they could come up with comparable examples in previous administrations — and to tell us when they couldn’t. You can read that earlier article here.
We went back to the historians (and some political scientists) to help us categorize the administration’s actions and pronouncements that have happened since: whether they’re unprecedented, relatively common or somewhere in between.
No clear precedent
President Trump has taken some actions that do not have a comparable historical example, according to historians.
Used the military to attack and kill suspected drug smugglers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has ordered the military to kill people aboard boats he says have been smuggling drugs, claiming the power to redefine drug trafficking as armed conflict.
IN THE PAST
Historians said the closest parallels to Mr. Trump’s strikes in international waters were attacks on pirates — from Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on Barbary corsairs to Barack Obama’s use of military force against Somali pirates in 2009. But President Obama’s efforts were largely rescue missions; Jefferson was also responding to the capture of American ships.
“Since the 1970s, presidents have claimed the right to take military action, including murderous assaults, against nonstate actors who threaten the United States,” said Jeremi Suri, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. However, he said, “the United States has generally not targeted drug smugglers in this way.”
“The U.S. has helped other governments in Central America to apprehend drug traffickers. No presidents have unilaterally killed alleged drug smugglers in international waters.”
Manisha Sinha
Professor of American History, University of Connecticut
No clear precedent
Cast doubt on vaccine efficacy and safety
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, the Trump administration has begun to overhaul American vaccine policy. A vaccine skeptic, Mr. Kennedy replaced a vaccine advisory panel with handpicked members. The panel ended a decades-long recommendation to vaccinate babies against hepatitis B at birth. Mr. Kennedy also canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and contracts to develop mRNA vaccines. Mr. Trump hailed Covid vaccines as a miracle during his first term but has since questioned whether they work, and Mr. Kennedy has called them “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
IN THE PAST
Previous presidents have typically promoted vaccines. The government has changed the vaccine schedule and pulled recommendations for vaccines before, including for a rotavirus gastroenteritis vaccine in the 1990s. And manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn vaccines from the market. But no presidential administration has made such an effort to dismantle vaccine policy.
“Other presidents tried to expand vaccines. This goes all the way back to George Washington during the Revolutionary War, who mandated smallpox inoculations for his army.”
Robert Watson
Professor of History, Lynn University
No clear precedent
Asked states to gerrymander to add more seats for his party
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump and his aides have pushed for lawmakers across the country to redraw maps in favor of Republicans.
IN THE PAST
This has not been done publicly, though an adviser to George W. Bush, Karl Rove, was reported to have lobbied state legislators to redistrict in 2003.
“No previous president has done this so overtly, but gerrymandering for political advantage has been a basic tool of political parties since the earliest years of the republic.”
Kendrick Clements
Professor, University of South Carolina
No clear precedent
Owned a company that received a major investment from a sovereign state
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Earlier this year, a state-controlled United Arab Emirates firm used $2 billion of cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial — a start-up owned by the Trump family — to invest in a crypto exchange. That effectively serves as a huge deposit for World Liberty, which can then generate returns in the tens of millions of dollars each year.
IN THE PAST
Historians said there was no comparable example.
“Past presidents took pains to put their holdings in a blind trust or to divest entirely from identifiable individual companies.”
Andrew Rudalevige Professor of Government, Bowdoin College
No clear precedent
Tried to remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud. (The Supreme Court stopped the firing until it could hear arguments in January, and she maintains her innocence.) It’s part of a broader, stated effort to gain more influence over the board.
IN THE PAST
Presidents have fought with the Fed before; under President Harry Truman, the head of the Board of Governors resigned amid a disagreement with the administration. But no president has directly fired a Federal Reserve official.
“They have often put pressure on the Fed, but I don’t know of any president who has claimed the power to fire a sitting governor and tried to carry it out.”
David Greenberg Professor of History, Rutgers University
No clear precedent
Ended data collection efforts across government
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration has stopped or plans to stop collecting data on environmental disasters, climate change, food insecurity, emissions from polluters and more.
IN THE PAST
No president has stopped data collection at such a scale.
“There have been other presidents who have appointed people as heads of agencies but who opposed the missions of those agencies. But that is a far cry from eliminating the government’s longstanding practices of producing reliable data, on nearly everything of concern to the public and for which the government is responsible.”
