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Donald Trump's Presidency: A Look at His Proposed Policy Shifts Wall Street Journal Donald Trump 's presidency is likely to bring big policy shifts across several key aspects of American life. Here is a detailed look at Mr. Trump's agenda broken into three main areas: domestic affairs (health care, immigration, the Supreme Court ... and more »

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Donald Trump's Presidency: A Look at His Proposed Policy Shifts - Wall Street Journal

During Donald Trumps campaign for president, the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, asked him to stop using the phrase America First to describe his foreign policy views.As the ADL explained, the slogan was used by people who warned, ahead of World War II, that Jewish Americans were pushing the U.S.to enter the war because they put their own interests ahead of the countrys.

But Trump never stopped using the slogan. And on Friday, he made it a key part of his inaugural address. From this day forward, he proclaimed, A new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, its going to be America First.

People who arent Jewish or familiar with the history may not realize this, but America First makes many people deeply uncomfortable. In 1941, as members of the America First movement campaigned against U.S. involvement in World War II and expressed sympathy for the Nazis, plenty of people already knew that Jews were being persecuted in Hitlers Germany. Even Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator who led the America First movement, knew it.

It is not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany, Lindbergh said in Des Moines, Iowa, in September 1941. The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race.

But Lindbergh blamed Jewish Americans for pushing the country towards war, and warned that tolerance of Jews in America could not survive war with Germany. The greatest danger to the U.S., he argued, came not from the Axis powers but in what he saw as Jewishownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government.

This is dark stuff so dark its even inspired literature. Philip Roth, perhaps the most famous Jewish American writer, published The Plot Against America in 2004. The novel imagines an alternate U.S. history in which America Firsts Lindbergh won the presidential election in 1940, defeating Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Things dont go too well for the Jews after that.

How can people like these be in charge of our country? If I didnt see it with my own eyes, Id think I was having a hallucination, Roths father says in the book.

In real life, Lindbergh a celebrity who was at least as famous as Trump at a time when public anti-Semitism was far more acceptable than it is today actually faced some backlash for his speech, as The New Yorkers Louisa Thomas noted in July:

Anti-Semitism was prevalent in Lindbergs time; his attitudes were not fringe. He had not made a secret of his interest in eugenics, nor his racial attitudes, which today seem reprehensible. But with that 1941 speech he seemed to cross a line. He was strongly and swiftly condemned for his anti-Semitic and divisive wordsnot only by interventionists who were opposed to America First but by those who had lionized him. The Des Moines Register called his speech so intemperate, so unfair, so dangerous in its implications that it cannot but turn many spadefuls in the digging of the grave of his influence in this country. The Hearst papers, which were generally sympathetic to the non-interventionistsand open about their hatred of Franklin Rooseveltcondemned Lindbergh, calling his speech un-American. His home town took his name off its water tower.

Trump has received some similar criticism: For many Americans, the term America First will always be associated with and tainted by this history, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt warned last April. In a political season that already has prompted a national conversation about civility and tolerance, choosing a call to action historically associated with incivility and intolerance seems ill-advised.

The new president doesnt seem chastened.

To me, America First is a brand-new modern term, he told The New York Times David Sanger in July. I never related it to the past.

But the past has a way of catching up to you. David Duke, the Holocaust denier and former KKK leader who endorsed Trump and celebrated his ascension to power,has long been happy with the slogan (he used it in his campaign for U.S. Senate), and can hear the dog whistle loud and clear:

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In His Inaugural Address, Donald Trump Embraced Anti-Semites' Slogan - Huffington Post

The 45th President signed a bill passed by Congress earlier this month that would allow retired Gen. James Mattis to serve as defense secretary by waiving the legal requirement that he be out of the military for seven years before doing so, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Mattis will still need to be confirmed by the Senate, which is expected Friday afternoon.

Cameras rolled as Trump signed his first orders as President in the Capitol, surrounded by congressional leaders.

According to Spicer, the other papers Trump was signing included formal nominations for his Cabinet and a proclamation for a national day of patriotism.

The ceremony took place moments after Trump left the podium outside the Capitol building where he was sworn in and delivered his inaugural address.

As is customary, Trump used a series of pens to sign the measures, then distributed the pens among the people gathered. Presidential signing pens are regularly given out as commemorative gifts to politicians or individuals touched by the action.

The moment played out on live television as Trump offered his first pen to the Democrats around him, first House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and then Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who hails from New York and has long known Trump.

The mood was jovial, as Trump, surrounded by family, joked with congressional leaders. He, Pelosi and Schumer talked about trading pens as Pelosi remarked that hers came from the nominating papers of Georgia Rep. Tom Price.

