key: cord-0061055-d0r3tcwb
authors: Renshon, Stanley
title: Leadership Style, Presidential Success, and Political Time
date: 2020-04-11
journal: The Real Psychology of the Trump Presidency
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-45391-6_5
sha: 78ef13d5c0489e7cacfbd9de691b1d1a98e2eed2
doc_id: 61055
cord_uid: d0r3tcwb

This chapter takes up issue of Trump’s presidential style and demeanor and examines his two presidencies. One is the bombastic tabloid presidency whose latest provocations and opposition responses play out across American political venues. The other is the deeply serious administration efforts to put into place Trump’s signature presidential ambitions. The chapter examines why Trump survives his ferocious opposition in spite of his own missteps. It examines several metrics of presidential “success” and begins to assess Trump’s slow but gathering momentum towards his Restoration goals. We then ask if he will remain stuck in “political time” as a “Disjunctive” president or have a chance to become a “Reconstructive” one.

necessary to complete a deal. Then you must slowly, and often quietly, begin to assemble those elements necessary to possibly succeed. You must be able to move from one to another element as necessary including having a number of Plan Bs in mind when plans to accomplish elements that cannot be nailed down or reach a dead end must be bypassed or modified. In short, you must be smart enough to see what needs to be done and flexible and ready to change direction as necessary to accomplish your goals.

Metaphorically, imagine working on several large jigsaw puzzles at the same time. Imagine that while working on one or more of them there are portions you've assembled that suddenly no longer fit together. Further, imagine that others working on the same puzzles are trying to block you from assembling your other pieces. They do so in part by trying to enlist others to do the same, including the judges that decide if the final assembly is correct. Finally, imagine that the final puzzle solution may, or more likely may not, completely resemble the picture on the cover of the puzzle box from which you are working.

In basic form, the above are features of many of the large complex Trump real estate and business initiatives, and a fair metaphor for trying to pursue presidential policy goals in the American political system while facing enormous levels of opposition. These elements are at the core of President Trump's leadership style.

It is clear that Mr. Trump is a new kind of president, one never before seen in the White House. His uniqueness is captured in the New York Times headline, "For Trump, a Year of Reinventing the Presidency." That article makes the point that, "In ways that were once unimaginable, President Trump has discarded the conventions and norms established by his predecessors." 2 The obvious manifestations of these discarded conventions include behavior that has traditionally been summarized by the term presidential demeanor. This term reflects the conventional, and long held assumption, that a president's behavior in office will follow certain set scripts and traditions. A president's (or candidate's) adherence to them is then taken to be, somewhat circularly, one indicator of how emotionally, temperamentally, and politically fit a person is to hold that office. On those grounds, considered alone, President Trump has clearly flunked that test.

President Trump is brash, sometimes crude, and can be by his own admission nasty. 3 He is endlessly argumentative and combative, almost always self-promoting in the face of his belief that he receives insufficient credit for his accomplishments, insisting loudly and publicly on doing things his way regardless of how they have been done before, and often saying what he thinks regardless of its overall or specific accuracy.

Trump does not shrink from saying what he thinks even when it is unexpected and, to many, unacceptable. For example, consider his response to a dual protest march in Charlottesville, VA that turned violent because of outside protestors from both sides of the political spectrum. Mr. Trump said that people who peacefully marched in favor of keeping a statue of Robert E. Lee in their city park and those who peacefully protested that idea were both "very fine people." 4 That violated the expectation that he should limit himself to condemning the Neo-Nazis who came into town to demonstrate there, and his remarks were widely and repeatedly misreported and mischaracterized. They still are.

Nor has Trump always said the obvious and necessary in a timely manner. He publicly praised an aide for his work while he was being forced to resign over allegations of spousal abuse. 5 He then tweeted his concern about the lack of due process that frequently accompanies sexually charged allegations, a fair and somewhat anodyne point. 6 That became more controversial however when he delayed stating that he was against such behavior for a week. 7 These and similar examples clearly reflect Trump's determination to speak his mind regardless of controversy or expectations. Yet, they also reflect the president's clear willingness, and apparent relish in defying expectations. That seems to be especially the case when speaking out is at the expense of critics whom he does not consider to have the standing to act as the moral, political, or substantive arbiters of his behavior. His supporters cheer Trump's return of establishment disdain, but for many ordinary Americans his behavior in these kinds of circumstances is unsettling and even disturbing.

In the Eyes of the Beholder: Mr.

As controversial as Trump's decided lack of conventional presidential demeanor is, it has had mixed consequences for his presidency. For some, on both sides of the political divide, it is a reflection of the fact that Trump seems to prefer fighting to governing and has essentially abandoned the idea of having what many would consider, and prefer, what used to be a "normal presidency". 8 However, a "normal" presidency in the country's current political circumstances may not be possible, especially if your presidential purpose, like Trump's, is American Restoration-a reconstructive presidential goal in Skowronek's terms. 9 NeverTrump opponents from all points of the political spectrum fervently oppose him. Among this group are those who believe that the frequency and nature of Trump's public fights and lack of presidential decorum are prima facie evidence that he suffers from a "dangerous mental illness" and should be removed from office. 10 Yet other voters have come see this unorthodox and unprecedented style as Trump just being Trump.

It is still is not preferred behavior, but over time, it has become less disorienting. In this group, evaluations of Trump may now be seen in the context of some Trump policy accomplishments publicly centered on the economy, 11 and other policy areas like his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. This is likely one reason why even early on in his presidency polls found that even if Mr. Trump himself flunks popularity polls, his policy measures are more popular with voters than he is. 12 That is likely one reason that although Mr. Trump personally has historically low approval ratings, after almost four years in office, they were, for a time, on the rise, 13 and recently reached a high of 49% before again retreating. 14 For many Trump supporters, of course, it is exactly his willingness to flout convention by not following Marquis of Queensbury rules when being attacked and continuously taking on establishment policy conventions, that make him a president who inspires their hope and trust.

As one analysis put it 15 17 Any fair assessment of Trump's presidential demeanor would have to include evidence that he is perfectly capable of normal presidential behavior. He has paid presidential visits to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed. 18 He has traveled to Andrews Air Force base to pay his respects to soldiers killed in an Afghanistan helicopter crash. 19 He has spoken to the country in the aftermath of the killing of seventeen students in Florida with words of compassion and empathy. 20 He met with families and students connected with that tragedy and listened and responded to their outpouring of anger and grief with efforts at consoling and promises to find a solution. 21 He visited flood-ravaged Texas with words of encouragement and federal aid. 22 He gave a well-received speech to a joint session of Congress, 23 and delivered a perfectly normal first State of the Union address in 2018 24 that was approved of by 75% of those who saw it 25 and an equally normal 2020 State of the Union address after his impeachment. 26 And he conducted an "extraordinary," 27 full-scale cabinet meeting and debate with members of both parties present on immigration that was carried live for over an hour.

The point of noting these clearly more "normal," even ordinary, examples of presidential demeanor is to underscore the point that Trump is clearly capable of being both "presidential," and of unequivocally failing the demeanor test. Since he is capable of doing both, the question arises: what accounts for his choices to do one or the other?