Michael Gerhardt
Professor of Jurisprudence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School
No clear precedent
Ordered a review of public museums to align with administration views
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The White House told the Smithsonian Institution — a museum group founded and funded by the federal government — that it would have 120 days to change any content that the administration found problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
IN THE PAST
There’s no comparison for such a broad and public demand on the nation’s museums, historians said.
There have been instances of perceived pressure, or limited influence. A former Smithsonian administrator claimed that the National Museum of Natural History toned down an exhibit on climate change during the George W. Bush administration. And it was reported that the Nixon administration told what is now the National Museum of American History to close an exhibit on voting rights ahead of a ball that was part of Nixon’s second inauguration.
No clear precedent
Cast doubt on official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump claimed without evidence that weak job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were “rigged” and fired the agency’s commissioner.
IN THE PAST
No president has done this publicly and so directly in the years the Bureau of Labor has been collecting and publishing data. (Since the late 1800s.) Ronald Reagan once said a framing of B.L.S. data was misleading, but didn’t question the data itself. Richard Nixon’s administration made some changes to how B.L.S. reported monthly data. But when he threw doubt on the B.L.S., it was in private conversation. (It was eventually revealed that he had blamed Jewish people working at the agency for unfavorable statistics.)
“Presidents have always spun bad numbers; few have declared war on arithmetic itself.”
Alexis Coe
Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America
No clear precedent
Sought damages from the Justice Department for federal investigations into him
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump is reported to have demanded that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for past investigations into his actions.
IN THE PAST
There’s no real comparison, historians say. Andrew Jackson was once fined for suspending habeas corpus; he lobbied Congress for a refund. But that lobbying took place after his presidency, said Matthew Warshauer, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University. (It was successful.)
Has happened, but under different circumstances
In several cases, Mr. Trump’s actions are precedented, but there are details that make them different: scale, context, motivation or results.
The following are events in which our scholars did not always agree on the extent of a precedent.
Sent the National Guard to cities
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has expanded the role of the National Guard, deploying its troops to cities as part of a stated federal crackdown on crime. In several cases, governors or local officials have sued to block the deployments.
IN THE PAST
Presidents have deployed the National Guard to cities numerous times, including to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama; to enforce Brown v. Board of Education in Little Rock, Ark.; in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots; to quell a riot in Detroit in 1943; and to help Hurricane Andrew relief efforts in Florida.
But in most cases, unlike President Trump, presidents deployed the National Guard at the request of, or with the cooperation of, state lawmakers. (That was not the case when presidents used the National Guard to support integration in Arkansas and protect civil rights activists in Alabama.)
“With the exception of using troops to protect American citizens during the height of civil rights reform, American presidents have typically respected the authority of states and only mobilized troops at the request of state lawmakers.”
Nicole L. Anslover
Associate Professor of History, Florida Atlantic University
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Directed the attorney general to investigate or prosecute political rivals
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi and his Justice Department to investigate or seek criminal charges against his perceived enemies, including George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor; the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey; and the New York attorney general Letitia James.
IN THE PAST
Nixon also tried to use the federal government — including the Department of Justice — to go after his “enemies list” through investigations and other legal harassment. One memo from his White House counsel describes “how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.”
But “it was on a limited case-by-case basis, and many of his own appointees and federal workers thwarted his illegalities,” said Robert Watson, a professor of history at Lynn University.
“Nixon tried to act in secrecy and deny his vendettas.”
Jeremi Suri
Professor of History and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Carried out large-scale immigration raids
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Federal agents have conducted immigration enforcement raids in several Democrat-led cities, arresting and detaining thousands in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., among others.
IN THE PAST
Eisenhower carried out deportations of illegal immigrants, known at the time as “Operation Wetback.” These targeted Mexican migrants, and they were more focused on agricultural border areas than major cities.
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Arranged for a government stake in a U.S. company
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration allowed Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over U.S. Steel in exchange for a “golden share” giving the White House a permanent say in the company’s business. (The Trump administration has also purchased shares or options in other private companies involved in minerals, nuclear energy and semiconductors.)
IN THE PAST
The U.S. government received shares of auto companies while bailing them out during the Great Recession in 2009, but it sold those within a few years to recoup some of the money it had spent.
The Trump effort has centered on national security concerns. Prior administrations have taken control of the private sector briefly during wartime, but those were not ongoing ownership stakes.
