The ten best things about Trump
There is a clear dissonance between those who think Trump is great and those who think he is awful. Those who think Trump is great don’t seem capable of understanding why people might disagree with them, and hence just use labels such as Trump Derangement Syndrome.
But also those who think Trump is awful, often can’t understand why a lot of people do like or even love him.
I am one of those who think Trump is awful, but I understand why others support him. So I thought it would be useful to blog the ten things I most like about Trump. Tomorrow I will do the 10 things I most dislike. Finally on Friday I will blog on what my preferred outcome from the US election is in terms of not just the presidency, but also the Senate and House.
So the ten things I most like about Trump.
1 He will sometimes defy the conventional wisdom
Conventional wisdom is often wise, but more to the point is is always conventional. It is good for a leader to sometimes go against the bureaucracy and so called experts. The best example I can think of is recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Every analyst and expert and the entire State Department no doubt said this would be a disaster. That it would lead to years of rioting in the Middle East, and permanently isolate the United States. But Trump did it anyway, and almost nothing happened. There were a few protests for a few weeks, and that was it. There was violence in Gaze (no surprise) but two years later the issue is not an active one.
Note also the law of the United States (passed 374-37 in House and 94-5) in the Senate recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and requires the US Embassy to be located there. It just had never been implemented as Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama had all done repeated six month delay waivers because their officials had told them it would be a disaster to comply. Trump ignore the conventional wisdom and proved it wrong.
Note I am not saying it is good to always defy conventional wisdom (especially on pandemics). But there is no point in having a President who only rubberstamps what officials recommend.
2 Judicial Appointments
Both the quantity and quality of judicial appointments have been awesome. I support the originalist judicial philosophy of Justice Scalia and it has been great to see so many Judges appointed who share that philosophy.
I think Justices Kavanagh and Gorsuch have been good Supreme Court picks. By that I don’t just mean the vote 5-4 with the other Republican appointees. Gorsuch authored an excellent piece on a case about promises made to Native Indians, and rightfully held the Government to account for not keeping their word. And Kavanagh voted in favour of the Manhattan District Attorney being able to access President Trumps’ tax records.
One reason why I think Trump’s picks have been so good, is because he has effectively outsources them to the Federalist Society. Other Presidents have had a history in politics so they often have lawyers they know whom they try to appoint. Bush tried to make his WH Counsel a Supreme Court Associate Justice. Trump has no personal favourites so he just goes along with the Federalist Society which ensures none of his picks will turn out to be David Souters
3) He tries really hard to keep his promises
Many Presidents campaign on one thing and do another. Both Clinton and Obama ran against NAFTA but then supported it in office. Trump ran against NAFTA and insisted on a renegotiation. I disagree with him on the substance, but I like the fact he actually tries to implement what he promised.
He promised to withdraw from the Iran agreement and the Paris agreement and he did. Again I disagree with him, but he kept his word.
4) His instincts are anti-interventionist
The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned into quagmires. There may have been legitimate reasons at the time, but almost 20 years later it is time they were left to their own devices. Trump is much more cautious about engaging in foreign conflicts than other Presidents – which is good.
However he has shown he will act when a red line is crossed, as happened in Syria with use of chemical weapons.
5) He is more available to the media than any other modern President
He doesn’t just do a couple of press conferences a month, but is constantly doing media interviews, standups etc. Other Presidents tightly scripted their media appearances, but Trump loves talking to the media.
An ABC White House reporter once remarked he had more opportunities in two weeks to ask Trump questions than he had in two years with Obama.
6) He delivered large tax cuts
He dropped the 15% tax rate to 12%, the 25% rate to 22%, the 28% rate to 24%, the 33% rate to 32% and the 40% rate to 37%. Also doubled the child tax credit.
7) He is reasonably open about his motives
Most politicians spend their careers coming up with acceptable justifications for what they want to do. Trump often tells it straight.
He admitted he sacked Comey because of the Russia investigation. He says he doesn’t want liners with Covid passengers to dock as it will make US stats look worse.
Often his staff will spend days or weeks pushing an official line, and then Trump will contradict it. I might not like why he does these things, but at least he is upfront about it. And I’m not saying he doesn’t dissemble like other politicians do. But they are more disciplined at it, while Trump often lets the truth slip out.
8) He is sceptical of regulations
Not all regulations are bad, but neither are all of them good. Governments often crush businesses with regulation after regulation, with little understanding of the cumulative weight of them. Trump’s administration has rolled back regulations. I’m sure I disagree with some of the ones he got rid of, but I approve of the overall direction of travel.
9) Middle East peace deals
We now have three Muslim majority countries that have signed peace deals with Israel. Historic.
10) He is a cultural warrior against the woke cancel culture
There is a culture war. On one side they want to relabel mothers as birthing parents, change the founding of the US from 1776 to 1619, make people pay reparations for something that ended 155 years ago, silence conservative voices on campus and have all of society based on intersectional theory.
Many politicians, even on the right, just silently acquiesce to this.
Trump is a warrior against wokism, cancel culture and political correctness. People feel he is the only one in their corner, fighting for them. This is a major part of his appeal – he is a fighter, willing to stand up to the other side. He won’t acquiese.
So they’re my ten good things about Trump. I’d encourage people in comments to list others – even if like me you are not a Trump fan overall.
As I said tomorrow I’ll do the ten worst things about Trump, in my view. Keep any negative comments for that thread.