Nearly a month after taking office, Biden subverted many "political legacies" of Trump, but this was only the beginning.
BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Liu Danyi) US President Biden has been in the White House for nearly a month. After the new official took office, Biden has signed dozens of executive orders, drastically reformed in the fields of internal affairs and diplomacy, and revoked many controversial policies of former President Trump.
It is not difficult for Biden’s government to liquidate Trump’s "political legacy", but there is still a long way to go to completely repair the "scars" left by Trump’s administration.
"America is back"
Biden’s main "remodeling" card?
During Trump’s administration, the United States withdrew from many international organizations and multilateral treaties. The "Trump era" has come to an end, but the "Trumpism" that gives priority to the United States is far from leaving.
After Biden took office, he intended to reverse the "retreat" of the past four years. He said that diplomacy will once again become the center of US foreign policy, declaring that "America is back".
— — Re-join the group
After Biden was sworn in as president of the United States on January 20, he immediately signed a number of executive orders, announcing that the United States would rejoin the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization.
Biden said that the United States will respond to climate change in a way that has not been taken so far.
Biden sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres on the same day, announcing the withdrawal of the US government from the World Health Organization. Biden said in his letter that WHO plays a key role in the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the global public health threat.
On February 17th, local time, US Secretary of State Blinken said that the United States would pay more than $200 million in assessed contributions to WHO, including arrears during Trump’s administration.
In addition, the United States will return to the United Nations Human Rights Council as an observer. In June 2018, the Trump administration announced that the United States had withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council, claiming that the UN Human Rights Council was "biased" against Israel and "unable to effectively protect human rights".
Biden wants to add Trump’s retired "group" back, but the negative impact of "retreating from the group" is difficult to make up in a short time.
According to expert analysis, we should not expect too much from the full return of the United States to the international community, because Biden’s term of office is only four years, and there is not enough time to quickly eliminate the consequences caused by Trump within one term.
The candidate for WTO Director-General, who had been dystocia because of the Trump administration’s opposition, was finally confirmed on February 15 after the Biden administration expressed its "strong support". Former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iveala finally won, while South Korean candidate Yu Mingxi, who had been supported by the Trump administration, had announced his withdrawal. However, the WTO Appellate Body, which was stopped under the obstruction of the Trump administration, has yet to return to the right track of multilateralism.
— — Repair relations and negotiate issues.
After taking office, Biden said that the United States will focus on restoring relations with NATO allies and countries such as Japan and South Korea. He announced the suspension of some US troop withdrawal plans in Germany, calling the American alliance "our greatest asset".
For Iran and Russia, the two "old rivals", the US government has also focused its attention on a number of focus issues.
Biden promised that after he took office, he would reverse Trump’s "dangerous failure" policy toward Iraq and seek the United States to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal.
But the deadlock between the United States and Iraq is hard to break. The Iranian side insists that the lifting of US sanctions against Iraq is the prerequisite for Iran to return to JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Biden said that the United States will not lift sanctions to promote Iran’s return to the negotiating table. Who can take the first step is still unknown.
Compared with the uncertainty of the relationship between the United States and Iran, the United States and Russia have made progress in arms control. The Trump administration has responded negatively to the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. After Biden took office, Russia and the United States started negotiations on the only remaining major arms control treaty between the two sides. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on February 3, saying that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was extended for five years.
On the same day, Blinken said that after the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the United States would interact with Russia in a way "in line with the interests of the United States" to discuss the possibility of reducing crises and conflicts.
— — Counter-terrorism strategy adjustment
Blinken issued a statement a few days ago, saying that from February 16th local time, the Yemeni Houthi armed forces were revoked as a "foreign terrorist organization".
On January 10, 2021, the then Trump administration announced that Houthi was listed as a "foreign terrorist organization" and a "specially recognized global terrorist" entity. Analysts worry that this move will have a negative impact on the international community’s humanitarian relief operations in Yemen and the United Nations-led peace process, further prolonging the Yemen conflict.
Biden intends to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which currently holds about 40 suspects of terrorist activities.
Former US President Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo prison, but failed to deliver during his tenure. After taking office in 2017, Trump overthrew his predecessor’s practice and kept the prison.
According to the report, the Biden administration will face resistance from Congress and legal restrictions. At the same time, it is also a difficult problem how to place the terrorist suspects in custody after closing the prison.
A stroke of a pen, but there is still a long way to go.
Biden reversed Trump’s tough measures internally.
In addition to diplomacy, in terms of domestic policy, Biden’s New Deal also refers to Trump and overturns its measures in the fields of economy and immigration.
— — Strengthen employment protection
On January 22, local time, Biden signed an executive order to revoke three orders issued by Trump in 2018, which weakened the employment protection for federal employees and limited the time for federal employees to handle trade union affairs with pay.
The Biden administration believes that Trump’s executive orders have damaged workers’ collective bargaining ability.
— — Suspend the construction of the border wall
The construction of the US-Mexico border wall is Trump’s outstanding "political achievements". On the first day of taking office, Biden issued an executive order to suspend the construction of all border walls.
On February 11, local time, the White House announced that Biden had cancelled Trump’s national emergency order for the construction of the border wall and stopped funding for the construction of the US-Mexico border wall.
The White House has repeatedly warned about the security risks faced by immigrants who try to cross the US-Mexico border for asylum. White House spokesman Psaki stressed that this is "still a dangerous journey" and "now is not the time to go to the United States".
— — Redefine the rules for treating immigrants.
In fact, nearly a month after taking office, Biden has signed a number of administrative documents related to immigration policy.
On February 2, local time, Biden announced the establishment of an inter-departmental working group to solve the problem of "separation of flesh and blood" of illegal immigrants. The Trump administration once implemented a "zero tolerance" policy for illegal immigrants. When border law enforcement officers arrested them, they forcibly separated their minor children, which triggered unanimous condemnation from all walks of life in the United States.
Four days later, Blinken announced that Biden’s administration had begun to terminate the immigration agreements signed by the United States with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and to reform the Trump-era asylum system. In July 2019, the United States signed agreements with the above three countries respectively, restricting the ability of some asylum seekers in these countries to apply for asylum in the United States and requiring them to seek protection in their countries of origin.
In addition, a number of people familiar with the matter revealed that the Biden administration and members of the Democratic Party of Congress may announce the immigration reform plan later this week, including giving 11 million illegal immigrants the opportunity to become naturalized and expanding the refugee resettlement plan.
Trump’s "public burden" immigration exclusion rule is coming to an end. This policy strictly restricts the issuance of green cards to poor immigrants who receive welfare.
Although Biden revoked many tough immigration policies of his predecessor in a short time, American public opinion pointed out that the Biden administration still has a long way to go before these policies "landed".
The Associated Press said, "Biden can cancel Trump’s policy with a stroke of a pen", but the real change of the US immigration system must be supported by Congress. This is an arduous task that Trump, Obama and George W. Bush failed to complete during their tenure.
Biden’s approach, at present, has not shown more novel and effective ideas. The most important and primary purpose of Biden’s administration since it took office is to "de-Trump" as soon as possible, to fish out the political legacy of the Democratic Party during the Obama era from the pile of old papers, and to make the political elites of the United States return to Washington "get used to it".