On Wednesday, a Fox News poll reported 51% of Americans want President Trump impeached and removed from office; therefore, it is possible (if unlikely) he could be ousted. This begs the question: what comes after Trump? To be sure, he’s a president unlike any other in my lifetime, and I think his campaign and presidency leave future change candidates with a Washington survival guide.
Trump won because he focused on wage-earning and tax-paying citizens. Forget his celebrity and barstool speaking style: Trump won the states where whole citizens work and pay taxes. He was for economic dynamism and fair-trade deals, and against illegal immigrants and Islamic terrorists. The media heard “alternate facts.” Blue-collar voters heard “gainful employment” and “safe neighborhoods.”
Trump kept his campaign promises to red-state voters. Main Street does not trust Washington because that’s where promises go to die; therefore, Trump’s harsh words for foreign adversaries, commitment to law and order, and pro-growth economic policies were promises kept. They also found it refreshing that he didn’t kiss-up to coastal elites or pander to every aggrieved identity group. It was not animus, by the way, but preoccupation with his constituents’ needs.
Trump didn’t cower before the mainstream media. Of course, the liberal press isn’t the “enemy of the people” – but President Trump pushed back hard against their bias. Conservatives now have an anti-media playbook: (1) talk over the press with breaking-news tweets, (2) direct-message your base with frequent rallies, and (3) call out biased reporters in real time. From now on, it’s going to be a fair fight.
Trump fought Democrats like his hair was on fire. Candidate Trump made it clear: you hit me and I’ll hit you back. Call him a sexist, Nazi, racist or isolationist: it won’t make him back down. He doesn’t care if she’s a woman: she’s Crooked Hillary. He doesn’t care if he’s Jewish: he’s Crying Chuck Schumer. He doesn’t care if she’s black: she’s Low IQ Maxine Waters. He doesn’t care if he’s a head of state: he’s Little Rocket Man.
Trump was not afraid or ashamed to put America first. He’s an American leader who was not afraid to say it out loud: we’re #1. Hint: it ain’t bragging if it’s true. Putting America first meant confronting NATO allies about free-loading on US defense spending. Above all, it meant calling out “bad hombres” like MS-13 immigrants and confronting trade enemies like China.
Hopefully, Trump is not the last pro-business change president willing to take on entrenched bureaucrats and liberal elites. Of course, they don’t have to come with the comb-over and jelly-belly, the brash tweets, or a past relationship with Stormy Daniels. Here’s the bottom line: every now and then, it helps to agitate the swamp and see what squirms out.