Is President Trump's leadership style a reflection of some kind of split personality-a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde psychology over which he has no control and which comes upon him suddenly, as one analysis suggested? 28 Or, as another pundit reaching for the same metaphor while disclaiming any intention of "attempting a clinical diagnosis" asked, do we see unfolding the "emerging outlines of a bipolar presidency"? 29 That phrasing is unhelpful since "bipolar" is a clinical term that refers to alternating states of mania and depression. Nowhere is there evidence of this psychiatric syndrome in Mr. Trump himself or in his presidency more generally. Still, as the above discussion of Trump's presidential demeanor makes clear, there are two strong very publicly visible currents operating in tandem in the Trump presidency.

One is most easily mischaracterized as Trump's tabloid presidency. In this narrative strand, the latest "explosive" Trump speculations (almost all anonymously sourced), accusations (many by self-interested parties), changes in personnel for whatever reasons, or Trump's fighting tweets in response briefly explode across the media world. They inspire predictions of disastrous consequences for Mr. Trump and his presidency 30 that eventually fade from public view and are replaced by the next round of dire speculations. The result is a presidency that seems, from many headlines, to be a continuous melodrama unfolding under numerous "Swords of Damocles" as reported by The National Inquirer of supermarket checkout fame, with elements of the Jerry Springer Show thrown in. 31 The focus of this seemingly "tabloid" dimension captures a real and obvious element of the Trump presidency. Yet, doing so runs the danger of ignoring, what amounts to Trump's parallel presidency, a serious effort at building a Reconstructive presidency. 32 We will shortly note a number of Trump initiatives that fit this category.

Almost any week's headlines underscore the distinction. One week's headlines and news reports exploded over a Department of Justice recommendation that suggested sentencing guidelines for convicted felon Roger Stone were too harsh for a first time, non-violent offender. 33 It is a legitimate news story but major news outlets were soon full of reports 34 and critical op-eds 35 casting doubt on the integrity of the Justice Department and the Attorney General. Meanwhile the New York Times reported: "Trump Gives Conditional Go Ahead on Peace Deal With Taliban, Officials Say." 36 There had been a prior abortive effort, and a final tentative deal was subsequently announced. 37 Whether it will work as hoped remains to be seen and evaluated. However these developments perhaps ending an eighteen-year war, appeared substantial. And they unfolded at the very same time that Trump's tabloid presidency was getting full front page treatment in many major newspaper and network news reports.

Trump's highly flexible style has been the source of legitimate criticism. His decision to move some American troops in Syria away from an area in which Turkey was going to establish a buffer zone between it and the Kurdish militias that had fought alongside the United States against ISIS caused anxiety among those who didn't support what they thought Trump was doing. It also caused confusion among those who weren't informed beforehand and didn't fully understand the rationale for the decision. 38 (We further take up this Syria decision in connection with an assumed establishment "foreign policy consensus" in Chapter 12.) Trump did provide several rationales. 39 They included keeping a campaign promise to withdraw from unnecessary and ill-advised ("ridiculous endless wars, many of them tribal" in his view) military deployments in war zones in which the United States had no top level strategic interests, economic considerations, and recognizing Turkey's point that there are important distinctions among different Kurdish groups 40 that make it dangerous to consider allowing tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to make permanent homes in Turkish territories. That situation was exacerbated by the European Union's refusal to repatriate captured ISIS fighters from its counties.

Trump failed to recognize or appreciate that some explanation, even if it was not accepted by critics, was necessary to forestall the anxiety and confusion that accompanied what many felt was an abrupt and unexpected decision. It was not the first time. In failing to give the stakeholders a public explanation, Trump was reprising the error that accompanied his roll out of his executive order for enhanced screening for those entering the country from a number of Muslim majority countries already flagged as requiring more attention because of terrorism concerns.

"Act first, let explanations catch up later," is a recipe for dysfunctional presidential leadership and heightened public anxiety.

The problems that the Trump presidency faces in having a successful presidency are many and varied. There are the enormous headwinds generated by the opposition to Trump and antipathy toward him in many major political, civic, religious, media, legal, and other national organizations.

They are allied with the views of millions of voters for whom anything Trump is anathema. The collective purpose of these opponents is to raise whatever issues they can, whenever they can, and in any manner they can to slow, sidetrack, damage, or otherwise impede the Trump presidency. And they have been successful to some degree in doing so. Their opposition has contributed to the sputtering, sometimes faltering ability of Trump's presidency to have anything like a "normal" presidency that can built on its own successful efforts. And, of course, the Coronavirus pandemic, the nation-wide demonstrations in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, and the spasms of historical statue destruction of have totally upended "normal" pre-election politics.

What opponents have not been able to do so far is to completely derail Trump's presidency. There are several reasons why they have failed in this quest. It is worth exploring why they have not completely succeeded, for what it reflects about that effort and the president.

One can look first to institutional explanations. Those would include the lack of a groundswell of public support for removing the president through repeated "bombshell" revelations that did not hold up. The fact is that the Mueller investigation did not find evidence of criminal collusion and Mr. Mueller's Congressional appearance "fell flat." 41 The House's impeachment case was dramatic but was not successful in removing Trump from office. A number of congressional Democrats were originally ambivalent about impeachment, 42 but ultimately decided to go ahead in spite of the low probability of ultimate success out of either conviction, election calculation, or both.

Attention is also due to Trump's strategy and the fact that Trump made it very clear that he would not cooperate with the House's impeachment investigation-and didn't. 43 Multiple Congressional subpoenas and investigations 44 produced numerous unresolved lawsuits, not substantiated charges. 45 Oddly and somewhat paradoxically, Trump's decision to contest many of these House efforts in court, was the basis before there was a court decision on these suits, of the Second Article of Impeachment: "Obstruction of Congress." Many of the serious accusations against the president and his administration, like the "criminal intent" of the president's Ukraine call have remained at the level of ultimately unsubstantiated accusation narrative. 46 One can also look at the intense, stable, if moderate levels of Trump's support. Throughout almost four years of the Trump presidency his supporters have not wavered and in the impeachment proceedings, his House and Senate party members, with one exception, supported him.

Aside from these situational factors, there is first and foremost Trump himself. He is a fighter, and when necessary a brawler, and has been one his whole life. Fighting is deeply woven into the life he has chosen to live. Whether in the courts or the tabloids, whether against government accusations of bias in his family's housing projects that he rejected, whether against business competitors, creditors, or his ex-wives, fighting back is by now a routine response to the numerous and diverse people and agencies who have gone after him.

It is not a life that many would choose to live or have the ability to do so even if they so chose. The young Donald Trump who stared across at Manhattan skyline from Queens wanted to change its skyline while building an empire. It's not a real dream for mildly ambitious or quietly low key people, and Trump is neither.