“I can’t think of an example when companies were forced to pay premiums of this sort to the U.S. government — even giving federal actors formal long-term decision-making authority for corporate behavior — as a cost of doing business.”
Andrew Rudalevige
Professor of Government, Bowdoin College
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Carried out a major demolition and renovation of the White House
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration took down the East Wing of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
IN THE PAST
The White House went through a demolition and renovation under President Truman, when the building was in danger of physical collapse.
Other presidents have made renovations — including significant expansions — but historians could not name another demolition of a major part of the building.
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Struck a deal with drug companies to sell prescriptions at lower prices and set up an online drugstore with the president’s name
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has tried to lower prescription drug prices through two primary channels: He has made deals with numerous major drugmakers (including Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly) to sell drugs to Medicaid at lower prices; and he has committed to starting TrumpRx, a portal through which patients can buy drugs directly from drugmakers.
IN THE PAST
Previous presidents have tried various strategies to make prescription drugs more affordable, including negotiating with industry. (Most recently, the Biden administration brought drugmakers to the negotiating table.)
A marketplace with the president’s name on it is new.
“Earlier efforts to cut drug costs — Bill Clinton’s aborted price-control proposals, George W. Bush’s Medicare Part D expansion, Barack Obama’s negotiation push under the Affordable Care Act — were policy fights, not product launches.”
Alexis Coe Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Pulled back public infrastructure grants in mostly blue states
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration has frozen and terminated grants for infrastructure that were largely set to be in districts that vote Democratic, and the president has bragged about it. “A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” Mr. Trump said in October. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.” (Some Republican districts have also lost projects.)
IN THE PAST
Pulling back funds already allocated is unusual, scholars told The Times. Presidents have often directed government benefits to key constituencies and favored states and districts, but not in such a public and direct manner.
When Nixon’s administration made large cuts to military bases in the early 1970s, states in the Northeast were hit the hardest, leading to speculation that politics played a role.
“Presidents have always played politics with public monies, although often as discreetly as possible.”
Stephen F. Knott
Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Signed large cuts to health care programs into law
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The sprawling policy bill pushed by the president and passed by Republicans in July contained more than $1.1 trillion in cuts to health care programs, including roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid — about 11 percent of projected spending on the program over a decade.
IN THE PAST
Under President Reagan, Congress reduced Medicaid and Medicare spending. Medicaid cuts in the early 1980s totaled $1 billion each year, around 5 percent of annual Medicaid spending. The cuts came in the form of smaller payments to states, which then cut services. (People forced off welfare rolls by Reagan’s administration often lost Medicaid benefits, too.) George W. Bush signed into law policy changes that made smaller reductions in Medicaid spending.
The Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in 2010, included more than $700 billion in reductions to Medicare, though the bill increased spending on health care overall.
“Since the beginning of federal health care programs in the 1930s, policymakers have been more likely to expand than cut such programs.”
Kendrick Clements Professor, University of South Carolina
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Auctioned face-to-face access
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Mr. Trump invited people who spent the most on his personal cryptocurrency to a White House gala dinner.
IN THE PAST
Many presidents have rewarded their major donors with special privileges. (Bill Clinton gave some top donors meals, outings and overnight stays; major fund-raisers also stayed overnight in George W. Bush’s White House; and inaugurations have long been a way for donors to get close to the president.) But Mr. Trump, not his campaign, personally benefited from the crypto investments.
“The standards of White House conduct related to maintaining proper distance from acts of bribery, perceived or real, have demonstrably deteriorated over the years. In 1958, White House chief of staff Sherman Adams was forced to resign from the Eisenhower administration because he had accepted a vicuña overcoat and a rug from a Boston businessman under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.”
Russell Riley
Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia’s Miller Center
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Attacked the media, including suing newspapers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has directed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The Times. He has also sued Paramount (before starting his second term) over a Kamala Harris interview; blocked reporters from parts of the White House where they’ve been allowed for decades; threatened to pull broadcasters’ licences over late-night hosts he dislikes; imposed restrictions on military reporters; and persuaded Congress to cut funding for public media.
IN THE PAST
No other sitting president has specifically filed a defamation lawsuit against a newspaper. (Theodore Roosevelt did sue a small-town newspaper for libel for accusations of drunkenness, but only after leaving office.)
