Even Trump did some good things as president

 I have clearly and consistently expressed my disdain for President Trump for more than 25 years.  Nonetheless, I recognize that, as President, he did some things well.  It is important that we respect each other and acknowledge each other’s contributions, rather than condemning everything an opponent does.  Here are 10 things President Trump did well, in random order:

1. He forced the fate of the “dreamers” back to Congress.  Congress should pass appropriate immigration reform, addressing dreamers as part of the package.
2. His tax law was much better than his critics say.  I’m a “high tax” guy, so this comment is coming from a meaningful source.  I studied the law in depth when it was passed and was impressed by some of the provisions.  For example, both parties had agreed that our businesses needed lower tax rates to be able to compete in international trade.  The law brilliantly broke new ground to assure that independent businesses (like mine) that were not involved in trade would not benefit from lower tax rates.  There were provisions in the law which Democrats had supported…, until they were included in a Republican bill.  At that point, the ideas they had supported suddenly became terrible ideas.
3. While I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision (overturning Roe v Wade, see my blog) and suspect that, when I study it, I will disagree with the Creative LLC decision (allowing the web designer to refuse, based on free speech concerns, to create a website for an LGBT couple), Trump created a Supreme Court which strongly supports separation of powers.  That is a very positive development (see my blog on the importance of Separation of Powers).  Some Democrats and media scurrilously defamed his appointees as likely Trump stooges, ignoring these appointees’ track record which made clear that they would not support inappropriate Trump presidential power.  For example, some repeatedly described Kavanaugh as believing “the President is above the law”.  If you look at this Supreme Court’s decisions, you’ll see I’m right.  Also, the January 6^th hearings made clear that everybody was sure that Trump would lose 9-0 if his efforts were brought to the Supreme Court.  (How often have you heard the mainstream media juxtapose that evidence with their comments during the judges’ nomination processes?)
4. During President Trump’s administration, the relationship between Israel and Arab countries improved.  See Abraham Accords, for example.  President Trump’s strong support of Israel led to a more realistic willingness on the part of Arabs to negotiate with Israel.  (If the plight of the Palestinians is such a concern for the Arab states, why has the living standard of Palestinians not improved immeasurably in the 75 years since Israel was formed?  Why have the oil-rich Arab countries not done more to help the Palestinians?  Might it be because they need Palestinians to be struggling to support their political opposition to Israel?)
5. President Trump pressured Europe to strengthen its defenses.
6. I don’t think it is an accident that Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea during President Obama’s administration and Ukraine during President Biden’s administration but did not make such incursions while President Trump was in office (see my blog about the Ukraine war).
7. During President Trump’s administration, unemployment lowered to levels his predecessor had told us were unattainable.  Furthermore, these low unemployment rates occurred with more people entering the workforce.  (High unemployment rates are routinely underestimated because they ignore those who have stopped looking for work.)  COVID interrupted this progress, but President Trump is not responsible for COVID having occurred.
8. On a percentage basis, income gains were higher for lower economic classes and minorities.  We needed more progress, but that was a step in the right direction.  COVID interrupted this progress, but President Trump is not responsible for COVID having occurred.
9. Previous to Trump, our federal government wielded troubling regulatory overreach.  Agencies had assumed power and played the role of prosecutor, judge and jury.  The violation of due process was huge.  People had been compelled to accede to an unfair regulatory ruling because they knew that if they fought the ruling, the final judgment would be made by the agency.  According to a WSJ editorial on 3Jul23, the SEC has won 61% of its cases that were adjudicated in federal courts but 100% of the 200 cases adjudicated inside the SEC. Trump thankfully pushed back on this process.
10. The COVID vaccine was developed in record time during his presidency.  I don’t know how much he contributed to that success, but Presidents routinely are given credit for good things that happen during their administration.

 

The Many Risks To Which President Trump Exposed Our Country

 In my view, all great societies crash.  A key reason why they crash is because citizens take their rights for granted.  They are not willing to fight for them.  Most people in our society are too busy addressing their urgent needs to attend to our country’s most important needs.

President Trump was a threat to our country in many ways:

The following threats are over if he never becomes president again.  These threats were mitigated by patriots who served in his administration, accepting abuse from critics, while protecting our country against Trump’s impulses.

1. His short attention span and unwillingness to consider issues deeply clearly exposed us to risk while he was President. 
2. He Is not loyal to the United States, his supporters, or anyone else.  His decisions are driven by his personal interests.
3. His volatility exposed us to significant risk.
4. His authoritarianism was a threat while he was in power.  This threat was also mitigated by patriotic election officials such as, but not limited to, Brad Raffensperger.  (Trump’s core supporters can continue to be a threat as demonstrated on January 6^th, 2021, but such threats will not succeed.)
5. His alienation of allies was a threat.   (There is a remaining threat that allies might be less confident in us for a long period of time.  In general, our process contributes to such concerns.  However, this may not be a big threat, thanks partly to Putin.)

President Trump leaves residual damage in the following areas:

6. Civility: Trump has had what may be a permanent effect on reducing civility and respect in our society.   We desperately need to elect people who will restore such respect and who will work to bring us together.  The most recent President who worked to bring us together was President Clinton.  I thought Presidents Obama and Biden would do so, but I quickly discovered that I was wrong.  Probably Senator McCain was the most recent major party Presidential nominee who would have done so.
7. Promoting lies as truth: I don’t think Trump even understands what truth is (see the blog I wrote about him in 2016).  It continues to surprise me how much his core supporters believe him when it is so obvious that he is lying.  Part of the reason is that Democrats and the media have lied about Trump a lot.  When Trump was elected, I asked my Democratic representatives not to lie about him because I feared that would solidify his base.  While I think the lies about Trump did solidify his base, I now suspect that a significant part of his base would have supported him even if the media and Democrats had not lied about him.  In fairness, this characteristic is not limited to Trump.  President Biden doesn’t speak in public a lot but when he does, he lies and misrepresents frequently.  He is a more effective liar because he seems more honest.  President Obama was a really effective liar because of his speaking skills.  Obama lied less frequently than Trump or Biden.  He was selective, another reason he was more effective.   Trump’s negative impact on recognition of truth has residual effect.  But most politicians contribute to this.  Our society’s drift away from recognizing truth cannot be attributed to wholly to Trump, nor solely to politicians as a group.

I think the greatest risk that President Trump created is the risk of the potential reaction to President Trump.  Frequently in history, citizens have freely relinquished their rights to correct the problems of a past government.  I respect that a lot of people suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome.  They reasonably thought our republic was at greater risk than I did, but, more importantly, they discounted the risk from the left.  I have had many conversations with people who blindly support candidates who are anti-Trump.  Some have flat-out told me that they don’t care if the politician is a liar, as long as the politician is against Trump.  Although I did not think January 6^th would occur, I was right that such an effort would fail.  The bigger risk is that people respond by relinquishing our rights, intentionally supporting or not opposing the political indoctrination in our educational system, the lack of free speech on college campuses and elsewhere, and the societal pressure not to speak, or listen to, conservative thought.