Second, Mr. Trump has enormous energy, and has had ever since he entered adulthood. It's well known that he is not a person who needs or gets eight hours of sleep a night. He is not known to take afternoon naps as several presidents have done. In short, he still has, at his age an enormous store of energy that allows him to draw upon personal resources, including time to get things done. This is not to say that everything he decides he might want to do with that time is well thought through or worthwhile. It is only to say that his energy is a time and opportunity resource.

Coupled with his energy is Trump's enormous resilience. That he can stand against the enormous level of personal and political abuse that has been aimed at him as president, and keep his focus on his purposes while fighting back is a capacity worth underscoring. Trump complains a great deal about his treatment by Democrats, the press, and others who are part of the anti-Trump opposition. Ordinarily opposition to a president's policies that one does not support is part of American political life, and entirely normal. Yet, as noted (see Chapter 3), opposition to Trump goes beyond "normal" politics.

No modern president has been subjected to the all-out public and behind the scenes private assaults waged every hour of every day in a 24/7 national and international news cycle and enlisting every source of public or private opposition that can be found and utilized at every level of government and which began as soon as Trump won the Republican nomination. Only Abraham Lincoln had to endure this level of hatred because of his determined efforts to save the Union, which he did-but for which he was assassinated. In today's hard wired media environment, harsh and often vicious accusations, can be made more directly and multiplied indefinitely repeatedly reinforcing Trump hatred on a daily basis.

This modern level of political and persona rancor raises important psychological and political questions for Trump. Aside from the implications of the rancor for both for assessments of Trump's psychological and political "fitness" for office (see Chapter 7) and Trump's chances for success, if any, for his presidency, there is another. How does he cope?

Trump has spent a lifetime battling back. If there ever was a president prepared by his previous life to withstand and fight back against a no-holds barred assault, Trump is that president. Yet, there is more to Trump's response than ingrained habit.

Fighting back against what one considers unfair assaults is also a form, as noted, of "self-help" in Neustadt's term. It is also self-affirming. It reflects a refusal just "to take it." That in itself helps avoid the feelings of emotional deflation and self-reproach that can accompany not taking action when it is needed.

There is for Trump, however, a sense of wistfulness and regret that his presidency has turned out this way. Return momentarily to Trump's interview with critical members of the Washington Post editorial board. They wrote of Trump after their interviews that they found him to be "authentically perplexed by suspicions that he had motives other than making America great again." 47 In Trump's mind, he genuinely believes that he has America's best interests at heart, wants to do a good job, and believes that he has, even though he feels he hasn't received much credit for what he feels he has accomplished.

In a joint news conference with President Niinistö of the Republic of Finland, Trump said 48 :

So the political storm-I've lived with it from the day I got elected. I've done more-and this administration has done more than any administration in the history of this country in the first two and a half years. I'm used to it. For me, it's like putting on a suit in the morning.

When asked how he personally responds to the relentless personal and political attacks against him, his presidency, and all things Trump and in the daily combat with Democrats, the media, and his presidency, he replied: "It sounds strange to say I'm energized, but I love it, I love it." 49 Perhaps he is "energized," but that's not all there is. A few days later in a Q&A with reporters, there was this 50 : we won on the Mueller scam. That was a whole big deal. That lasted for two and a half years. We had a few days of peace and then, all of a sudden, they came up with this one [the Ukrainian call]. But I guess it's just part of my life.

"I guess it's just a part of my life" is partially wistful ("we had a few days of peace") and partially regret and resignation. Trump is clearly not emotionally impervious to the trauma of his presidential circumstances, yet he will continue to fight on. Why?

At one level, he will fight on because he really thinks he did nothing wrong in the call to the president of the Ukraine that others are characterizing as offering foreign aid to get dirt on his opponent. Relatedly, he believes, with some legitimacy, that his opponents have tried to keep him out of office, or remove him from it since he was elected. Quitting would be an admission that opponents bested him and forced him to give up. That would be a colossal public admission of personal failure and is very unlikely to happen.

Never give up is, if anything, more of a Trump family motto and rule to live by than even love what you do. At Fred Trump's memorial service, his favorite poem "Don't Quit," 51 both a motto and a reflection of his drive to be successful by overcoming Depression-era related setbacks, was read by one of his daughters. 52 When Donald Trump had a family crest designed, its Latin motto was: numquam concedere [Never Give in]. 53 In a 2015 interview with Time, Trump was asked his long shot candidacy: What's the most significant learning experience in your life? 54 He replied:

Trump: I will say this, over my lifetime I've seen a lot of very smart people who were quitters. They never made it. And I've seen people that weren't as smart who never ever, ever gave up. And those were the people that made it. And I've seen it to this day … And the ones that are the biggest people are the people that never gave up. It's something I've just observed over the years. Time: So I take it you're not giving up.

Never Give Up is as well part of the title of one of Trump's many books, 55 and more importantly it is an outlook that has guided him through life. It has also helped him to achieve the success he has and overcome substantial economic adversity. The Washington Post headline almost captured this insight with their headline: "A fierce will to win pushed Donald Trump to the top." 56 Substitute "succeed" for "win" and "never give up" for "fierce will" and you have a real insight for a headline.

Speaking to reporters on the south lawn who raised the parallel between his possible impeachment and Richard Nixon's, Trump had this to say 57 :

When you look at past impeachments, whether it was President Clinton or-I guess President Nixon never got there. He left. I don't leave. A big difference. I don't leave.

Mr. Trump's ambitions to be a reconstructive president in the service of American Restoration represent a Mt. Everest level of political success, even in the most congenial of political circumstances, which Mr. Trump's are not. Therefore, it is not surprising that by many critics' measures and also Mr. Trump's numerously expressed frustrations, his Reconstructive ambitions began slowly and haltingly. At this point however, his critics now find it hard to repeat the narrative they adopted from the start, that Trump "doesn't have any meaningful accomplishments" 58 or that "he is becoming a failed president." 59 Yet, it is clear that the President has not been successful to the degree that he had hoped. Mr. Trump's early frustration with his party's inability to unite and pass major legislation is consistent with that view. 60 Certainly, having his party lose control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections did nothing to further his presidency's major legislative prospects.

The slow, sometimes stumbling start to the Trump presidency is attributable to several factors. There is primarily Trump's own lack of real political governing experience. That is not his fault, but it is a fact and did have consequences. There is also the need to learn how to fit his style with his and the country's political circumstances. And, of course, there is the daily drama of the latest opposition-inspired daily dramatic fireworks.

There is as well, the continuing search of ways to resolve a primary governing issue for Trump-developing cadres of advisors and "officials" on whom he can count. An early and to some degree continuing loss of momentum has been one by-product of Trump's search for good senior advisors, those who are able to fit within Trump's range of views and his style. There is also Mr. Trump's own style of decision making that maximizes his options, but also leaves members of his administration uncertain and puzzled as to his intent and direction. Trump has every right to insist on having the degree of flexibility he wants, but a maturing president might also recognize that his more senior advisors and officials might function more effectively on his behalf with some anticipatory knowledge.