There is, however, a long history of attempts by presidential administrations to pressure the news media over critical coverage. Abraham Lincoln shut down pro-Confederacy newspapers during the Civil War and arrested their editors; in World War I, the government charged some journalists who opposed the war under the Espionage Act; the Nixon administration tried to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Nixon also listed journalists on his “enemies list” and ordered wiretaps of reporters.
“White House grumping about critical coverage is an age-old feature of the Washington community. But rarely has this gone beyond a sharp elbow in the press room or maybe a back-channel call to the publisher to yelp.”
Russell Riley
Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia’s Miller Center
Not uncommon
A few of Mr. Trump’s moves are, if not standard practice, still actions that other U.S. presidents have taken in recent decades.
Put on a military parade
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
In June, President Trump presided over a procession of troops, weaponry and military vehicles in Washington in commemoration of the Army’s 250th birthday and his own 79th.
IN THE PAST
Large-scale military parades aren’t uncommon, though they often happen during or at the close of a war. Among other examples, George H.W. Bush held a large military parade in 1991 after the Persian Gulf War, and John F. Kennedy hosted one during his inaugural in 1961, at the height of the Cold War.
Not uncommon
Established fast-track visas for wealthy immigrants
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The president has launched a program that is intended to allow people to buy legal residency in the U.S. with a $1 million “contribution” to the U.S. government.
IN THE PAST
The U.S. has long had a program that allows entrance to wealthy immigrants: the EB-5 program, for people willing to invest $1 million (less in some circumstances) in a business that would hire Americans. President Trump’s program is new in style — it’s called the “gold card” — but not in function.
“Bill Clinton created the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, with Obama extending the idea to the Regional Center Pilot Program. It’s actually not a new thing what President Trump is doing.”
Thomas Balcerski
Presidential Historian, Eastern Connecticut State University
Not uncommon
Helped broker an agreement for a cease-fire in Gaza, and an exchange of hostages and prisoners
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The administration’s deal between Hamas and Israel in October — which Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, helped broker — resulted in a cease-fire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
IN THE PAST
It’s common for American presidents to step in and help negotiate deals between Israel and Arab nations; President Biden negotiated a cease-fire and prisoner exchange, though the deal fell apart.
“President Trump should be applauded for his effort in the Mideast. This is his greatest foreign policy achievement so far.”
Wilbur C. Rich
Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College
Not uncommon
Pulled back United Nations funding
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has withdrawn or frozen U.S. funding for several agencies within the U.N., including the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council.
IN THE PAST
The Reagan administration, claiming mismanagement at the U.N., withheld funds in the 1980s. George W. Bush withheld money from the U.N.’s Population Fund over concerns about abortion and other family planning issues.
“The anti-U.N. rhetoric has been part of the Republican political discourse for some time.”
Manisha Sinha
Professor of American History, University of Connecticut
Not uncommon
Attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump ordered an attack on three key nuclear sites in Iran in June, without seeking congressional authorization.
IN THE PAST
Though Mr. Trump was the first to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, previous administrations have engaged in sabotage of Iranian nuclear systems — including the George W. Bush and Obama administrations’ development and use of the computer worm Stuxnet. (That was a destructive program that targeted centrifuges and delayed Tehran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.)
More broadly, presidents have long taken military actions without congressional sign-off.
About the data
For this project, we reached out to dozens of historians and political scientists, including some participants of C-SPAN’s Presidential Historians Survey. We asked them to provide us with relevant precedent to specific Trump actions, if there were any, and to describe how those precedents were and were not similar to what Mr. Trump has done.
We received responses from 36 experts. In addition to those we quoted, we used notes and research from: Andrew Bacevich, Paul Brandus, Vernon Burton, Jeffrey Engel, Michael A. Genovese, Harold Holzer, Chandler James, Scott Kaufman, Thomas J. Knock, Douglas L. Kriner, Allan Lichtman, Bruce Miroff, Barbara Perry, Gary Richardson, Robert Schmuhl, Craig Shirley, Brooks Simpson, Robert Strong, Tevi Troy, Mark K. Updegrove, Ted Widmer, B. Dan Wood and David B. Woolner.
We categorized actions based on the overall responses, along with additional reporting and research.
Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus of the Presidential Greatness Project assisted in establishing a list of historians and constructing the initial survey.
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