It seems likely that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. Shame that the US has to choose between an 81-year-old geriatric with slurred speech and a 77-year-old narcissistic demigod in the eyes of the less well educated.
If Trump is the next president, it will be bad for animal welfare. I don’t see anything on the Internet which tells me that he is concerned about animal welfare. In fact, I don’t see anything with tells me that he likes animals but I might be mistaken. He hates dogs apparently. And I can’t for the life of me see him liking cats 🤢. Impossible.
He’s one of only three presidents who did not have any presidential pets while in office. That said, President Biden’s pets while in office have been a disaster with his German Shepherd, Commander, biting Secret Service agents 24 times and perhaps other staffers at the White House but those incidents have not been reported.
Donald Trump’s sons are devout sport hunters and there are pictures on the Internet of them with their trophies including in one photograph, I think it’s Eric, holding a poor leopard that he had shot. Quite disgusting to see for any animal advocate.
Humane Society roundup
The Humane Society of the United States reviewed his performance in respect of animal welfare on February 4, 2020. They say that it was mixed, which I think is generous. I remember him allowing hibernating bears and their cubs to be shot. Shocking for me. See link below.
RELATED: Trump’s government makes it legal to kill hibernating bears and their cubs in their dens.
Although The Humane Society state that there were plans during his presidency to end all tests on mammals, I don’t know whether those plans were carried through to fruition. There were numerous damaging actions taken by his administration including:
- The US Department of Agriculture cutting back drastically on the number of Animal Welfare Act citations and enforcement actions.
- The USDA finalised a federal rule to end slaughter speed limits at pig abattoirs which created an animal welfare and food safety nightmare.
- The Endangered Species Act regulations were substantially weakened.
- The protection of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act was removed or there was an announcement of a plan to remove it.
- The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a black rhino trophy import permit to a hunter who paid £400,000 to kill the animal in Namibia. The black rhino is critically endangered.
- Chimpanzees held at a primate laboratory in New Mexico were not sent to a retirement facility despite an express congregational directive.
Roundup from AI
Here is some more information about his performance from an artificial intelligence roundup. Trump likes American citizens to have freedoms to make money. Any oversight to improve animal welfare are unwelcome by him.
Animal testing: the Trump administration did not introduce any significant restrictions or reforms on animal testing. Existing laws and guidelines remained in place.
Trophy hunting: as mentioned, his son’s trophy hunt or sport hunt. President Trump’s administration rolled back some Obama-era regulations concerning trophy hunting imports. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service initially lifted the ban on importing elephant trophies from certain countries in Africa but they were later reinstated after a public backlash.
Endangered Species Act: the Trump administration made changes to the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Critics argued that the changes weakened protection of endangered species.
Animal agriculture regulations: these were eased including rolling back certain environmental regulations to remove what some consider to be excessive government oversight. However, critics expressed concern about the potential negative impact on animal welfare and environment.
Horse slaughter: his administration proposed allowing horse slaughter facilities to resume operations in America but the proposal faced significant opposition and did not proceed.
Subjective
Issues concerning animal welfare, actions taken to protect and promote animal welfare, sport hunting, trophy hunting are all subjective topics for discussion and people have passionate views about them one way or the other. I respect that. But I cannot respect people who entertain themselves by being cruel to animals and shooting them fun. Nobody should find that acceptable in a civilised world.
Final point: there is lots of work to do to improve animal welfare on this planet. Progress is needed. We don’t need a president that will turn the clock back which seems likely with him.
Thanks April for your insight.I think that he will be the next president although I could of course be wrong because Biden seems to me to be unelectable because she is too doddery and a genuine geriatric who is going to be simply way too old during the latter part of the next presidency. Trump has a core of supporters who are blinded by the rhetoric and who don’t see the downsides of this man. He, too, is losing his marbles but less so than Biden who is older. The problem for me, as mentioned, is that I don’t think Biden is electable and therefore by default it’s got to be Trump who is a disaster for animals and I think he’ll be a poor president for the world in general and particularly in respect of, for example, supporting Ukraine.
How the hell did America end up with a choice between these two men?! There must be tens of thousands of men and women in America who would make better candidates to be the next president. Something’s gone terribly wrong with democracy in America.
Hi Michael,
I believe Trump was and is a disaster for animals, but I’m not sure why you say it seems likely that he will be the next president of the US. Yes, the Republicans are enchanted
with his strong man rhetoric, but the Democrats and Independents? Not so much If one of his criminal cases gets to a guilty verdict before the election, he stands little-to-no chance of winning.
Biden’s huge misstep has been his unwavering support for Israel in the weeks, then months, after October 7. He is losing the younger generations with his continued support for Israel’s atrocities, not because he has a shuffle to his step or slurs words. Former president Jimmy Carter is older, slower, and more slurred in his speech than Biden. But Carter is much admired by the younger folks, who remember that he called Israel out for its policies of apartheid long before most Americans were comfortable saying it.