Almost four years into his administration it seems fair to say that Mr. Trump has grasped the essentials of governing, while still insisting on doing so within the framework of his leadership style. He has very gradually assembled a working team in major administrative and political power centers-at Homeland Security, several more recent Chiefs of Staff, the Department of State and the Department of Justice to name several key areas. The one place where he has not made much headway, except for survival, is in blunting the determined efforts of the anti-Trump opposition. Trump's last year in office is every bit as conflictual on a daily basis as his first three. Given the continued post-impeachment allout war against Trump that impeachment proceedings have helped to maintain, and Trump's response to the Coronavirus pandemic and the mass demonstrations that followed George Floyd's death, most peaceful, but many violent, the last months of the Trump's first term are likely to be tumultuous because they represent the last chance to prevent his possible reelection.

These represent substantial roadblocks to presidential success as that term is usually understood. There are however, a number of possible metrics by which to judge presidential success. Enacting major legislation is certainly one, but not the only such measure.

A standard metric of presidential success is major legislation passed in Congress. By this traditional measure Mr. Trump has not achieved much of his legislative agenda. He has achieved only one major legislative victory that could in any sense be considered major, his tax cut legislation. 61 He has also achieved a somewhat less than major, but still important, legislative accomplishment in 2018-his criminal justice reform bill. 62 The four major economic bi-partisan support packages signed by Trump in response to the pandemic are "successes" in some sense of that word, but the dire circumstances that led to them are no cause for political celebration.

Trump was not successful in another major legislative effort-the repeal and replacement of President Obama's signature health care legislation. And the on-again, off-again efforts to reform immigration policy have yielded no discernible legislative results. 63 If legislative accomplishments were the sole metric of presidential success, Mr. Trump's presidency would be modest at best, although nowhere near the failure that his critics have characterized it as being almost as soon as it began. 64 Over time, critics and pundits have added additional items to President Trump's "setback" list. 65 Some of the "setback" additions are not legislative, but political. It remains to be seen whether they will prove enduring or consequential. The twists and turns of the Russia-Trump collusions allegations and investigations are a good case in point. 66 They reached a legal and political dead end and were made part of the two impeachment articles drawn up in the House.

Trump's acquittal on both impeachment counts leaves both him and his Democratic opposition in a state of emotional and political limbo going forward. Feelings are running understandably high for both. Democrats are angry, anxious, disappointed, and frustrated at the outcome. Trump is feeling relief, vindication, and anger at having been put though "hell" as he put it, 67 for a vindication he thought he deserved and should never have had to fight to get.

Democrats are torn between more Trump investigations which Trump will publicly berate, and to some extent possibly ignore, and concentrating on their policies. There has also been speculation regarding the unlikely possibility of further impeachment articles. The president has already claimed some openness to working with Democrats, doubtless on his own terms, but has expressed puzzlement as to whether Democrats are interested or capable for doing so. Political need has overcome worse circumstances, but powerful emotions often interfere with self-interest. And, as noted, the Coronavirus pandemic, anti-police bias demonstrations, and destructive assaults on American historical statues and figures have upended these and other traditional pre-election considerations.

Every administration experiences political, legal, or administrative setbacks in pursuing its policies, so their existence in the Trump administration isn't novel. The more important question is whether a president has the determination and finds the means to continue toward his goals and eventually gain some traction on achieving them, as Mr. Trump has been in building an effective barrier along parts of America's southern border.

Still, President Trump's legislative accomplishments are meager, and he is unlikely to add to much in his last year of his first term, given the strong feelings on both sides that his impeachment and acquittal have generated, and the disruptions caused by the pandemic. However, legislative success is not the only important metric of presidential success. This may especially apply to a president who wants to transform conventional policy, political, and governance narratives and replace them with the Politics of American Restoration.

Obscured by raging rhetorical and political conflict, the Trump presidency has been slowly accumulating substantial accomplishments. Some of these initiatives have the potential to ultimately result in a sea change in American politics. The obvious place to begin looking for these kinds of accomplishments would be in Trump's executive and administrative initiatives on behalf of his ambitions in both domestic and foreign policy.

Some obvious and important illustrations of these efforts are to be found in the large regulatory reforms undertaken by the Trump administration, 68 but there are many others. These include revisions of a major carbon emission rule put into place by the Obama Administration. 69 They include myriad changes to immigration enforcement procedures, large and small, 70 that have resulted in all categories of illegal entrants being subject to removal. 71 They have also included a number of lawsuits against cities and jurisdictions that do not cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). 72 They include numerous efforts to reform the American health care system including efforts to lower drug prices, 73 expanded health care options, 74 while still trying to rescind and replace Obamacare. 75 They include new work rules for able-bodied welfare recipients 76 and Medicare recipients. 77 They include two executive orders that aim to bring more transparency to federal agency regulations ending rulings from agencies made to provide "guidance" that is cited in blogs, letters, and brochures but not approved as official policy. 78 They include a downsizing of the federal workforce 79 and revisions to its promotion and retention rules. 80 They include moving administrative functions and personnel out of Washington closer to areas they serve. 81 More efforts along those lines may be in some bureaucratic futures. 82 No consideration of Trump's presidency can overlook his success in placing his own stamp on the American judicial system. His successful nomination and placement of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh under very difficult circumstances, and Justice Neal Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, has received enormous attention and legitimately so. Every presidential appointment to the Supreme Court carries potentially major long term judicial consequences. Mr. Gorsuch has filled a very important slot, 83 and Justice Kavanaugh's successful appointment shifted the court's center of gravity. President Trump has also been successful in placing a large number of judges below the Supreme Court level that will affect the shape of judicial decisions for decades to come. As of June 2020, that number is 200 Federal judges 84 along with his two Supreme Court Justices. He is remaking the federal judiciary, 85 not only along the traditional liberal conservative lines, but also by paying close attention to potential judges' response to the issue of shrinking the administrative state. 86 Mr. Trump has made the economy and creating jobs a top priority and signaled his personal involvement in that process even before he took office. 87 The economic optimism that his presidency has generated has been reflected in a sometimes volatile stock market because of China trade, impeachment tensions, and the pandemic's severe economic impact. Yet, it has generally been a "bull market," 88 itself a reflection of the "Spirit of Optimism" that the president touts. Job report figures are more empirically grounded than "optimism," and these have been encouraging with the unemployment rate hitting a fifty-year low, 89 until the pandemic hit. The same is true of over all measures of economic productivity-the GNP. 90 The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the stock market, 91 but its longer-term economic effects remain unclear.

