Trump has learned who his friends are – and who they’re not
Trump had a bunch of handicaps first time around:
– The Democrats didn’t think he had a mandate, because of his failure to get the popular vote. Or just because.
– He knew very little about Washington and how it worked.
– Even people on the right didn’t know much about him and were hesitant to work for him.
– He had to rely on others to make recommendations for people to appoint, and their suggestions often involved establishment figures who weren’t onboard with Trump’s agenda. Some were even actively – or secretly – against it
– The “resistance” was out to undermine him and was powerful and quite successful at it, and I doubt he expected the strength of their resolve and the lengths to which they would go.
Now a lot has changed, and all to his advantage. He’s been president before and knows the ropes. Most world leaders already have had dealings with him. He won the popular vote. He has slightly more cooperative GOP leaders in Congress. He’s assembled an interesting group of iconoclastic and often-brilliant allies to help him – at least for now. He’s appointing people who support his agenda. He is seen as having more power. He know what the forces arrayed against him have been and what they’ve been willing to do. He’s older, perhaps wiser, and certainly tougher. The left is still be determined to undermine him, but for the moment they are demoralized and divided.
For the moment.
Another big advantage for him is that the Legacy Media has effectively had its back broken in terms of people’s trust in them. Propoganda only works when its intended audience doesn’t know that it’s propaganda.
It certainly will be interesting to see how Trump 2.0 progresses. It seems as if he has the wind at his back this time.
People should learn how to fly an airplane before attempting flying it…
Trump has kept his big mouth shut since being elected – which I credit to CoS Susie Wiles.
I think much depends on his appointments getting confirmed. Looks like many are on his side so will do what is needed to start attacking the Deep State. Not sure how that his message can get through the Democrats Propaganda Ministry but sure he will try.
I was interested to hear Stuart Varney, on Fox Business this morning, saying that in spite of his electoral victory Trump is still not using the official transition mechanisms. Calls with foreign leaders are made from his own phone with his own translators. He is going to be very, very careful about contact with the existing bureaucracy.
“…which I credit to…”
Not sure.
As an avid reader of this illustrious blog, he’s most probably been listening to you and Bauxite….
I do not doubt that the “resistance” will coalesce – they’re dusting off their “pussy hats” as I type this…
See my link in the open thread concerning Bergum. I’m not sure I support Bergum or Gaetz. Maybe more on Gaetz than Bergum. I get the feeling Bergum is a RINO.
From my perspective he has gotten excellent advice from Susie Wiles that he has listened to and followed – a major change for him. To his credit he learned a lot from losing as he did in 2020 and from the relentless attacks, from both political parties and the government swamp people in particular, during his first term. And then they sent someone to kill him, twice, and were nearly successful. That seems to have cemented the change in attitude and approach. Plus all the things you mention Neo.
Kate:
Interesting report from Stuart Varney that Trump is using personal, rather than official, communications systems. I certainly hope that is true: the betrayal by Lt.Col Vindmann at the beginning of Trump’s first term was when I realized the holdovers were even worse than the staffers who stole the W keys off keyboards at the end of the Obama administration. These are vengeful, arrogant people, whether you call them the deep state of whatever. They cannot be trusted. It is heartening to learn that Trump has learned that lesson and is fighting it.
Thanks for the tip.
@F,
WTF? Why would the Obama people steal the W keys?
@BF— Being so old as to remember back then*, I think it was the Clintonistas who pulled the “W” from the keyboards because it was Geo *W* Bush who replaced Slick Willie. Some kind of protest, maybe even “election denial” in that the Dems still make the claim that the SCOTUS stole the election for Bush, aka “Dubya”.
*even farther back if pushed.
George W. Bush. George (no W key) Bush. Petty, childish behavior from adolescents.
Even if Trump is using personal rather than government communication systems, you can bet that NSA is listening to every word he says. Expect leaks to begin soon.
Re: Pulling the W keys
F, Another+Mike have got it right.
It was the outgoing Clinton staff who removed the W keys from White House typewriters, before W Bush took office.
Sticking it to the Man!
The missing W keys were glued above the office doors in plain sight. Things were less rabid in 2001, and I thought the stunt was clever and harmless.
Ah. Thank you, all, for answering my question. I learned something new.
PS: Apparently, the system can’t read thumbs up emojis, so I learned another thing that’s new.
PPS: Third thing that’s new; the system can’t read sad face emojis either. 🙁
PPPS; 4th thing that’s new, it can make sad face emojis if you use parentheses and the curved symbol. 🙂
Re: Pulling the W keys
Which reminds me of an old Mad Magazine joke.
Harry and Bess Truman: “We swept dirt under the rugs before we turned the White House over to Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower.”
Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower. “We found dirt under the rugs when we moved into the White House.”
The missing W keys were glued above the office doors in plain sight. Things were less rabid in 2001, and I thought the stunt was clever and harmless.
Gordon Scott:
How nice. If I had pulled such a stunt as an office joe guy, I think I would have been in trouble and maybe lost my job.
This is the WHITE HOUSE. Not a place for stunts, however clever and harmless. This is about governing the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
I don’t mean to get too solemn about it, but it is, or should be, serious business.
This is the WHITE HOUSE.
I have always thought that part of his problem during his first term was that the tried to do things the way a new CEO coming into a business would.
CEO’s generally do not come in and fire large swaths of employees. They may initially fire people that the board has identified as needing to be got rid of, but generally they sit back and watch a bit and see who’s getting stuff done and who isn’t before they start cutting heads. Most people don’t want to lose their jobs, so they get with the new program.
I think Trump didn’t understand that government employees weren’t like people in the private sector and would actually try to undermine him. He appears to have figured this out and is going in with a plan to shut down any opposition.
Clinton Transition Left $15,000 Damage, GAO Says – Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-12-na-clinton12-story.html
Re: Government transition team
There was apparently an attempt to kick up a fuss that Trump wasn’t using the ‘time-honored’ transition bureaucracy a week or so back. They attempted to claim that it was a big deal because it dated back to 2010. (For those keeping score at home, that means it had been used as often as twice, on Trump’s previous entrance and exit of the White House.)
Gee, why would the permanent bureaucracy be up in arms over Trump not using their services a second time, after how well they did eight years previous?