What political state are we in when our president has been accused of sexual assault, has no prior political experience or background of success in anything other than his name, and consistently makes degrading remarks to people of other countries? I don’t know, but it is certainly a scary one

I am concerned with the state of politics in this country daily, but now, after a year in office, I'd like to take a look back at one particular trend that seems to have been sown through the first year of the Trump Administration. "Politics of undoing."

Since becoming President of the United States, many of Trump's actions and proposals have been to erase President Obama’s work in the white house. To name a few: his administration is planning to open drilling in previously off-limit areas, such as the Arctic and along the Pacific coast; he eliminated the DACA program, putting many at risk for deportation; and his newly instated tax plan will roll back work done to ensure all Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

I must argue that what Trump is doing is not real politics. Eliminating programs and legislation from the previous administration instead of creating better alternative legislation is disastrous. He cannot be respected from any political viewpoint as a real politician. We need to stop giving him the credit he does not deserve and instead acknowledge how dangerous he is to this country. Not only is he hurting the people of this country, but he is breaking down any semblance of what the United States could and should be.

In his own words (or at least from the White House website), here are two of his major presidential “actions” that reverse or change Obama Administration Legislation:

Executive Order "to promote competition amongst healthcare insurance providers." In doing this, he harms the ACA’s work to ensure fair access to healthcare for all by allowing plans to discriminate based on the health history of the group and charge higher premiums for sicker people. Read more here.

Memorandum regarding construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. While President Obama rejected the pipeline, the memorandum allows "TransCanada" to reapply for its construction. Regulators approved a portion in Nebraska in November of last year. Read more here.

Not to mention pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, or his ban on transgender people joining the military (which was blocked by a federal judge) rolling back on the advances President Obama made for the environment and LGBTQ+ community.

It is heartbreaking that the President of a country that has accomplished much in recent years — and was on a path to make major strides for its people, the people of other nations, and our world in general — spends his time reversing and banning and tearing down all advancements made in the past eight years.

I hope this inspires you to research other things Trump has done while in office that are hurting our nation, as well as other nations and the people residing in them. And I hope we can all hold this government to a higher standard, and demand that the rhetoric used by politicians and choices they make are for positive progress for this world.