Trump is the most consequential President

Way back at the beginning, when he descended the golden escalator in 2015, I knew Donald J. Trump was a gift 10-karat diamond ring for newspaper columnists, among others.

As a newspaper columnist who had covered Trump since the ‘90s when he was Big News in Atlantic City, I felt that if there were ever a slow news day, all I’d have to do was make a phone call to see what the billionaire (on paper, then) was up to.

I did not foresee him being elected, let alone launching propaganda forum Truth Social, which is a fire hose drenching millions with his innermost thoughts, feelings, and paranoia. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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There has never been a more consequential President.

He not only attacked the D.C. swamp, but also the U.S. Constitution, which he’s not so sure he likes. 

He thinks he drained the swamp, but the only thing we know for sure that he drained was the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 

He tried to fix it and failed, so far. In fairness, so did President Barack Obama, at much greater expense. Obama spent $34 million on the overhaul between 2010 and 2012.

Executive orders fill the air like migrating geese, some of which are shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which he’s not so sure he likes.

The media? Hates them. Or us. He thinks the “failing” New York Times (among many others) are “enemies of the state.” And, btw, the Times is not failing. It reports 12.78 million total paid subscribers, including print and online. As a point of comparison, the Inquirer reports about 170,000 subscribers, the vast majority online.

To be fair, newspaper circulation and TV news ratings did soar as Trump swashbuckled his way to the Presidency. There is no doubt about it.

He was first covered as a curiosity, but almost all of the mainstream media, so busy ridiculing him, did not see how he was connecting with “average” aggrieved voters, the ones Hillary Clinton stupidly characterized as “deplorables.”

One rule of smart politics: Attack the candidates, not their supporters.

Trump’s two presidencies have been a Wild Mouse ride of busted guard rails, and an expansion of Presidential powers that no one before ever tried, or even thought of.

His enemies accuse him of trying to destroy democracy, which is wrong because it is not his goal. With him, it’s always about me. I believe he thinks no more about “democracy” than having salad for lunch. It’s not on his menu.

Last week on a single newspaper page, there were three stories about Trump, each of which would have been unusual for any other President, but Trump made them a trifecta.

First, after declaring (again) a devastating weekend attack on Iranian infrastructure, he backed off at the last minute (which is why his enemies call him TACO — Trump Always Chickens Out) claiming Gulf oil mini-states, plus Saudi Arabia, asked him to stand down. He did, claiming Iran was close to coming to terms. We have experienced this whiplash before.

Trump said Iran will open the Strait of Hormuz, and promises to denuclearize. Iran said, Where’d you hear that?

No. 2 on the hit list was him taking to the woodshed the devoted Jeanine Pirro — hanging judge turned Fox News personality turned U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — for dropping charges against a one-time Olympian who was accused of vandalizing the reflecting pool.

There was no evidence to support the charge, she said, contradicting her earlier promise of a conviction. OK, further investigation revealed new facts, or lack of evidence of vandalism.

Trump, the disrupter, thundered his disagreement.

Screw evidence! he seemed to be saying, I want a conviction.

Methinks Pirro will follow dog-killer Kristi Noem and Putin pal Tulsi Gabbard into early retirement on the Gulag.

No. 3 on that day Trump made life difficult for his Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, who had insisted the deal to create a fund for Jan. 6 rioters was dead.

No, it’s not, bellowed Trump from afar.

Trump is learning that his political power has its limits, and facts are stubborn things.