In the area of foreign policy, President Trump had twice threatened to certify that Iran was not in compliance with its treaty obligations 92 and then did so, withdrawing from the agreement. 93 He has followed the same general strategy in ending President Obama's executive order on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) calling on Congress to pass legislation that would save and legally secure that program, 94 while adding his own list of immigration policy preferences to be considered in any negotiation. 95 In these efforts President Trump tries to place himself in the position supporting traditional sources of legislative authority rather than simply issuing an executive order reversing President Obama's DACA executive order, 96 and letting that be the end of it. Concerns that Trump is governing primarily by executive actions to the detriment of democratic institutions need to take these actions into account. 97 In other foreign policy initiatives, Trump has loosened the constraints on military initiatives in theaters of combat. 98 This appears to have made a substantial contribution to the dramatic change in the fortunes of ISIS. 99 He has bombed Syria when it violated a "red line" against the use of chemical weapons. 100 He has forcefully confronted North Korea rhetorically 101 which set the stage for a series of summits and lower level talks that helped cool rising tensions between the two powers. 102 He also increased pressure on China 103 that helped to bring North Korea to the negotiating table, though not to any agreement. In the meantime, he has also sent clear and obvious military signals 104 to lay the groundwork of a possible regional bargain to which North Korea might adhere. 105 And lastly, in response to clear indications that the Iranians were responsible for a drone attack on Saudi Oil processing facilities, 106 he ultimately chose not to respond with military force, but with increased economic sanctions, 107 and cyberattacks against Iranian intelligence assets. 108 Mr. Trump has withdrawn from the Paris Climate accords, 109 and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade deal 110 over vehement domestic and international opposition. He has confronted China with stiff tariffs to protest its unfair trade practices, 111 a conflict that stretched over two years 112 before a Phase I accord was signed. 113 He has also used the threat 114 to withdraw from NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to renegotiate a revised agreement with Mexico and Canada. 115 That new agreement (USMCA, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) has now been signed into law. Mr. Trump has now turned his attention to a major trade renegotiation with the EU. 116 He has refused to appointment new members of the World Trade Organization until their dispute mechanism is made fairer. 117 These, and similar confrontations, undertaken with eventual negotiation and agreement in mind are politically difficult to undertake as the China trade conflict most clearly demonstrates. And they have, of necessity, been put on hold, to respond to the pandemic. Trump has rarely shied away from taking the public steps, often against enormous opposition, signaling that he is able and willing to stand apart and alone, if necessary against deeply held policy narrative conventional wisdom. His "against the grain" stance has produced some surprising results in his first term.

One report on Trump's several trips to the yearly G-20 meetings observed that "If anything, Mr. Trump's two forays overseas have shown that some leaders are bending toward his positions, not the reverse." 118 We can see some evidence in Trump's success in getting some American allies to commit substantially more resources to their own defense. If you are going to be a consequential perhaps even a Restoration president and your presidency's ambition is changing the country's dominant political and policy narratives, always getting along with, and being praised by, traditional national and international "elites" cannot be at the top of your emotional wish list.

The list above of Trump initiatives is not mean to be comprehensive. Rather the list is meant to make one basic point. In these, and in other matters both large 119 and small, 120 the Trump administration has been extremely active and consequential. This fact has been obscured in plain sight in a sea of bombast and controversy. Trump may well have, as one opposition outlet wrote, "Quietly Accomplished More Than It Appears." 121 Yet, an even more revealing headline appeared in the Washington Post that captures the dual level "hidden in plain sight" progress of the Trump Presidency, "While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department." 122

Mr. Trump's presidency has the potential to be extremely consequential. His election by itself has disrupted the expected unfolding of "political time" that Skowronek has posited in his major work on the politics that presidents make. 123 One virtue of that work is that it specifically locates the potential success and effectiveness of any given presidency squarely within a very large, basic, and crucial question: are the presumptions and consequences of the major policy and political narratives that govern political life effectively working as publicly promised? Or, are the assumptions, promises, and dominant narratives increasingly being questioned by the general public who are then increasingly open to more realistic and effective alternatives?

Had Hillary Clinton won the presidential election, hers would have been in Skowronek's theoretical framework a presidency of articulation. There, the new president builds on the dominant political and policy paradigms their predecessors have helped to establish, 124 and tries to further deepen and solidify them. Instead, her election loss and the iconoclastic disruptive presidency of Mr. Trump have moved the country into a new political time zone according to Skowronek's theory. However, it is unclear at this point exactly which one it is.

The Trump presidency looks in some ways very similar to the major reconstructive presidencies. That kind of presidency can take place, as noted, when the "established regime and pre-established commitments of ideology and interest have, in the course of events, become vulnerable to direct repudiation as failed or irrelevant responses to the problems of the day." 125 Further, they occur when "there is a general political consensus that something fundamentally has gone wrong in the high affairs of state." 126 In these political circumstances, "the order-creating capacities of the presidency were realized full vent in the wholesale reconstruction of the standards of legitimate national government." 127 Reconstructive presidents, Skowronek says, "each set out to retrieve from a far distant, even mythical past, fundamental values that they claim have been lost in the indulgencies of the received order." 128 "Make America Great Again" indeed! 129 That certainly sounds like an accurate description of a part of the set of circumstances that aided Mr. Trump's election, although Mr. Skowronek does not seem to think so.

He is clearly a supporter of the Obama presidency, calling him at one point, "in many ways the perfect president for the moment." 130 Further in that same interview he says of Trump's unlikely status as a reconstructive president: you cannot transform the system without irrefutable evidence that there is no viable alternative. Without a prior disjunction-essentially, a crisis in the reigning orthodoxy of government-demonstrating that the old order is beyond repair, the president won't be able to seize control of the meaning of his changes. You can't reconstruct politics if there is not more or less a consensus that what came before was a complete and systemic failure.

Mr. Skowronek's metrics for reconstructive presidencies are somewhat extreme. Does the phrase "without irrefutable evidence that there is no viable alternative" refers to a disjuncture that requires a conclusive demonstration that the "old order is beyond repair?" The equivalent of a worldwide depression that helped elect FDR is exceedingly rare. Many important "disjunctures" don't have a dramatic, immediate catastrophic effect to demonstrate regime bankruptcy conclusively. Lincoln's rescue of the Union was many years in the making. So too, the continued decline in the country's trust in government, its institutions, and the effectiveness of policy promises over the last forty years would certain seems to qualify as a crisis, albeit one hidden quietly in plain sight. Moreover, requiring a "more or less consensus that what came before was a complete and systemic failure" also seems somewhat extreme. Inertia, and lack of clear alternatives often result in failed or failing governing paradigms to continue. That is the situation that President Trump faces.

Efforts at various reforms have not changed the basic policy premises on which the governing establishment has continued in power, because there is little political appetite to really examine their foundation or dramatically change them. As a result, few changes in assumptions or direction are discussed or tried. It's clear that the 62 million-plus votes that Trump received for president are certainly less than a national consensus. Yet they would certainly argue, along with President Trump, that the status quo consensus, to the extent it was simply not habit and lethargy is no longer substantially supportable. In any event, because of the Trump presidency a process of reconstruction has begun nonetheless. Its fate is the real question.

