It’s true… it happened. Last week, Donald J. Trump was elected America’s 45th President.
On Tuesday night and very early into Wednesday morning, you saw all of media scratching their heads. They were completely baffled by how close this race was turning out to be.
How could this happen? Their polls told them something totally different… Clinton was in favor, and she was on her way to be America’s first woman president.
The only logical conclusion the media could come up with was that the American people were seeking revenge on Washington. Their voices weren’t being heard and haven’t been heard in a really long time…
And Donald Trump heard them — he would be their beacon of hope.
He’s the only president-elect in U.S. history that will be taking over the Oval Office with no political or military experience. His claim to fame has been more or less being a businessman, a TV celebrity, and a man who “tells it like it is.”
As a businessman, he’s been openly critical of several big technology companies such as Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). And as a presidential candidate, he’s in favor of policies that will make it difficult for developmental growth within the industry.
He’s proposed policies like taxing companies that manufacture products overseas. He believes tech companies need to stop working overseas and depriving Americans of potential jobs.
But what he doesn’t realize is his direct criticism towards specific tech companies and his vague policies will have a huge influence on technology’s growth, along with current and potential American jobs…
Which would contradict one of his most stressed promises to his voters: to bring back jobs.
Trump’s Tech Vendetta Could Affect U.S. Jobs
Earlier this year at an event in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, Trump said:
What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number.
He was calling for a consumer boycott of Apple when Apple refused to help the FBI gain access to the phone of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack.
Trump went even further, saying:
First of all, the phone isn’t even owned by this young thug that killed all of these people… Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) is looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is.
Well, if Trump is concerned about jobs in the U.S., he should look at these numbers…
According to Apple, in the U.S:
- Apple directly employs 66,000 people.
- It has 627,000 jobs that support its iOS ecosystem.
- In its 265 retail stores, Apple employs about 30,000 people.
- There are 20,000 construction-related jobs that are needed to build Apple’s retail stores.
- The company has added 52,000 jobs in the past 10 years prior to 2015.
That’s a lot of U.S. jobs being put into jeopardy because Trump isn’t particularly fond of certain CEOs or the way these companies conduct business.
Another instance was during an interview with Fox News earlier this year. While being interviewed, Trump said:
Every hour we’re getting calls from reporters from The Washington Post asking ridiculous questions and I will tell you, this owned as a toy by Jeff Bezos, who controls Amazon. Amazon is getting away with murder taxwise.
And he went even further by saying:
Amazon is controlling so much of what they’re doing, and what they’ve done is he bought this paper for practically nothing and he’s using that as a tool for political power against me and against people and I’ll tell you what, we can’t let him get away with it.
Amazon reported in December 2015 that it has more than 90,000 full-time employees working in its fulfillment and sorting facilities throughout the country.
Again, that’s a lot of jobs being put in jeopardy because of what seems like a personal vendetta against the Washington Post and Jeff Bezos.
Trump wants to bring back and add more industrial jobs to the workforce, which is all well and good. But his exclusion of another thriving job force won’t be beneficial to the U.S. economy or population, especially to the Americans who have or are currently getting an education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
STEM fields have been at the forefront of innovation while providing jobs to many individuals, especially U.S. citizens.
The Department for Professional Employees reported that in 2015, there were 4,360,000 people employed in computer and mathematical occupations, while there were 2,954,000 people employed in architecture and engineering occupations.
These professions are the driving force behind advancing technology and enhancing our way of life, and if we want to remain a relevant global leader, we’ll need to continue growing in this industry, instead of ignoring it and considering it a “problem” that needs to be fixed by policies that will ultimately hinder global growth.
Trump’s policies are kind of up in the air right now, and it’s hard to predict how or if any of them will actually come into fruition. But if they do, technology and the economy could definitely see some changes.
Until next time,
Monica Savaglia
Wealth Daily
