A friend of mine, an avid Trump
supporter, gets upset whenever I criticize President Trump. I voted for Trump
and have often praised him for his domestic policies on tax reform,
deregulation, judicial appointments, energy, and the environment; I support his
foreign policy on Israel, Iran, and military action in the Middle East; and,
with some reservations, I approve his show of strength on North Korea, Russia,
and now Turkey. His list of accomplishments is impressive and deserving of
praise. But there is another side to the ledger. Regrettably, it threatens to
undo the positive results of the president’s first term in office.
President Trump’s policies on
immigration (sanctuary cities, the wall, law enforcement, etc.) are sound, but
implementation has been shaky and inconsistent and often thwarted by a leftist
judiciary. His trade policies (TPP, Nafta, import tariffs) are a disaster; the
trade war with China is at best a stalemate that will have long-lasting
consequences both on the American economy and on foreign relations with our
allies in the Pacific.
Affecting all these policies is the
president’s management style. His unfortunate method of communicating with
tweets and ill-considered off-the-cuff remarks may energize his base, but it
fuels the Trump-hating media, divides the nation, and gives Democrats visions
of surfing a blue wave to congressional majorities in the fall elections.
And then there’s the Mueller
investigation. It has been a millstone around the president’s neck for more
than a year, but he has not found an effective way of dealing with it. Calling
the probe a witch hunt is not it. The best way for the president to pull the
fangs from Mueller’s vampires is to declassify all documents relating to the
anti-Trump intrigues in the FBI and the Justice Department and order Rod
Rosenstein to turn them over to Congress. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant,”
as the saying goes. Let the sun shine on the intrigue and the corruption in the
Deep State. And have Mueller’s prosecutorial powers turn to a real Russian
collusion scandal.
Maybe that will make my
Trump-supporting friend happy.
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