It’s hard to believe that President Trump was re-elected roughly a year ago, and that he has been back in office almost nine months. Trump didn’t waste anytime upon taking office, putting ICE to work right away on deporting illegal aliens and deploying the National Guard to crack down on crime-ridden cities. He flooded Washington with executive orders, which, while potentially fleeting, have made it difficult for activist judges to keep up with the flurry of changes. He (sort of) started a trade war with most of the war, which, if not exactly consistent, shook up international markets and put the world on notice that the free ride at America’s expense is over.
I’m largely satisfied with Trump’s progress so far. My major concerns are that he has been too inconsistent on tariffs; too slow on swamp drainage (although the massive layoffs during the government shutdown, as well as the DOGE-payouts, were huge); and too cozy with certain lobbies. As to the first, I figure he is using tariffs more as a foreign policy cudgel and/or carrot than as a consistent policy towards repatriating American manufacturing. To the second, I think we’re facing a “root-and-branch” situation that requires a radical, near-total replacement of official Washington. For the third, even there Trump is showing signs of shaking off his dogged devotion to his donors of dubious dual loyalties.
Those quibbles aside, things are demonstrably better than they were one year ago. The Democrats are something of a national laughingstock. Major corporations are shifting into alignment with elements of Trumpism. The rampant Leftism of the culture has become more muted. I have no illusions that these changes are permanent, but they suggest that the powers-that-be are cowed.
All of that said, I’m eager to see what happens next—and to prepare for Vance’s presidency.
With that, here is 7 November 2024’s “TBT: Trumparion Rising“:
The Portly Politico 