Why Trump still matters.

Photo by Paul L. Gleiser

Paul GleiserWhy Trump still matters.

 


Let’s stipulate that even if you voted for Donald Trump twice and will do so a third time if given the opportunity, he is a mixed bag.

On policy he is nearly pitch perfect. It’s hard for Democrats, members of the elite media and Republican Never-Trumpers to argue that Trump’s presidency wasn’t a policy success. That doesn’t keep them from trying. But the unassailable facts leave them little with which to work.

During Trump’s presidency the American economy took off. Unemployment dropped to historically low levels – particularly for women and minorities. Black unemployment during Trump’s presidency was the lowest ever recorded.

Inflation when Trump left office stood at 1.5 percent. At no point in his presidency did it exceed 2.4 percent.

During Trump’s administration the United States was a net exporter of energy for the first time in seven decades. That fact provided the leverage necessary for Trump to broker the Abraham Accords, the most meaningful and significant step toward peace in the Middle East since the formation of the State of Israel more than 75 years ago.

With Trump in charge the U.S. border was more secure than at any time in recent memory. Bad guys like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and China’s Xi Jingping kept their totalitarian and militaristic excesses in check. ISIS – for nearly the entirety of Obama’s administration a terror scourge upon the world – was effectively wiped out.

Trump the president was a success. Trump the politician not nearly as much so.

For all his pitch perfect policy, Donald Trump clangs – loudly and often – in the way he behaves and speaks. The most glaring example lies in his continued re-litigation of the 2020 election. When the Supreme Court refused to hear the post-election suit against Georgia and Wisconsin brought by Texas and joined by 18 other states, the election was over – like it or not. Trump has wasted enormous political capital by continuing to harp on it.

But, for all that, here’s why he remains relevant. Here’s why he is still the frontrunner among potential Republican candidates. It’s an excerpt from his 2017 inaugural address.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.”

Every single word of that passage is more true than ever. And establishment Washington – meaning most Democrats and far, far too many Republicans – wishes it to remain true.

And they loathe Trump for calling them out on it.

More than inflation, the border, China or the economy, this excerpt from Trump’s inaugural address goes to the very core of the challenge that this country faces.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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7 Responses

  1. Jim says:

    Spot on, as usual Paul. Now I’d like to offer 3 reasons why I wish Trump didn’t matter…..

    1) Trump continued a legacy of recent presidents that refused to reign in spending, even a little bit. A good case can be made that problem inflation was inevitable, and abundant jobs were purchased at a high cost in the form massive debt. He’s an ok businessman, but a poor person to trust with our public finances.
    2) Trump was buried by the legal system (DOJ/FBI primarily) because of his mishandling of key appointments and problem issues. And his refusal to identify and listen to wise counsel created a PR catastrophe. And I’m not sure Trump learned anything from his mistakes.
    3) If re-elected, Trump will take office as a 78 yr old. By all accounts I’m a healthy, high performing senior myself. But I’m starting to understand that time always wins out against an energetic personality. It’s inevitable. Is it reasonable to think that Trump will succeed against “the swamp” this time when he’s starting out 8 years older than before?

    I won’t mention narcissism, womanizing, and all of Trump’s other personal failings. It’s enough to say that our country is in trouble and it’s hard to see a Trump that leads us out of the abyss. I get a sour stomach thinking about having to vote for Trump for a third time.

  2. Linda M says:

    In the first place, for me, I voted for President Trump TWICE BECAUSE he was not a politician! We need LESS career politicians in Washington and more regular people in office. After all, that is how our forefathers saw it. Regular people doing their civic duty and then going back to their lives they left to serve. This is why I have been an advocate for TERM LIMITS for at least 20 years or better. Somewhere along the line we were derailed and President Trump tried to put us back on track. THIS is why the career politicians hate him and why regular people, like myself, LOVE HIM! He is for AMERICA first and her citizens! Name one other President who donated his salary to different causes instead of keeping it!

  3. John Tatum says:

    President Trump is a brave man. He is not popular with the Democratic Party and the Deep State.
    There hate for President Trump is out of control. However, he was and is a great man who really supported the people of America. He was a responsible president unlike Biden and the crazy Dems.
    He has my vote.

  4. Richard Anderson says:

    From what we have learned since the 2020 presidential election, it is more than clear that there WAS massive interference i.e. election FRAUD. Thus, DJT was denied his rightful victory.. that of being sworn in as President on January 20, 2021.

    THE TWITTER FILES, as the American People are just now learning, with independent journalists testifying on Capitol Hill, are shinning a SPOTLIGHT on a number of matters that our own national government was working AGAINST The Constitution of The United States. Millions of Citizens still hold to that document, that it is supreme, NOT federal agencies which have become corrupted at the top echelons of power run by bureaucrats.

    President Trump won, in my humble opinion in 2020, and I will be voting for him again in 2024.

    As President Trump has recently said, there must be accountability for the deliberate wrongful actions against him, and “We The People” of The United States of America.

  5. Chris Clarke says:

    Words my friends mean nothing to those programmed not to listen. Even the lack of words did not prove to be handicap for the 2020 and 2022 elections.The results for the Arizona Govenor and Pennsylvania Senate seats paint an ominous picture for the future of our country. The decline will be gradual, but California here we come!
    in terms of accountabiliy, just like there is no crying baseball, there is no accountability for Democrats or their support system.

    • Mike says:

      Yep, if the only way we can hold these self entitled kings and queens accountable is at the ballot box we are screwed, blued, and tattoo’d as the saying goes. It is a certainty they don’t listen to their constituents or if they do, memory is short lived. Texas can be as honest as the day is long in our ballot box integrity; but if Nevada, Arizonia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan are not; bye, bye American Pie, we cannot drive our Chevy’s to the levee cuz we ain’t got no gas, it has gone dry!

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