Is Trump better than Obama?

MayCaesar

Eh, this is a tough one... I think they are both below average, in various regards.

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Obama's economical policies were incredibly harmful for the domestic economy. His governmental spending was probably one of the worst in terms of the investment return in the history of the US, and he squeezed blood out of businesses both small and large, triggering a massive outsourcing effect as doing business in developing countries became more profitable than working in the US. His foreign policies were atrocious, with constant handshakes with some of the worst dictators of the world - cancellation of the asylum program with regards to Cubans being the one that frustrated me the most. He also, in the best traditions of such presidents as Wilson or Roosevelt, abused his executive powers relentlessly in order to push his ideas through regardless of the opposition - creating a precedent which inspired Trump to further expand on this effect.

At the same time, Obama had a pretty modern view on society, science and technology. He invested in multiple key automation industries, and his investments in development of the AI technology were unprecedented - in this regard I would compare him to Bill Clinton, who was the first to recognize that the information technology was where the future lay. He built very solid relations with old US allies, such as European countries, South Korea, Japan and even Israel (despite his apparent distaste for that country's foreign policies). He also introduced heavy sanctions against Russia, something that should have been done a couple of decades earlier, but better now than never. He also was very diplomatic as far as domestic politics went, ready to politely and constructively discuss any policy proposals with his Republican partners. Finally, he was just a very intelligent individual who always had a solid opinion on even the most obscure subjects (I watched his interview on cybersecurity, and he talked as a cybersecurity professional would).

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Trump's foreign policies are abysmal, although in a different way than Obama's: instead of laying in bed with dictators, he turned his back on the US allies. His international trade policies are out of date, and he does not seem to understand that tax reduction does not work without reduction of governmental spending. He is a pretty authoritarian individual, grabbing even more executive power than Obama did, refusing to negotiate with anyone who has the slightest disagreements with him. He seems to have little regard for human rights and press freedom. His policies seem to hop all over the place, depending on his current mood. He is not a very bright and intelligent individual, and an awful speaker. His administration is full of incompetent people who he seems to pick based on their allegiance to him, rather than their professional credentials - it is probably the worst president administration in the history of this country, ridden with people who have zero experience of working in a related field.

However, as far as domestic economy goes, he does support the freedom of enterpreneurship and individual economical freedoms. The tax reform that went under his supervision was something the US had needed for a long time. His assault on countless regulations and bureaucratic obstacles is highly successful (Mitt Romney wanted to do something like this, although maybe in a less reckless way), and I like it how he regularly challenges the concept of political correctness. His strict line on the international relations with regards to hostile regimes is something we have not seen since Reagan, and he isn't afraid of taking risks, which is a very important quality in a leader.

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Overall, I would say that Obama is better as a leader, but Trump is better as a president, if it makes sense.