The Trump Agenda: Shock & Awe
Kimberley Strassel in the WSJ wrote how Trump’s first 24 hours or so of day #1 on the job was perhaps more sound than fury.
Not so, differs Roger Kimball in American Greatness. Trump storming into the White House “unleashed a whirlwind of action aimed at reshaping America’s political landscape.”
Draining the swamp and countering the woke ideology permeating American culture wasn’t so easy for Trump 1.0. Nor is it necessarily easy for others to consider Trump a political greenhorn, surrounded by resisters who combated his agenda.
(Donald Trump) said many of the right things. But in many cases, when it came time to implement the policies he outlined, the message got lost or garbled in transmission.
Bang!
An older, wiser Trump is not fooling around this time. Within hours of taking office, writes Mr. Kimball, Bang”!
Trump suspended the security clearances of the 51 intelligence officers who had, for partisan reasons, signed a public letter announcing that Hunter Biden’s laptop bore “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
(Donald Trump) lifted the security details assigned to former National Security Advisor and current anti-Trump fanatic John Bolton. Ditto the security detail for Anthony “Mr. Science” Fauci.
The importance of moving beyond words and replacing them with deeds is not lost on our 47th President. A memo to all government agencies instructed them to shut down DEI offices by 5 pm the next day. Furthermore, all DEI hires were to be placed on paid administrative leave “immediately.”
Mr. Kimball wonders if heads of DEI programs really try to disguise what they are doing. Looking for an answer, Kimball asks about Lisa T. Boykin, who works (worked?) at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Last Monday, Boykin was listed as the Bureau’s “Chief Diversity Officer.” But by Thursday she was listed simply as “Senior Executive” on the agency’s website. Same picture. Doubtless the same remit. Different title. Uh-oh.
But there’s more:
On Friday, Marco Rubio, Trump’s newly confirmed secretary of state, sent a cable to all U.S. diplomatic posts announcing that nearly all foreign aid would be frozen for 90 days while the U.S. determines whether that aid is in alignment with Trump’s agenda.
Enlivening Priorities
Exceptions were allowed to emergency food aid and military aid to Israel and Egypt.
But the blanket moratorium, “effective immediately,” has stunned the diplomatic corps and their clients. Professional humanitarians and other passengers on the U.S. gravy train have their knickers in a twist.
Regardless, Marco Rubio is committed to implementing Trump’s policy.
“Every dollar we spend,” he said last week, “every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions:
- Does it make America safer?
- Does it make America stronger?
- Does it make America more prosperous?”
From Mr. Kimball: “What a refreshing set of priorities.”
After Trump’s visits to devasted regions in NC and LA, one astonished official wailed, “It’s a widespread massacre. Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”
Ah, yes, “the system,” hitherto so full of integrity and independence, snarls Mr. Kimball.
If we were talking about computer software, we might venture to observe that what this fellow describes is a feature, not a bug.
With only 6 days into his 2nd term (as Mr. Kimball was writing this article), Trump is “off and running.” Will it last? What seemed impossible only a month ago seems not only possible but real. Not to worry, there will be plenty of pushback from half of the country who didn’t vote for Trump and his efforts to bring about “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.” But for the moment, Trump’s momentum is extraordinary.
Trump’s Relentless Vigor
Roger Kimball isn’t naïve enough to think there won’t be disappointments along the way …
But it does appear that this extraordinary and extraordinarily energetic man will do an enormous amount to make America great again.
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