Price, up for Health and Human Services, is being strongly opposed by Democrats, who have attacked him on policy and called for an investigation into some of his stock trades, which Price defended before the Senate committee holding his confirmation hearing this week.

Trump offered Pelosi the pen from the paper he was signing instead, that of transportation secretary nominee Elaine Chao.

Pelosi demurred, with Trump giving the pen to Chao's husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Senate will begin voting on Trump's Cabinet on Friday afternoon, but is only expected to confirm two nominees that day -- Mattis and retired Gen. John Kelly, up for Homeland Security.

The remaining nominees are expected to receive debate, hearings and votes in coming days.

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President Donald Trump signs first bill into law - CNN International

President Donald Trumps inaugural address was fiery and nationalistic, a considerable departure from the traditional Republican Party embrace of the free market and an activist foreign policy. Trump talked of an America First policy and vowed that January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

But Trumps words on the steps of the Capitol bore little resemblance to the reality of the administration he is building.

Its hard to argue with Trumps assessment that the establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs.

But that establishment will be in full force in the Trump administration. The megabank Goldman Sachs, famously close to Trumps opponents in the Democratic Party, hassix alumniposed for key posts in his administration, including his treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin.

Trump spoke of mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, but Mnuchin built afortune off of helming banks that misled borrowers and foreclosed on their homes.

One of Trump and Mnuchins few explicit policy priorities is to slash taxesfor corporations that have stashed money overseas, so that they will repatriate their profits to the United States. On the surface, this is to encourage businesses to invest in American jobs. But corporations are already telling their investors that theyd rather use this windfall to increase dividends and mergers, not hire more Americans.

People protest during the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington.

Photo: Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images

The president also complained that the United States has subsidized the armies of other countries, but his nominee for Secretary of State, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, wants to continue to help Saudi Arabia bomb the impoverished nation of Yemen.

When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, the president told the millions who tuned into his remarks. But that isnt the point of view of his CIA nominee, Mike Pompeo, who has depicted the war on terror as a struggle between Islam and Christianity, or his national security adviser Mike Flynn, who has referred to Islamism as a cancer in the body of the worlds Muslims.

Americans do in fact want great schools for their children, as Trump advised, but his nominee to lead the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, hasnt spent a day working in a public school. Instead, shes an heiress who inherited billions through marriage and inheritance while waiving away Bernie Sanderss plan for tuition-free public college for all by invoking the proverb that nothing in life is free.

Trump was correct when he said that for too long, a small group in our Nations Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth.

But he cannot ameliorate that problem while tapping Washingtons elite for jobs. His nominee for secretary of transportation, Elaine Chao, is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and as a former Wells Fargo board member, she will receive a golden parachute of up to $5 million from the bank if she is confirmed.

The president used his concluding words topromise to listen to all Americans:

So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

But with a cabinet whose combined net worth is greater than that of a third of America combined, its likely that many, many Americans will continue to be ignored.

Top photo: President Donald Trump celebrates after his speech during the Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017.

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Donald Trump Preaches Angry Nationalism, While Practicing Goldman Sachs Capitalism - The Intercept

Donald Trump interviewed on Larry King Live on Oct, 7, 1999. Trump said he had formed an exploratory committee to help him determine whether he could win the White House as a Reform Party candidate. Marty Lederhandler/AP hide caption

Donald Trump interviewed on Larry King Live on Oct, 7, 1999. Trump said he had formed an exploratory committee to help him determine whether he could win the White House as a Reform Party candidate.

For decades, Donald Trump both toyed with and coyly denied any interest in pursuing the presidency until his expectation-shattering campaign of the 2016 election.

But if you go back and watch old clips and by old, we mean decades-old you hear a young Donald Trump sounding very much like the current Trump. Common themes include his view that trade wasn't fair, that the world has long laughed at America and countries have taken advantage of U.S. generosity while refusing to pay their "fair share" for all the U.S. does globally.

Trump does something else in these interviews. Talking to Playboy magazine in 1990, for example, he accurately predicts where his strongest support would come from should he ever decide to run for office the working class.

Here's journalist Glenn Plaskin, who wrote the Playboy story, recalling what Trump said when asked who would support him for the White House: "When I walk down the street, those cabbies start yelling out their window. ... The working guy would elect me; they like me."

