Trump LOLZ!

The SSC would have accelerated protons with a capacity of 40 TeV, much more than CERN's current world record of 14 TeV.

Abortion

Before 2016

Trump's views on abortion have changed significantly between 1999 when he was "very" pro-choice and would neither ban abortion nor "partial-birth abortion", and his 2016 presidential campaign where he repeatedly described himself as pro-life (more specifically "pro-life with exceptions"), suggested that women who have abortions should face some sort of punishment (a view he quickly retracted), and pledged to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]



In October 1999, Trump said, "I am very pro-choice" and "I believe in choice."[19] He said that he hated the "concept of abortion," but would not ban abortion or the procedure sometimes called "partial-birth abortion."[19] Later that year, Trump gave interviews stating "I'm totally pro-choice" and "I want to see the abortion issue removed from politics. I believe it is a personal decision that should be left to the women and their doctors."[16]

LGBT issues

Rea Carey, the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, has described Trump's public statements on LGBT issues as "confusing and conflicting."[72] During his campaign for the presidency, Trump did not emphasize the issue and at times gave ambiguous answers.[73][74] Within the Republican Party, Trump was viewed as having a more accepting view of LGBT people.[73] Trump said that he was a supporter of "traditional marriage" but that the decision on whether to allow same-sex couples to marry should be determined state by state.[75] At one point in the campaign, Trump said that "he would 'strongly consider' appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn same-sex marriage." Later in the campaign, he held a rainbow flag onstage in Greeley, Colorado to appeal to his gay supporters.[72] Soon after his election, Trump said that the law on same-sex marriage was settled "and I'm fine with that."[75]



Before and during presidential candidacy

LGBT anti-discrimination laws

In a February 2000 interview with The Advocate, Trump said he supported amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include the category of sexual orientation and supported federal hate crime legislation that would cover sexual orientation.[76]



Trump has offered qualified support for the First Amendment Defense Act, which aims to protect those who oppose same-sex marriage based on their religious beliefs from action by the federal government, such as revocation of tax-exempt status, grants, loans, benefits, or employment.[77] Trump said, "If Congress considers the First Amendment Defense Act a priority, then I will do all I can to make sure it comes to my desk for signatures and enactment."[78][79]



In April 2015, when asked about the Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Trump responded that Indiana Governor (and future running mate) Mike Pence "didn't do a good job. He wasn't clear in what he said." Trump then asserted that religious freedom and nondiscrimination aren't "mutually exclusive."[80]



In April 2016, Trump criticized North Carolina's North Carolina House Bill 2, which eliminates all private employment and public accommodation anti-discrimination laws not covered by statewide law, and legislates that in government buildings, individuals may only use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates, saying: "North Carolina did something that was very strong and they're paying a big price. ... You leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom they feel is appropriate, there has been so little trouble, and the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife, and the economic punishment that they're taking."[81][82] Trump stated: "I fully understand if they [North Carolina] want to go through, but they are losing business and they are having a lot of people come out against."[83] The bill is controversial because it prevents transgender people who do not or cannot alter their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity.[84][85][86][87] Later that April, Trump took the position that states have the right to enact such legislation and that the federal government should not become involved.[88] He did not express an opinion on whether the law was right or wrong.[83] In July 2016, Trump again emphasized a states' rights approach regarding HB2,[89][90] saying, "The state, they know what's going on, they see what's happening and generally speaking I’m with the state on things like this. I’ve spoken with your governor, I’ve spoken with a lot of people and I’m going with the state."[89][88]



LGBT hate crime laws

In a February 2000 interview with The Advocate, Trump stated in response to the murder of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd that he wanted a more "tolerant society" and he would "absolutely" support hate crime legislation on the basis of their race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.[91]



LGBT military service

In an October 1999 appearance on Meet the Press, Trump said gays openly serving in the military was "not something that would disturb me."[19] At a rally in October 2016, Candidate Trump called the open military service of transgender Americans a result of a "political correct military" and said that he would "very strongly" defer to the recommendations of top military officers on the issue of transgender military personnel.[92]



Same-sex marriage

In 2000, Trump stated "he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman."[73] During his 2016 campaign for the presidency, he said that he supported "traditional marriage"[3] and opposed same-sex marriage.[93]



In June 2015, when asked about the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, he said: "I would have preferred states, you know, making the decision and I let that be known. But they made the decision. ... So, at a certain point you have to be realistic about it."[94] Later, in the run up to the Iowa caucuses on February 1, 2016, Trump stated that if elected he would strongly consider appointing Supreme Court justices that would overturn Obergefell.[95][96] When asked if gay couples should be able access the same benefits as married couples, Trump said that his "attitude on it has not been fully formed."[97] The Advocate, an American LGBT-interest magazine, characterized Trump's Supreme Court picks as "LGBT-unfriendly," noting that "not all have ruled in LGBT rights cases, but those who have are largely unsympathetic, and some have the backing of anti-LGBT activists."[98]



