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[h=1]Think Donald Trump is floundering? Think again – he is on a roll[/h]
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[*=left]ROB CRILLY
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[FONT="]5 JANUARY 2018 • 4:29PM[/FONT]
He was the candidate who didn’t know how to campaign, the runner who couldn’t win. Then be became president who didn’t know how to govern, who was not supposed to see out 2017 without being impeached.
At every step of this improbable presidency Donald Trump was supposed to flame out, crash back to earth under the weight of prosecution, Congressional defeat and historically bad approval ratings.
As 2018 begins to unfold, this president’s record is already looking rather different.
You might not like him, his manner or the things that he has done, but to say that he is failing is to deliberately ignore the record of the past 12 months.
The year ended on a high with the tax bill, delivered with almost unanimous Republican backing and delivering a bigger corporate tax cut than either of the Bushes managed.
At every step of this improbable presidency Donald Trump was supposed to flame out, crash back to earth under the weight of prosecution, Congressional defeat and historically bad approval ratings.
As 2018 begins to unfold, this president’s record is already looking rather different.
You might not like him, his manner or the things that he has done, but to say that he is failing is to deliberately ignore the record of the past 12 months.
The year ended on a high with the tax bill, delivered with almost unanimous Republican backing and delivering a bigger corporate tax cut than either of the Bushes managed.
All the while Mr Trump has been tilting the courts to the Right
He has made the most of the executive powers he wields, scything down or limiting more than 1500 regulations on the environment, health care, financial services – and with them much of the legacy of Barack Obama.
Mr Trump was unable to overturn Obamacare, of course, but provisions in the tax bill end the individual mandate, the requirement that everyone had to sign up for health insurance and one of the elements most despised by conservatives.
Mr Trump was unable to overturn Obamacare, of course, but provisions in the tax bill end the individual mandate, the requirement that everyone had to sign up for health insurance and one of the elements most despised by conservatives.
He can even claim to have won a war. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant will never disappear as long as its ideology can spread across the internet, but its physical caliphate been comprehensively rolled up in Iraq and Syria. The doom-mongers’ predictions that this administration’s foreign policy would spark fresh conflict have so far not come true, even if it sometimes feels as if we are only ever a tweet away from the apocalypse.
Appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was a significant victory for Donald Trump CREDIT: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP PHOTO
All the while Mr Trump has been tilting the courts to the Right. As well as appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court – one of the actions most celebrated by conservatives – he has been quietly stocking the appeals courts and circuit.
In fact, The New York Times says the eight appellate judges is the most appointed this early in a presidency since Richard Nixon, and the dozen circuit court judges is the most appointed during a president’s first year in more than a century.
In fact, The New York Times says the eight appellate judges is the most appointed this early in a presidency since Richard Nixon, and the dozen circuit court judges is the most appointed during a president’s first year in more than a century.
This list of accomplishments is a reminder of what he was elected to do. They are real, consequential and popular with his supporters
Even the travel ban – which had been battered and burned in the courts – won a partial reprieve at the Supreme Court.
Friday’s jobs figures brought news of the 87th consecutive month of growth in employment a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke above the 25,000 mark for the first time.
And the famous wall is moving ahead. Who knows whether it will ever be built; and it seems clear that Mexico will not be paying for it. But eight prototypes now stand proudly in the California desert near the border.
It took some time for the Trump presidency to get moving but these are significant wins.
As the more reliable of commentators have said all along, watch not what Mr Trump says and tweets but what he does.
This list of accomplishments is a reminder of what he was elected to do. They are real, consequential and popular with his supporters.
This has implications for his opponents, who still believe they need do nothing more than be ready for when Mr Trump fails under the weight of his own bluster.
For the time being he still has Congress and the majority of governors across the nation as goes about reshaping the country in his own image.
Look beyond the Russia investigation, Twitter spats and boorish behaviour. Ignore the impeachment clamour and the mix of studied ignorance and political naivety laid bare in Michael Wolff’s new book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” and this is still a president with real power and one who has now gained momentum.
It took some time for the Trump presidency to get moving but these are significant wins.
As the more reliable of commentators have said all along, watch not what Mr Trump says and tweets but what he does.
This list of accomplishments is a reminder of what he was elected to do. They are real, consequential and popular with his supporters.
This has implications for his opponents, who still believe they need do nothing more than be ready for when Mr Trump fails under the weight of his own bluster.
For the time being he still has Congress and the majority of governors across the nation as goes about reshaping the country in his own image.
Look beyond the Russia investigation, Twitter spats and boorish behaviour. Ignore the impeachment clamour and the mix of studied ignorance and political naivety laid bare in Michael Wolff’s new book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” and this is still a president with real power and one who has now gained momentum.
Biggest achievement by far is Gorsuch. It stops stupid people from doing stupid things.
Next is tax cuts. Not so much for the taxpayers as it is mostly symbolic but cutting
the Corporate tax will further fuel the economy.
The wall will be part of immigration overhaul. trump will negotiate with the Dems.
He'll give them some things in return for the wall and yes Mexico will pay for it
one way or the other.
I'm not sure that I care if ISIS is defeated in Syria. How much of an impact they
would of had on the world is debatable but from a purely a psychological aspect I
suppose it was a good thing.
It's a good start but there is so much more to be accomplished. Number 1 on my priority
list is weeding out the corruption in our government starting with the DOJ and FBI.
Next is cutting ties with the UN.
And last but not least we need to put a stop to wasteful spending both abroad and at home.
Next is tax cuts. Not so much for the taxpayers as it is mostly symbolic but cutting
the Corporate tax will further fuel the economy.
The wall will be part of immigration overhaul. trump will negotiate with the Dems.
He'll give them some things in return for the wall and yes Mexico will pay for it
one way or the other.
I'm not sure that I care if ISIS is defeated in Syria. How much of an impact they
would of had on the world is debatable but from a purely a psychological aspect I
suppose it was a good thing.
It's a good start but there is so much more to be accomplished. Number 1 on my priority
list is weeding out the corruption in our government starting with the DOJ and FBI.
Next is cutting ties with the UN.
And last but not least we need to put a stop to wasteful spending both abroad and at home.