Here are six clips of Trump from the 1980s and '90s that make the point:

1. 1987, CNN's Larry King:

A 41-year-old Donald Trump said of leadership and trade:

"I was tired, and I think a lot of other people are tired of watching other people ripping off the United States. This is a great country. They laugh at us. Behind our backs, they laugh at us because of our own stupidity. Our leaders what we have, we have a Persian Gulf situation today. ... Billions and billions are paid getting oil for Japan, and they are paying nothing for it, essentially they're paying nothing for it."

More:

"I believe it's very important that you have free trade, but we don't have free trade right now."

And Trump even leveled a cryptic allegation against former New York Mayor Ed Koch:

"I think, probably, over the next period of time, something's going to come out where he will not be the mayor of the city of New York hopefully much longer."

The New York Times noted in Koch's obituary in 2013 that he "was a bachelor who lived for politics. Perhaps inevitably there were rumors, some promoted by his enemies, that he was gay. But no proof was offered, and, except for two affirmations in radio interviews that he was heterosexual, he responded to the rumors with silence or a rebuke. 'Whether I am straight or gay or bisexual is nobody's business but mine,' he wrote in 'Citizen Koch,' his 1992 autobiography."

Trump told King that he accepted an invitation to appear in New Hampshire, understanding full well what that would imply to his potential desire to run for president.

2. 1988, Oprah:

Back then, Trump was critical of Japan, and this criticism echoes the way he talks today about NATO. He told Oprah Winfrey:

"I'd make our allies pay their fair share."

He took a hard line with the Middle East, saying:

"Kuwait, they live like kings. The poorest person in Kuwait, they live like kings. And yet they're not paying. We make it possible for them to sell their oil. Why aren't they paying us 25 percent of what they're making? It's a joke."

Asked if he'd run for president, Trump said:

"I just probably wouldn't do it, Oprah. I probably wouldn't, but I do get tired of seeing what's happening with this country, and if it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally, because I really am tired of seeing what's happening with this country, how we're really making other people live like kings, and we're not."

More about a presidential run and winning. He even uses his signature "believe me:"

"I think I'd win. I tell you what, I wouldn't go in to lose. I've never gone in to lose in my life. And if I did decide to do it, I think I would be inclined I would say, I would have a hell of a chance of winning, because I think people I don't know how your audience feels, but I think people are tired of seeing the United States ripped off. And I can't promise you everything, but I can tell you one thing, this country would make one hell of a lot of money from those people that for 25 years have taken advantage. It wouldn't be the way it's been, believe me."

3. 1988, Letterman:

Here he spoke to Letterman just after the presidential election. He said he thought Bush would win and thinks he'll do a good job. But he again used Japan as his punching bag in talking about trade deficits and made the U.S. ally into an economic boogeyman:

"We are living in very precarious times. If you look at what certain countries are doing to this country, such as Japan. I mean, they've totally taken advantage of the country. ... I'm talking about the [trade] deficits. They come and they talk about free trade. They dump the cars and the VCRs and everything else. We defend Japan for virtually nothing, which is hard to believe. So when I see all that I get very nervous, but I think George Bush is going to do a great job, and he's going to straighten hopefully he'll straighten it out."

Letterman then wondered aloud whether there was "any way a guy like you could go broke." The crowd gave a huge laugh, and Trump said he would like to think he could weather any storm. But little did he or Letterman know that just three years later, Trump would file his first of four bankruptcies over two decades. That was for his hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J., the Taj Mahal, which Trump touted on the show as a project he was building that he believed would be a "tremendous success."

Trump continued to flirt with the idea of running for president down the road, despite denying he would. Trump seems to preview a version of what would eventually become his 2016 "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.

"I'm not sure you want to see the United States become a winner. Do you want to see the United States become a winner, David?"

Letterman shot back:

"The United States is and always has been a winner for my money, Don."

4. 1990, Playboy magazine: Take a look at this March 1990 Playboy interview. Lots of politics in here, including Trump's response to a question about how he'd handle an international crisis, perhaps involving nuclear weapons:

"And how would President Trump handle it? "He would believe very strongly in extreme military strength. He wouldn't trust anyone. He wouldn't trust the Russians; he wouldn't trust our allies; he'd have a huge military arsenal, perfect it, understand it. Part of the problem is that we're defending some of the wealthiest countries in the world for nothing. ... We're being laughed at around the world."

In many of these clips, the "Vintage Trump" is the "Current Trump."

He's a future candidate floating a future campaign slogan and maybe an inaugural address.

5. 1999, Larry King:

As he came to do during the 2016 campaign, Trump touted the polls. But he also echoed the dichotomy of Trump a frustration with some in the media, but also the understanding that he needs them; he used King's show to break news.