Skowronek writes that "only presidents who can effectively fuse power and authority in the reproduction of the political order" can become reconstructive presidents. 131 In part, this is because these national moments give rise to an "expansive authority to repudiate the established government formulas." 132 However, Skowronek also cautions that "Presidents stand preeminent in American politics when government has been most thoroughly discredited, and when political resistance to the presidency is weakest." 133 These elements of political time that favor reconstructive presidencies in Skowronek's theory are clearly not yet evident in Mr. Trump's political time in office. To begin with the obvious, the major domestic and foreign policy paradigms that Mr. Trump is seeking to update, negate, or replace are far from "thoroughly discredited." They are under skeptical siege from Americans who doubt their premises and effectiveness, but a large portion of establishment leaders and institutions-Republican, Democratic, and conservative and various government bureaucracies still substantially embrace them.

In order to preserve what they think are their superior policies, paradigms, and the political and moral authority that comes with them, establishment members of the opposition have literally, as noted, declared all-out war on the Trump presidency. 134 They have done so in a variety of ways including mounting an intensive effort to legally overturn any of the president's legislative or executive accomplishments, 135 and moving very rapidly to impeach the president, 136 and criticizing almost every aspect of his response to the pandemic. The president, as noted, has returned their fire, 137 even more forcefully so after his Impeachment acquittal. 138 It is therefore quite obvious that a second of Mr. Skowronek's preconditions for a reconstructive presidency, resistance to the (Trump) presidency is "weakest" is simply not the case. There is an enraged, highly motivated, well connected, and powerful opposition waging a war against the Trump presidency across the country's political, legislative, judicial, cultural, economic, and social domains. It has not abated. Still, as Chapter 12 argues it is possible to change entrenched paradigms in the absence of catastrophic circumstances and Mr. Trump has made some small progress in that direction.

Mr. Trump's nascent policy and narrative alternatives are themselves in the process of development and are not yet fully established options that have proved themselves effective, much less preferred. Whether or not he is able to establish and consolidate them will have a lot to do with whether he can gain a second term, and what the distribution of Congressional power will be if he does (see Chapter 12) . Only if Trump gains a second term and his approaches to presidential leadership and policies bear fruit would he then be in a position to move towards a real reconstructive presidency.

Mr. Trump successfully mobilizes his supporters. Yet, he has not been to date an effective articulator of the larger goals they both peruse. If you examine several of Mr. Trump's "set" speeches, say his dark inaugural address 139 and his sunnier uplifting address, promising a "renewal of the American Spirit," 140 to a joint session of Congress in 2017 141 you find the continuum of dire circumstances and sunny can-do optimism that frame his presidential rhetoric. What you will not find is a clear concise, easy to understand and remember statement of his purpose.

Part of the issue is that Trump is a president focused on action, not rhetoric. Yet, there is not yet a clearly articulated sense of the purpose of Trump's presidency, as Ronald Reagan's years of immersion in basic conservative politics and policy allowed him to have and articulate. Reagan had the essential distillation of his views that his advisors referred to as "The Speech." 142 Trump has his tweets, 143 which are the free associations of his presidency and his political rallies in which he effortlessly rifts on his current thoughts. Both are revealing of his thinking, but they are far from the refined essence of purpose that provides an easy to understand key to Trump's long-term presidential ambitions.

In the foreseeable future, Mr. Trump will have to be content with what Skowronek calls a preemptive presidency. We noted that those presidencies have oppositional leaders at their helm, and "Like all opposition leaders, these presidents have the freedom of their independence from established commitments, but unlike presidents in the politics of reconstruction, their repudiative authority is manifestly limited by the political, institutional, and ideological supports that the old establishment maintains …" 144 This is an apt description of the political circumstances in which President Trump finds himself. He promised and was elected by his followers to dramatically change the country's dominant political and policy practices. Yet in undertaking these goals he has had to constantly defend himself and his policy aspirations from those who will lose status and power if he is successful.

Mr.

Skowronek writes that 145 :

The distinctive thing about preemptive leaders is that they are not out to establish, uphold, or salvage any political orthodoxy. Theirs is an unabashedly mongrel politics … These leaders bid openly for a hybrid alternative. Their leadership stance provides them with considerable license to draw policy positions and political commitments from different sides of the issues of their day and to promote their recombination in a loosely synthesized mix.

This formulation does not seem to aptly or amply capture the essence of Mr. Trump's real challenge to established narratives. Mr. Trump is aiming to establish a new "political orthodoxy." He is not seeking some "mongrel" amalgam. Rather he is attempting to reorientate the basic views of the Republican Party away from its establishment Wall Street, county club anchors to a more working-class perspective. This is exactly the kind of basic party reorientation of which Azari says, "This kind of personalistic leadership is more strongly associated with reconstructive leadership." 146 There is a policy mix in Trump's Restoration efforts. There is his straightforward "law and order approach to crime," 147 and immigration enforcement. 148 There is the ruthless annihilation strategy to combat ISIS and its terrorist's supporters. 149 There are his efforts to modify trade deals to take account of the nation's workers, a stance traditionally associated with labor unions in the United States. 150 There are his plans, mentioned occasionally, to invest heavily in national infrastructure policies traditionally favored by big government Democrats and big business Republicans. 151 These and other policies do represent some blend of "left" and "right." Yet, they are in essence, individually and collectively, broadsides against the long-standing and entrenched policy preferences, narratives, and assumptions of establishment figures from both sides of the political spectrum. Democrats know that Mr. Trump is not one of them. A number of conservative intellectuals are sure he isn't really one of them either, 152 a position that hardened in the wake of the controversies surrounding the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki. 153 The Republican establishment supports some (reduce taxes), but by no means all (make trade "fair," enforce immigration laws) of Trump's policies. They remain skittish about a number of his leadership qualities including his trustworthiness, temperament, and knowledge. 154 And given the deep disagreement between conservatives and establishment GOP leaders in Congress, and between ordinary Americans who support the GOP and their establishment leaders, Mr. Trump is, in some important ways a still a "home-alone" president attempting to both reorient and reunite one of the country's major political parties.

Fractious Republican and Democratic opposition aside, it is well to keep in mind that in an "Afterword" to the 1997 edition of his book, Skowronek writes this about preemptive presidents 155 :

Efforts to chart a third way in American politics have not only been marked by extraordinary variety, but also by extreme volatility. Preemptive leaders appear as wildcards in presidential history; they intrude sui generis into our national politics with inconsistent and often explosive results.

Although written well before Mr. Trump and his wife descended the escalator to formally announce his candidacy, Skowronek's "Afterword" cautions about preemptive leaders seems like an eerily prescient description of Trump's first term.

One reason that Mr. Skowronek does not view Mr. Trump as a reconstructive leader 156 is because that role is harder to successfully occupy given the growth of the administrative state and because of Mr. Trump's first-year difficulties in office. Skowronek does not take up the question of whether a preemptive president can, through dint of a protean psychology and changes in his circumstance become a reconstructive president. That is the major question that now faces Trump's presidential ambitions. It is worth considering the possibility.

Mr. Trump may survive his formidable opposition to win another term. In those circumstances he would have eight years to develop and demonstrate the usefulness of his approach to presidential leadership, politics, and policies. Those eight years might in turn earn enough support for the next president, perhaps another Republican, to have a presidency of articulation.

