Top 10 Moments from Trump's First Year

2017 definitely wasn’t boring. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Moments from President Donald Trump’s First Year in Office.

For this list, we’re taking a look at the highlights from Donald John Trump’s first year as President of the United States. Whether you voted for him or not, nobody can deny that these moments will go down in political history, for better or for worse.

You know that scene in “Back to the Future” where 1955 Doc finds out Ronald Reagan is Commander-in-chief in 1985? That pretty much sums up how surreal it was when Donald Trump officially became the 45th U.S. President on January 20, 2017. Trump not only stood out as the oldest and richest individual to assume this office, but also the first to do so with no previous experience in the government or military. Although he delivered the shortest inaugural speech in 40 years, the inauguration was the most watched live stream in Twitter history with 6.8 million views. However, while it was a day of celebration for some, the inauguration also ignited plenty of protests, with the hashtag #NotMyPresident making the rounds.

Under the Obama administration, it was determined that transgender people would be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military. Many saw this as a massive step forward, which made it all the more disheartening when President Trump announced that the military would no longer accept transgender troops. In a tweet, Trump explained that this decision was based on the “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” This statement sparked passionate backlash from the LGBTQ+ community, as well as 56 retired generals and admirals that signed a letter against the ban. Federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also opposed the ban, ruling that transgender people could enlist starting on January 1, 2018.

In 2012, Trump tweeted that global warming was a hoax created by the Chinese government. Although Trump later claimed he was only joking, the threat of global climate change hasn’t exactly been his main concern as president. President Trump made his environmental policy crystal clear on June 1, 2017, announcing that the U.S. would be backing out of the Paris Agreement to mitigate global warming. Where Trump argued that the withdrawal would benefit America’s economy, numerous scientists, environmentalists, politicians, and others saw this decision as a huge mistake that would hurt the planet in the long run. However, since signatories can’t withdraw until November 4, 2020, Trump would need to get reelected to officially pull out.

In addition to his infamous promise to build a wall along the U.S./Mexico border, President Trump also aimed to limit the number of foreigners that could enter the U.S. through Executive Order 13769. This order would not only shut down the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, but also suspend entry from seven countries for 90 days. Since the countries in question were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, Trump’s “travel ban” was referred to by some as “the Muslim ban.” After the original executive order, there were two more modified versions of the travel ban, but they were all met with polarized reactions from both politicians and the general public.

Acting as Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona from 1993 to 2016, Joe Arpaio was accused of police misconduct on various occasions and was found guilty of criminal contempt of court in 2017. And funnily enough, President Trump and Arpaio actually have a great deal in common: both are powerful Republicans, both are skeptical of Barack Obama’s birth certificate, and both are fans of the song, “My Way.” So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Arpaio was the first person Trump pardoned as president. Given the notorious nature of Arpaio’s career in law enforcement, though, his pardon was met with criticism from those who felt justice had once again fallen through the cracks.

If you think Alec Baldwin’s impression of Trump is mean, “SNL” has portrayed Steve Bannon as the Grim Reaper himself. The far-right executive chairman of Breitbart News, Bannon’s been accused of promoting racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism. This made him a contentious choice to become the White House Chief Strategist after serving as Trump’s campaign CEO. During his time with the Trump administration, Bannon helped instigate the travel ban and was even called “The Great Manipulator” on the cover on Time Magazine. After only seven months, he was forced out of the West Wing and returned to Breitbart News. What’s more, Bannon wasn’t the first to part ways with President Trump and he wouldn’t be the last.

Trump’s vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was a focal point of his campaign. When the House of Representatives voted to pass the American Health Care Act in May 2017, it looked like President Trump would make good on his promise. In an unexpected twist, however, Obamacare was saved at the eleventh hour thanks in part to Senator John McCain. Having lost the presidency to Obama in 2008 and previously expressed his disapproval of Obamacare, McCain’s vote at the Senate seemed like a foregone conclusion. Along with fellow republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, though, McCain voted against the bill shortly after receiving a brain tumor diagnosis. Thus, the “skinny repeal” was rejected 49–51.

Trump said some shocking things during his first year as president, but his threat to “totally destroy North Korea” during a United Nations speech was perhaps the most earth shattering. Kim Jong-un didn’t take Trump’s promises of “fire and fury” lightly, calling the U.S. president “mentally deranged.” The fact that Trump kept referring to the supreme leader of North Korea as “little Rocket Man” only stirred up more outrage and concern. Some categorized the ongoing feud between these two political giants as frightening, some as funny, and some as both. But we can probably all agree that the fact that North Korea was demonstrating its ability to launch missiles and nuclear weapons throughout 2017 was scary to all.

Even in these uncertain times, we’re guessing most people never thought something like the Unite the Right rally could happen in 21st century America. Taking place in Charlottesville, Virginia, this rally brought together a smorgasbord of hate groups, from white supremacists, to neo-Confederates, to neo-Nazis, some of which were armed with “Trump/Pence” signs. Following a vehicle-ramming attack, over thirty were left injured, one was killed, and two state troopers perished in a helicopter crash. Demonstrating just how divided the United States has become, this tragic event left the people calling out for a leader who would help the nation recover. However, Trump conjured more controversy by claiming there was “violence on many sides” and both had “very fine people.”

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few… um, “honorable mentions?”:
- Fake News
- Withdrawal From Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Covfefe

Having hosted “The Apprentice” for over a decade, Trump got used to firing people. His termination of FBI director James Comey, however, was crazier than anything on reality television. Comey’s dismissal transpired in the midst of an investigation that linked the 2016 presidential election to Russian interference. With many convinced that Russian president Vladimir Putin influenced Trump’s victory, a Special Counsel investigation was launched with former FBI director Robert Mueller at the helm. Of all the developments by the end of 2017, one of the biggest bombshells was Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his meetings with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.