In November 2016, shortly after the presidential election, Trump told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes that his personal view on same-sex marriage was "irrelevant" and that he was "fine with" same-sex marriage, stating that the issue was "settled" in the Obergefell decision.[75][99]



Other statements

Trump is the first Republican presidential nominee to mention the LGBT community at a Republican National Convention acceptance speech,[100] saying in his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention: "As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology"—a reference to fundamentalist Islam.[101]



Presidency

As a political candidate, Trump largely avoided issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, even while many in his family — including daughter Ivanka Trump — have been vocal supporters of LGBT people. But since taking office, the Trump administration has rolled back a number of protections, including those for transgender schoolchildren.[6]



On January 30, 2017, Donald Trump and the White House stated that they would keep in place a 2014 executive order from the Obama administration which created federal workplace protections for LGBT people, with the White House released a statement saying that the President was "respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights" and noted that he was the first Republican nominee to raise the issue in his acceptance speech as the 2016 Republican National Convention.[102] However, in March 2017, the Trump administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections for LGBT people.[103] The Trump administration rescinded requirements that federal contractors prove that they are complying with the LGBT workplace protections, which makes it difficult to tell if a contractor had refrained from discriminatory practices against LGBT individuals.[104][103] LGBT advocates have argued that this is a signal that the Trump administration will not enforce workplace violations against LGBT people.[105][103][104]



In February 2017, Trump's Justice Department withdrew a motion that had previously been filed by the Justice Department, "seeking to allow transgender students in public schools to use the restroom with which they identify." The move, which occurred within two days of Jeff Sessions becoming U.S. Attorney General, was condemned by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights advocacy group.[106]



Also in February, the Trump administration kept U.S. diplomat Randy W. Berry in his position as the State Department's Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons, a post created in 2015 under the Obama administration. This move surprised pro-LGBT rights groups such as GLAAD and was a defeat for Christian right groups such as the Family Research Council, which "implored Trump to launch a major purge of pro-LGBT diplomats inside Foggy Bottom."[107]



In March 2017, the Trump administration rolled back efforts to collect data on LGBT Americans.[105] The Health and Human Services removed a question about sexual orientation in a survey of the elderly.[105][108] The U.S. Census Bureau, which had planned to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey, scrapped those plans in March 2017.[109]



On July 26, 2017, Trump announced on Twitter that transgender people would not be allowed to serve in the military "in any capacity", saying that American forces could not afford the "tremendous medical costs and disruption" of transgender service members.[110] However, a RAND study of 18 countries that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military found "little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness."[111] Also, according to the Scientific American, studies have shown that the medical costs for transgender service members would be "minimal".[112] Pentagon officials expressed dismay that Trump's tweets could open them up to lawsuits and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the policy on who is allowed to serve would not change until the White House sends the Defense Department new rules and the secretary of defense issues new guidelines.[113] On August 25 Trump signed a memo prohibiting transgender individuals from joining the armed services unless the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security recommend otherwise. The departments of Defense and Homeland Security are directed to determine what to do about currently serving transgender individuals.[114]



Also on July 26, the Department of Justice argued in court that federal civil rights law does not ban employers from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation. The Obama administration had decided that it did.[115][116]



The policy change faced legal challenges. Following a challenge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on October 30, 2017 Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked enforcement of the ban, writing that as far as could be seen, "all of the reasons proffered by the president for excluding transgender individuals from the military in this case were not merely unsupported, but were actually contradicted by the studies, conclusions and judgment of the military itself".[117][118] In March 2018, Trump announced a new policy on transgender service members, namely a ban on those with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which would effectively be a ban on most transgender service members.[119] The new policy was challenged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. On April 13, 2018 Judge Marsha J. Pechman blocked enforcement of the policy, ruling that the administration's updated policy essentially repeated the same issues as its predecessor order from 2017, and that transgender service members (and transgender individuals as a class) were a protected class entitled to strict scrutiny of adverse laws (or at worst, a quasi-suspect class), and ordered that matter continue to a full trial hearing on the legality of the proposed policy.[120][121][122][123]

The coal industry was ill-prepared to fight the EPA — an aggressively arrogant, if not entirely rogue, activist agency. The EPA took advantage of the fact that its rules didn’t target the coal industry directly, but instead pressured the coal industry’s customers — coal-burning electric utilities. The EPA’s regulations forced the utilities to reduce emissions from their coal plants.



The EPA regulation known as the Mercury Air Transport Standard was so expensive for utilities to implement that it made more economic sense just to shutter many of their coal-burning power plants — a task made easier by the surge in cheap natural gas and the fact that the moribund Obama economy has not expanded in such a way as to necessitate an meaningful increases in electricity generation.