Time for a Reset

It can be hard to stay bright, cheery, and focused while the Democrats and media continue to portray the new administration as chaotic, risky, and lawless.  The recent steady outflow of negative news is drowning out Donald Trump’s positive actions, including his efforts to close illegal immigration at the southern border.

• Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued a principled reform to hold student borrowers accountable for their debt, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a sweeping and overdue restructuring of Foggy Bottom.
• President Trump made (overlooked) news in Oval Office remarks by publicly dissing the backward GOP idea of a “millionaire’s tax,” saying it would be “very disruptive” and cause investors and job creators to “leave the country,” which “would be bad.”
• Trump also issued orders to crack down on the use of disparate-impact liability in government, update federal workforce programs, and revitalize the American fishing industry.

A recent CAPS/Harris poll shows a country that highly approves of Mr. Trump’s border and government-overhaul agenda, but harbors grave doubts over tariffs and inflation, reports Kimberley Strassel in the WSJ.

Dig beneath the shallow surface, suggests Ms. Strassel, and you’ll smell rich loam laced with Trump’s missteps. 

Governing Differently

Why was Trump’s first term so successful? Largely due to his “Reaganesque” agenda and policies that resonate with voters: deregulation, tax cuts, peace through strength.

Trump’s decision to draw closer to a new breed of uber-populists and neo-isolationists, however, is causing real backroom drama. A team of rivals in the White House sounds great until you realize there is no President Lincoln to address the chaos. Who or what will repair the broken harmony?

Lipstick on the Pig

Trump’s comments on a “millionaire’s tax,” for example, don’t seem to align with the Donald Trump voters who put him into the White House. The tax hikers, regulators, and isolationists aren’t in alignment with the president’s natural inclinations. They are looking to enact their own pet policies, to reshape the party for their own future, rather than to serve the president or work toward his political success.

A 100-Day Reset 

There’s still time to reset. Trump could scrutinize his own team, decide who is with him and who is against him.

Never discount Trump’s feelings about politics and policies. As Ms. Strassel notes, President Trump’s efforts this week to tamp down the tariff threats and end the Powell speculation suggest he, too, wants to get back to a winning message.  Trump’s cabinet, in general, shares his free-market approach to get it done quickly.

Should Trump raise taxes and retreat from the momentum he has gained in cutting government waste, the President’s Reagan-esque lessons will be lost.

Trump can reset his policies by putting them front and center. Quash those advisers needling him to go a different way. President Trump can use the 100-day mark, advises Ms. Strassel, “to double-down on Trump 1.0—and never look back.”