In Chapter 3 we noted a rather large paradox at the core of the president's Restoration ambitions. How can a president who is given to flights of rhetorical and factual hyperbole regain the trust of the American public? Trump's rhetorical assertions are not always accurate. Neither is his grasp of the specific debates that underlie the policy areas that he wants to change. Understanding Trump's thinking requires a meandering journey through assumptions, associations, fragments of facts and analysis, misstatements, and sometimes surprisingly keen insights. Yet, in the end, Trump's free-wheeling stream of consciousness rests on his conveying what he thinks of as policy essences rather than the kind of layers of arguments that would win a debate at the Cambridge Union (see Chapter 10) . President Trump's copious outpouring of tweets, threats, commentary, initiatives, policies, and generally what we have termed Policy and News at Trump Speed is a basic element of the Trump presidency. They serve a core purpose beyond presidential defense. That purpose is to remind Americans that much if not everything they have taken for granted as being true, fair, accurate, and the basis for developing conventional policy needs to be reexamined, rethought, modified, and where necessary discarded.

Moreover, it is possible to discern progress in a number of areas. NATO payment levels for their own defense 157 has increased for the "fourth year in a row following Trump pressure." 158 NATO has also undertaken to update the mission of an alliance formed to combat circumstances over sixty years ago. 159 The view that trade agreements have a downside is getting a hearing among members of the establishment. 160 New, improved trade deals are being negotiated and signed.

Many Americans also would like to see immigration laws already passed by Congress enforced and not voided by creative administrative loopholes. That is being done. They would like to see unnecessary and onerous regulations reduced. That is being done. They would like to see a military strong enough and willing enough to use its strength not to have to do so. That is being done. They would like to see a president who does not look down on ordinary people and who, over the years, has shown evidence of being personally comfortable with a diverse range of Americans despite his tendency to sometimes reach for conventional group stereotypes. 161 That too, is part of Trump's leadership style and policy ambitions.

In these kernels of policy essences are Trump's possible road to a Restoration (née reconstructive) presidency. Therein lies the solution to an apparent basic paradox of the Trump presidency. How is a fact-and accuracy-challenged presidential purveyor of hyperbole going to restore public trust?

The answer is presidential promise keeping. Whether it is withdrawing from a trade or climate treaty, paring back regulations, insisting that NATO pay its "fair share," "enforcing immigration laws," or the literally dozens and dozens of other Trump Administration initiations undertaken, they are all consistent with the direction and premises of Trump's promises. Those who take him seriously, but not literally, know it.

If you look at the Trust in Government figures for the Reagan presidency period you will notice an uptick in the level of public trust, not to the levels of the Eisenhower years, but an increase none the less. I attribute this not to Reagan's conservative philosophy per se, but to his honesty in expressing his views and trying to acting on them.

A recent analysis of Trump noted, "He's not the first to argue for tariffs, border security and an embassy move-only the first to deliver." 162 Another New York Times analysis of Trump's foreign policies noted, "Above all, Mr. Trump has taken pride in delivering on his campaign promises." 163 Even severe critics of the president who accuse him of lying "prodigiously" continue by noting that, "but when it comes to campaign promises on immigration, trade, and other issues, he's working hard to keep them." 164 After more than three years in office, it is clear that Trump does much better in keeping his promises than in speaking accurately about them. 165 His redeployment of American troops in northern Syria was a clear part of keeping a campaign promise. 166 The explanations of his thinking were not easy for him to articulate much less to convey to the general public.

Therein lies the possible resolution, and the dilemma, of what must count as one of the most deeply paradoxical and ironic elements of the Trump presidency to date. It is that Trump is positioning himself as "truth-teller-in-chief" regarding his presidency's promises as a means of restoring public trust in government by doing so. That is Trump's political strategy and path to his presidential dream of American Restoration.

Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America

For Trump, a Year of Reinventing the Presidency

She's nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be

President Trump did not include neo-Nazi group within the category of "very fine people

Kelly Says He's Willing to Resign as Abuse Scandal Roils White House

On Foreign Policy, President Trump Reverts to Candidate Trump

Trump, a Week After Porter Resigned, Says He's 'Totally Opposed' to Spousal Abuse

The Week When President Trump Resigned

The Politics That Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton

Donald Trump Has 'Dangerous Mental Illness', Say Psychiatry Experts at Yale Conference

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President

Trump Signs Sweeping Tax Bill into Law

Trump Month One: Success for His Supporters

Internal Dem Polling Shows Trump's Standing on the Rise,' McClatchy, February 13; see also David A. Graham

Trump Job Approval at Personal Best 49%

Trump's Style Is His Substance

Donald Trump Is Teaching Republicans How to Fight

CNN Focus Group of Trump Voters: 'Exactly What I Voted for

Trump Pays Holiday Visit to Wounded Troops at Walter Reed

Trump Travels to Dover to Pay Respect to Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash

President Donald Trump Meets with Teachers, Students Affected by School Shootings

Trump, in Texas, Calls Harvey Recovery Response Effort a Real Team Effort

Viewers approve of Trump's First State of the Union Address

Remarks by President Trump in State of the Union Address

Remarks by President Trump in State of the Union Address

The White House meeting was extraordinary, an extended negotiating session that was televised by the news channels

5 Signs Donald Trump Is Having a Full-Blown Identity Crisis

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Are on Their Way to the White House

Trump Spirals into Ideological Psychosis

Pure Madness': Dark Days Inside the White House as Trump Shocks and Rages

The Jerry Springer Show Turns 25: The 10 Most Outrageous Moments

The Dispute over Roger Stone's Recommended Sentence Explained

As Trump Claims a Win on Iran, He Accuses Obama of Funding Its Attacks

Stone Case Lays Bare Barr's Not so Just Justice Department

Trump Gives Conditional Go Ahead on Peace Deal with Taliban, Officials Say

Taliban and U.S. Strike Deal to Withdraw American Troops from Afghanistan

Trump's Confounding Syria Moves Again Spur Policy Confusion

Remarks by President Trump in Briefing with Military Leaders

Why Is Turkey Fighting the Kurds in Syria?

