Donald Trump: The first impeached US President to go for elections

US President Donald Trump has been acquitted by the Senate after a trial. The Senate Republicans, except Mitt Romney, voted in favour of the President. He was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18, 2019.

Trump is very popular among his partymen. A recent poll by Gallup shows that Trump's approval rating was 49 per cent in January, the highest since he was elected to office.

The poll shows that 94 per cent approval rating among Republicans, and 42 per cent approval rating among independents. However, he remains highly unpopular (7 per cent approval rating) among democrats. This is also seen in Trump’s enormous victory in the Republican caucuses in Iowa, where he won more than 95 per cent support of his partymen.

Trump's gameplan

Trump will be the first impeached president to go for elections. He is likely to focus on the economy and his foreign policy while seeking re-election. In the State of the Union Address on Tuesday, he said, “The years of economic decay are over.”

He has on multiple occasions taken credit for the low unemployment levels across many communities, including women, the disabled and minorities. In the State of the Union address, he also took credit for the rising personal incomes and falling poverty rates.

He is likely to focus his campaign on “pro-American” policies like the corporate tax cut, reducing regulations and getting fair and reciprocal trade agreements. An example of this is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which brought back manufacturing and agricultural jobs back to the US, according to Trump.

Trump's other focus will be China, which he has accused of stealing intellectual property rights and taking manufacturing jobs away from the US. “For decades, China has taken advantage of the United States, now we have changed that but, at the same time, we have perhaps the best relationship we have ever had with China, including with President Xi,” he said in the State of the Union speech. In the upcoming election, he is also likely to focus on the Phase-1 agreement to between the two nations, and would say that only he can solve the issues that plague the US-China relations.

He is also likely to focus on his actions to end terrorism, be it defeating ISIS or killing Iranian general Soleimani.

Domestic issues: Healthcare, socialism

With no major opponent in the Republican party, Trump is already taking the fight to the Democrats. On Tuesday, taking note of the delay in publishing results in the Democrat Iowa caucus, he tweeted, "The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country...The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.

Trump has a clear message to his voters: socialism is bad for the country. He has attacked Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who are left-leaning Democrats seeking to become the party's presidential candidate, multiple times. The latest salvo came in his State of the Union Speech on Tuesday, where he said, “Socialism destroys nations. Freedom unifies the soul.”

Sanders and Warren, along with a section of the Democrats, have been very vocal against Trump’s policies. They want to expand the role of the government and increase government spending on social security, education and climate change. They are also leading the polls in various states.

Trump will also focus on his healthcare initiative -- he repealed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, and got a series of reforms in the sector. In the coming days, he is likely to promise policies that will provide more affordable, innovative and high-quality healthcare if elected to power.

Taking on Democrats – who want to bring sweeping changes in healthcare -- again, Trump in his speech on Tuesday said, “As we work to improve Americans’ healthcare, there are those who want to take away your healthcare, take away your doctor, and abolish private insurance entirely... We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare!” "If you believe that we should defend American patients and American seniors, then stand with me…,” he said.

No controversy -- be it tough policies like the Muslim ban, the family separation policy, or the Stormy Daniels payment controversy or the Russia poll interference accusations, or nepotism charges -- to seems to be denting Trump's popularity. He is still standing, and looking for a fight. Under these circumstances, the US presidential elections will be tough to predict.