The Problem with Trump
The true legacy of Trump’s presidency will be the state of the union after his time in office. Democrats were right – and are still right – to doubt this inexperienced and unorthodox man. He was not my first choice either, but history will portray Trump as a highly consequential president. I will be the first to admit it requires great emotional patience to appreciate Trump, especially with the mainstream media hammering away at his every hiccup.
I am convinced even moderate Republicans will look back in gratitude at how Trump beat back Barack Obama’s indulgent liberalism – once they get over his populism and lack of politesse. Trump signed the largest tax cuts into law and eliminated 80 old regulations - while only adding 14 new regulations (so far). These traditional Republican actions certainly helped the unemployment rate fall to 3.9 percent in May, matching a 49-year low. And what’s not to like about Neil Gorsuch as a conservative Supreme Court justice?
Trump has also given a voice to working-class and tax-paying Americans, who felt their America was slipping away while Washington elites were asleep at the switch – or just didn’t care. The numbers of these forgotten Americans have been growing since 1992, when Ross Perot predicted that great sucking sound of manufacturing jobs leaving America. George W. Bush and Barack Obama let these Americans twist in the wind and by 2016, all hell broke loose.
President Trump was the one they wanted all along. He gave a middle finger to progressive elites and their institutions (such as Greenpeace). He took immediate action against unacceptable immigration and America’s sworn enemies. And he actually worked to create jobs and level the global playing field for American businesses. As far as the basket of deplorables is concerned, Trump has been most excellent.
Those of us who support Trump have not made a deal with the devil in return for lower taxes. We see, hear and read the same mean-spirited taunts and BS claims. As a personal aside, Trump is the polar opposite of Obama, who was all talk and no results. I am glad the USA elected a black man president, but I am still underwhelmed by Obama’s presidency. As for Hillary Clinton, enough already!
Trump has signed legislation and executive orders that should make most, if not all, Republicans happy. However, Trump’s legacy will be hard pressed to overcome his woeful communication habits. Let’s return to the Obama-Trump comparison. Obama accomplished nothing, but his communication style helped get him re-elected. Trump is accomplishing a lot, but his communication style might make him a one-term president – because Trump agitates his own party and incites hysteria in Democrats. I am just not sure the USA can stay on high alert for six more years.
Trump is not the first president to face a partisan and unfavorable press, but he is the first to attack them in such a bloodthirsty way. A free press is central to a true democracy and there is no way stop partisan spin (from Fox News or the New York Times). However, a true democracy benefits when the president is investigated and criticized by a robust press; therefore, Trump is wrong to single out individual news organizations for ridicule.
Future presidents will obviously tweak the art of the tweet – and learn from Trump’s mistakes. For example, federal judges and Democrats have thrown Trump’s anti-Muslim tweets right back at him. What a shame, if extreme vetting is banned because of a president’s frat-party invectives. Furthermore, Trump has taunted and insulted judges and politicians, employing his campaign persona: if you hit me, I will hit you back twice as hard. Trump’s hit-backs are often counterproductive and indefensible (such as attacking gold star parents). One can only hope Trump has not forever changed the tone of politics.
It is hard to imagine today’s incessant and profanity-laced attacks on the president by late-night comics if that president were Ben Carson or Jeb Bush. Trump is partially to blame for how quickly American society has sunk to the lowest common denominator. To be sure, I don’t think everyone who works for Trump is a racist, but neither do I see this president working toward a kinder and gentler America.
There is an axiom of presidential legacies: Trump will be measured against the morality of Lincoln, the congeniality of Reagan, and the modesty of Eisenhower – Republicans all. It is one thing to enter a character contest against the Clintons, and quite another to be compared to George Washington or Harry Truman.