Turkey Has Legitimate Grievances Against the U.S

Democrats Struggle to Figure Out Next Move Against Trump After Mueller Hearing Falls Flat

For House Democrats, Impeachment Probe Widens the Divide They Hoped to Bridge

Moderate Democrats Warn Pelosi of Impeachment Obsession

White House Declares War on Impeachment Inquiry, Claiming Effort to Undo Trump's Election

House Committee to Issue Blitz of Subpoenas, Raising Heat on Trump

A Lack of Urgency': Democrats Frustrated as House Investigators Struggle to Unearth Major Revelations About Trump

Impeachment's Fail Was No Proof of Trump 2020 Motive

The Trump We Saw: Populist, Frustrating, Naive, Wise, Forever on the Make

Remarks by President Trump and President Niinistö of the Republic of Finland in Joint Press Conference

Trump Talks Impeachment, Dems and de Blasio in Interview

Trump: 'Thrive' on Impeachment, Very Few People Could Handle It

Remarks by President Trump in Briefing with Military Leaders

Don't Quit

The House That Fred Built

Donald Trump's Made-Up Coat-of-Arms Reveals His Electoral Strategy: Never Concede

Trump quoted in Nancy Gibbs and Zeke Miller

Trump: The Art of the Comeback

A Fierce Will to Win Pushed Donald Trump to the Top

Trump quoted in Pia Deshpande

Trump Is Convinced He's Always 'Ahead of Schedule

Grading President Trump

Trump Is Becoming a Failed President

Frustration with Republicans Drove Donald Trump to Deal with Democrats

House Passes Budget Blueprint, Clearing Path for Tax Overhaul

Trump Celebrates Criminal Justice Overhaul Amid Doubts It Will Be Fully Funded

Congress' Immigration Push Sputters as Guns Grab Attention

Donald Trump Is Failing His Crash Course in Leadership

Trump Is Becoming a Failed President

Last Week Was Trump's Worst Legislative Week Ever, and Congress Wasn't Even in Session

Clinton Campaign, DNC Paid for Research That Led to Russia Dossier

Trump Denounces Impeachment, Saying He 'Went Through Hell

Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs

Trump's Regulatory Reform Agenda by the Numbers

P.A. Announces Repeal of Major Obama-Era Carbon Emissions Rule

Trump Plans 45,000 Limit on Refugees Admitted to U.S

U.S. to Arrest Parents, Sponsors Who Hire Smugglers to Bring Children Across Border

New Trump Deportation Rules Allow Far More Expulsions

Justice Dept. Sues 'Sanctuary' Jurisdictions in New Crackdown over Immigration Enforcement

Trump Unveils Most Aggressive Action to Target Drug Prices

Trump's New Rule Will Give Businesses and Workers Better Health Care Options

Trump Administration Takes Another Major Swipe at the Affordable Care Act

Trump Administration Moves to Restrict Food Stamp Access the Farm Bill Protected

Government Watchdog Faults Trump Administration's Approval of Medicaid Work Requirements

Executive Order on Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication

How the Trump Era Is Changing the Federal Bureaucracy

Federal Employees Could Face More Discipline Under Proposed New Rules

USDA Staffers Quit en masse as Trump Administration Eyes Moving Offices Out of DC

Senators Want to Move These Agency Headquarters Out of DC

Gorsuch Asserts Himself Early as Force on Supreme Court's Right

Blue States Create Hurdle for Trump's 2020 Judicial Appointments

Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary: Here's How

Trump's New Judicial Litmus Test: Shrinking 'the Administrative State

How Is Trump Spending Thanksgiving? He Says He's Trying to Save an Indiana Factory

Dow Rallies 200 Points to Close Above 27,000 for the First Time Ever

Unemployment Rate Hits 50-Year Low

U.S. Economy Grew at 3% Rate in 3rd Quarter, Despite Storms

Fears Grow of a Coronavirus Pandemic as Markets Stumble Again

Trump to Force Congress to Act on Iran Nuclear Deal

On Foreign Policy, President Trump Reverts to Candidate Trump

How the Trump Administration Eroded Its Own Legal Case on DACA

President Donald J. Trump's Letter to House and Senate Leaders & Immigration Principles and Policies

Trump Turns to Executive Powers in Bid to Force Congress into Action

I Alone Can Fix It' Donald Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Hazards of Executive-Centered Partisanship

Trump Gives Military New Freedom: But with That Comes Danger

August 4; see also Liz Sly and Aaso Ameen Schwan

What the Syria Strikes Mean

At U.N. and in the Air, North Korea and U.S. Trade Tough Messages

North Korea and United States to Resume Nuclear Talks Saturday

Exclusive: China's CNPC Suspends Fuel Sales to North Korea as Risks Mount-Sources

Vinson and Reagan carrier Strike Groups Mass Near North Korea

Here's What a Permanent Treaty with North Korea Might Look Like

Yes, Iran Was Behind the Saudi Oil Attack: Now What?

Strikes on Iran Approved by Trump, Then Abruptly Pulled Back

Trump Adviser Tells Ministers U.S. Will Leave Paris Climate Accord

President Trump Signs Order to Withdraw from Trans-Pacific Partnership

Xi Jinping Urges Dialogue, Not Confrontation, After Trump Seeks Tariffs

China Seeks to Narrow Trade Talks With U.S. in Bid to Break Deadlock?

Trump Reaches Phase I Deal with China and Delays Planned Tariffs

White House Is Said to Draft Plan for U.S. Break From Nafta

Mexico and Canada Sign Pact to Replace Nafta

As Trump Takes Aim at EU Trade, European Officials Brace for Fight

Trump's Trade 'Bad Cop' Thinks He Has Found a Winning Formula

Trump's 'America First' Policy Proves to Be an Immovable Object at G-20

Trump Moves to Restore Work Requirement for Welfare

VP Mike Pence Says US Will Bypass UN and Give US Aid Directly to Christians in Iraq

Trump Has Quietly Accomplished More Than It Appears

While Eyes Are on Russia, Sessions Dramatically Reshapes the Justice Department

The Opposition Presidency

The Scrambled Cycle: Realignment, Political Time, and the Trump Presidency

How Donald Trump Came Up with 'Make America Great Again

Trump won the 2016 election by talking up this fabricated image of the Obama presidency as a failure, but it had very little foundation in reality

List of Republicans Who Opposed the Donald Trump Presidential Campaign

The De-Trumpification Agenda

Democrats are eyeing an accelerated timetable for their impeachment inquiry that could mean the entire process-including a House vote to charge the president and a Senate trial-could be almost over by January

Trump Fires Back on Impeachment

It Was All Bulls-': Liberated Trump Lets Loose in Victory Speech After Acquittal

The Inaugural Address

Calling for 'Renewal of the American Spirit

Remarks by President Trump in Joint Address to Congress

Ronald Reagan: The Primacy of Rhetoric

ANALYSIS: Trump's Twitter Use Brings Risks and Rewards

The Scrambled Cycle: Realignment, Political Time, and the Trump Presidency

Murder Rate Drops Across U.S., But Not in All Large Cities

New Trump Deportation Rules Allow Far More Expulsions

We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them. Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa

See Secretary James Mattis interviewed on Face the Nation

Trump Predicts GOP Will Work with Dems 'for the Good of the Country

Against Trump

Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic

Republican Retirement Gives House Democrats Another Target

President Trump Wants Other Members of NATO to Pay Their Fair Share: Here's What That Would Look Like

NATO Members Increase Defense Spending for Fourth Year in Row Following Trump Pressure

Trump Says NATO Is Obsolete But Still 'Very Important to Me

The Liberal Order Is Rigged

It was negotiated by people that are poor negotiators against great negotiators. Persians being great negotiators, okay? It's one of those things. You might be Persian. But the Iranians, frankly, are great negotiators

Trump Keeps His Predecessors' Promises

What's Behind Trump's Rising Popularity

Robert Mueller May Not be the Savior the Anti-Trump Internet Is Hoping for

Behind Trump's Syria Pullout Lies a Campaign Pledge