First, the frustration:

"All that's happening now is people are coming out with polls. It was sort of interesting, the one sort of negative poll I had was on Newsweek, and they put me on the cover, so I said, how could you write a poll, how could you do a poll like this, and I'm on the cover of Newsweek? And, you know, it was just one of those things. But the polls have been unbelievable."

But then right after that...

"So I am going to form a presidential exploratory committee, I might as well announce that on your show, everyone else does. But I'll be forming that, effective, I believe, tomorrow, and we'll see. We're going to take a very good, strong look at it."

And there was the trademark bombast:

"I have a lot to lose, Larry. I'm the biggest developer in New York, by far. I'm doing more, as you know from being here, a lot. I'm doing more than any I'm building 90-story buildings all over the place, and we're just doing a lot, and we're doing great. The city's the hottest city, and I'm the hottest developer in the hottest city in the world right now."

But also the foundation of an outsider message, critical of politicians:

"Other guys, you know, they run. Pat Buchanan, what is he , you know, he's not giving up anything. What's he doing? And, politicians when they run, they run from one office to another; it's the same thing, they answer different calls. I'm giving up a lot if I decide to run."

Buchanan was running for the Reform Party nomination the same one Ross Perot had in 1992 and 1996. Trump, master of the insult, showed his ability to go for the low blow against a potential opponent:

"I believe I can get the Reform Party nomination. I don't even think it would be that tough, it's going to be Buchanan. And I think he just blew himself up with the book, and his love affair with Adolf Hitler."

Trump said the priority for his exploratory committee was to take a hard look at whether he could actually win the presidency as the Reform Party candidate, not just compete. He never climbed out of single digits in head-to-heads against George W. Bush and Al Gore, and Trump eventually dropped his bid.

Trump also spelled out some of his philosophy with King. He said that, even though he's a Republican, he's pretty "liberal" on social issues, notably health care. He said he believes, in fact, in "universal health care" and agreed that it was an "entitlement from birth."

"I'm quite liberal, and getting much more liberal, on health care and other things. I really say, what's the purpose of a country if you're not going to have defense and health care. If you can't take care of your sick in the country, forget it. It's all over. I mean, it's no good. So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better."

Remember when Trump told the Washington Post recently that his goal was "insurance for everybody?" It's something other Republicans have been trying to walk back and Trump remains a wild card.

Trump also had lots of criticism for both parties:

"I think that nobody's really hitting it right. The Democrats are too far left. ... The Republicans are too far right. I don't think anybody's hitting the chord. Not the chord that I want to hear and not the chord that other people want to hear."

Trump talked about Ronald Reagan as a president who had a certain "style and class," which he called a "really big part of being president." But he also hinted at when he thought the country was great under Eisenhower in the 1950s, which happens to be when he was a child:

"Eisenhower, I don't see him too much on lists of great, great presidents, but it was a nice time in the country. The country had a prestige, and he had a certain, you know, demeanor. He was a quality, class act. There are certain people who have that."

Trump also knocked NAFTA and U.S. trade policies:

"I'm not an isolationist. What I am, though, is I think that you have to be treated fairly by other countries. If other countries aren't going to treat you fairly, Larry, I think that those countries should be , they should suffer the consequences."

Trump argued:

"We could reduce taxes and take care of health care, and it would be beautiful, and you'd have plenty of money left over."

He hinted at his potential constituency later on "workers:"

"The workers are the ones that really like me. I've often said, the rich people hate me, and the workers love me. Now, the rich people that know me, like me, but the rich people that don't know me, they truly dislike me."

Trump also said he believes in one term as president:

"I do like the concept of one term, I want to run one term, and I want to do the right job straighten out Social Security, get the trade deficits in order and lower taxes."

He has not made that pledge during this campaign.

Harking back to that 1988 Oprah Winfrey interview, Trump told King that "Oprah would be my first choice" for vice president.

Not quite Mike Pence, so ... some things change.

6. 1999, Trump on NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert:

Trump echoed some of the same sentiments from his appearance on Larry King, said he was serious about running. But he also addressed dating various women, that his second wife, Marla Maples, came out against him running. And Trump defended his past statements about women and his companies' bankruptcies.

He also saber-rattled on North Korea, seeming to advocate for preemptive action. Trump said the most important issue facing the country was controlling the "nuclear problem," otherwise the economy won't matter so much.

And Trump struck a familiar tone on immigration:

"Too many people are flowing into the country," he said, "and we have to take care of our own first."

But Trump has clearly changed on some issues, notably abortion. Back then, he said he was "very pro-choice."

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Donald Trump's Been Saying The Same Thing For 30 Years - NPR