Donald J. Trump: A High Energy and High Risk President!
As the United States Congress is now officially in its August 2026 recess, I thought I would take the opportunity in this blog to revisit my thought process from August 2024 when Donald J. Trump received the Republican nomination for President to the present time.
Unlike the Progressive left who despise the ground President Trump walks on and the MAGA Populist Right who worship the ground President Trump walks on, I like many other Christian Conservatives have a more nuanced view of President Trump. It was clear to me in August 2024, and even more clear to me now, that President Trump is an incredibly energetic and high-risk individual. The energy can produce good fruit as well as bad fruit, but it will produce! It was my prediction that, if elected, President Trump and his administration would largely uphold a prolife policy; enable the development of plentiful fossil fuel energy resources; advocate a two gender policy; take steps to eliminate harmful DEI from the military and federal contractors; address the evil of antisemitism in higher education; adopt a secure border policy; require a more reasonable and common sense regulatory policy from federal agencies; pursue tax legislation which encouraged saving, investing, and innovation; nominate federal judges who took an originalist and textualist approach to the U.S. Constitution and statutory law; and support a strong national defense (with the possible inexcusable exception of maintaining required munitions). I believe this assessment has largely been correct. Even considering the shortcomings of Trump 47 which I will discuss below, I believe most Christian Conservatives are generally pleased with the accomplishments during the last 20 months and clearly understand that a Kamala Harris Administration would have presented a starkly different and disappointing picture.
It was always my concern {fear} that President Trump’s proclivity for impulsive decisions and undue self-promotion {some might say narcissism} would detract from the Trump Administration’s accomplishments; lead to a possible Democratic sweep of the U.S. House and Senate in the mid-term elections; and derail the possibility for additional achievements in the last two years of his second term. Unfortunately, unless President Trump changes course quickly, I believe my worst fears will be realized. Let me explain my concerns below.
1. Iranian Military Conflict. Simply stated, I believe this military endeavor has largely been a failure, at least to this point in the conflict. In summary, while Iran may have suffered considerable damage to its energy, rail, and military infrastructure, it is not clear that Iran’s nuclear threat has been eliminated and, in many respects, Iran may be in a more powerful military and strategic position in the Persian Gulf than it was before the conflict began. It basically controls/obstructs most shipping in the Gulf of Hormuz (Memo to President Trump: the U.S. does not own the Strait of Hormuz); its governmental dysfunction “conveniently” prevents any meaningful settlement discussions of the military conflict; it has intimidated neighboring Gulf States and largely rendered many of the American Military installations in the Gulf unsafe for military personnel because of successful drone and military attacks. While President Trump blusters and bombasts one day that the U.S. Military will inflict unimaginable destruction on Iran, he quickly pivots the next day stating that Iranian leaders desperately want a “deal” and settlement of the conflict is close at hand which the Iranians vehemently dispute, and then no settlement is achieved. This back-and-forth Ground Hog Day saga continues almost unabated which makes the President, and the United States look weak and very foolish. It may never be clear if the President received bad military advice or just ignored the advice he received before beginning the Iranian military conflict. If the reports are true that the U.S. is running low on munitions required for aggressive military action against Iran, then economic pressure on Iran through the naval blockade may be the best option. One could surely hope that President Trump has the patience and discipline to pursue this course of action and achieve an honorable end to this military conflict. Otherwise, the Iranian military conflict will certainly be seen by most Americans as an embarrassing and expensive failure.
2. The Save Act. While it is clear a decisive majority of Americans (Republicans and Democrats) support a voter photo ID to vote in elections, President Trump has gone far beyond this with the Save Act legislation which, among other things, would outlaw mail in voting which many red states utilize. It would also require passports for new voters. There are not 50 Republican votes in the Senate to eliminate the 60 vote Filibuster requirement and allow a Senate vote on the Save Act and not even 50 votes in favor of the Save Act. Yet the President continues with his obsession to pass this legislation while neglecting other important legislative priorities such as another reconciliation bill for tax and budget issues and increased funding for the military. A reconciliation bill is exempt from the Senate filibuster and could be passed with only 51 votes. But there is little hope for this legislation unless the President gives up on the Save Act which has no chance of becoming law.
3. Immigration. One of the primary reasons that President Trump was elected in 2024 was the issue of immigration. The Biden Administration’s open border policy allowed thousands of migrants to enter the country illegally and many of these individuals had criminal records in their country of origin and many others committed crimes in this country after entering illegally. To be sure, there is widespread public support to deport illegal migrants with criminal records which the Trump Administration has successfully accomplished despite the obstructive sanctuary policies in place in numerous Progressive cities and states. But what has soured public opinion on the Trump Administration immigration enforcement policy is the chaotic and haphazard arrest of many illegal migrant farm and construction workers who have been in this country for decades; obeyed our laws; paid taxes; provided much needed labor; raised families and contributed to their communities. Americans have no appetite for immigration enforcement officers making arrests of grandparents at little league games, church parking lots, or the arrest of day laborers at Home Depot parking lots.
The mid-term elections for Congress are less than 90 days away. Many prognosticators believe the energy and enthusiasm for Democratic Socialist candidates for the U.S. House and Senate may lead to a Democratic sweep of the Congress. These predictions may be correct, but I see a much bigger threat looming to enable a Democratic sweep of Congress with wall-to-wall Congressional investigations of President Trump and Impeachment 3.0 soon to follow. It is the possibility that many Christian Conservatives may decide to sit out the mid-term elections because of their disappointment in the policy focus and personal demeanor of President Trump. While it is unlikely that any Republican Congressional leaders will muster the political courage to challenge the President on the matters discussed above, the President still has time to pursue a coherent military strategy to successfully address the military conflict in Iran and bring it to an honorable conclusion; abandon the doomed Save Act; enact meaningful tax and budget legislation through the reconciliation process; moderate his offensive tone as he did prior to his 2016 and 2024 successful presidential election campaigns; and make changes in the immigration enforcement policy to eliminate the current chaos and confusion. But will he do any of these things or continue to listen to fringe rightwing populist online influencers who have never owned a business and made a payroll; been elected to public office; or been a leader of any organization that produced and delivered a valuable good or service to Americans? We can only pray that he will do so.
God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.
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