Friday, February 7, 2025

How “Real” is the “Art of the Deal”

The dynamic political forces overwhelming WDC and the nation these days are truly wonders to behold.  Donald Trump had four years of battle-tested experience and four more years of planning to get ready for his re-entry into our nation’s White House.  Obviously, he did not waste that time.

 

Not only did Trump have a ready list of appointees in hand, he had apparently coordinated his agenda with them in an effort to maximize every…single…day of this upcoming administration.  There can be no doubt that his targets, goals, and policies are ambitious, to say the least.  The critical questions are, first off…how successful will his implementation of those policies be and secondly, how effective will those policies be in achieving the targets and goals?

 

Notwithstanding his experience and planning, Donald Trump in his second presidential term is the same Donald Trump from his first presidential term.  He is first and foremost a business-oriented, risk-taking, independent-minded chief executive.  These traits are channeled through his monstrous ego and then projected…machine gun style…through his flamboyant and blustering personal style of management.  The sum of these parts is what he and others have referred to as the Art of the Deal.   

 

Even considering the significant privilege of his youth, Donald Trump has clearly accomplished a great deal in the realm of business and real estate development.  At some point in his career, he reached a stage where he was playing with house money and that fact clearly emboldened him to negotiate in a no holds barred fashion  that began with a take it or leave it declaration, but typically ended with a let’s meet somewhere in the middle conclusion.  This win/win philosophy served him well in his business career, where the worst case scenarios were typically of a financial loss variety.  

 

The outcomes of applying that same strategy in the practice of his political career are yet to be determined.  There was nothing close to normal or routine about his first term as president.  He came into office totally unprepared and faced immediate and widespread opposition, criticism, and blatant sabotage of his presidential pursuits.  From the day he assumed the office, he never really had an opportunity to set forth a clear vision of where he wanted to go and how he wanted to get there.  He was constantly on the defense and literally fighting for his political life.  This time around, he is better prepared…he is better positioned with a Republican Congress…he has carefully considered and planned what he hopes to accomplish as president…and he enjoys the independence not only of significant public support, but also of the fact that he will not be standing for re-election in four years (trust me…there will be no third Trump term). 

 

Here is the mystery that is yet to unravel: Will the business approach that Trump has practiced his entire life translate into a presidential term of successful and effective political and diplomatic pursuits?  As CEO, failure resulted in a loss of revenue or investment capital.  As President, failure might very well translate to loss of life.  No doubt, the majority of Americans are just fine with Trump breaking some china (small “c” now…large “C” later) due to the fact that the progressive Democrat lunacy that has pervaded our country for the last four years has driven them to the point of intolerance.  I also believe that an overwhelming percentage of the policy initiatives flowing from Trump and his minions are supported by the majority of Americans. 

 

But what happens when the 10 to 20 percent of his initiatives that have not been thoroughly considered prior to announcement or lack broad public support go sideways or off the rails?  In governmental political games, there are always winners and there are always losers.  When the losers begin to squeal, how much attention will be paid to their complaints? Will a nation so hungry for change be willing to accept the reality that real and meaningful governmental reform will inevitably have a human cost and that cost will be borne by certain segments of our existing society and culture? President Trump has a historically-unique window of opportunity to accomplish some incredible things.  But while he is flying down the icy slopes of governmental, domestic, economic, and foreign policy reform and revision…he must be ever vigilant to avoid getting too far out over his skis and avoid a colossal tumble that might jeopardize the entire, downhill run.  Now…onto the news of the day…

 

The DOGE is in the Department of Education’s house and stirrings of educational reform are sweeping across the states.  Is an educational reckoning at hand?

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-to-do-about-college-accreditation-2/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/microcredentials-as-an-alternative-to-college/

 

https://reason.com/2025/01/31/years-after-the-pandemic-the-lowest-performing-students-are-still-significantly-behind/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-college-board-looks-to-expand/

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/are-schools-really-politicized/

 

Lost in the maelstrom of national immigration policy is the fundamentally critical debate surrounding birthright citizenship.  How will this issue ultimately be settled? 

 

https://americanmind.org/features/the-case-against-birthright-citizenship-2/birthright-citizenship-and-the-american-founders/

 

https://americanmind.org/features/the-case-against-birthright-citizenship-2/solving-the-political-problem-of-birthright-citizenship/

 

https://americanmind.org/features/the-case-against-birthright-citizenship-2/wong-kim-ark-must-be-reversed/

 

From Gaza to Ukraine to Russia to Mexico to Canada and ultimately to China…where is America’s foreign policy headed?

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/05/blessed-are-the-peacemakers/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/07/trump-is-forcing-the-world-to-face-its-hypocrisies-on-the-palestinians-and-gaza/

 

https://americanmind.org/salvo/trumps-historic-opportunity-in-the-middle-east/

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/30/mexico-friend-enemy-neutral-or-something-else/

 

Whether it be the DOGE initiative or Trump’s “change agent” cabinet nominees, there can be little doubt that much needed governmental reform is not only on the way, but it is sorely overdue.

 

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/04/trumps-spending-freeze-is-a-major-step-towards-making-america-great/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/06/wasteful-fema-spending-topped-9-billion-during-the-pandemic/

 

https://reason.com/2025/02/01/a-big-beautiful-bill/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/05/defunding-usaid-isnt-about-reducing-the-deficit-its-about-shutting-down-left-wing-propaganda/

 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/politico-and-the-ap-were-on-the-government-payroll.php

 

https://nypost.com/2025/01/29/opinion/miranda-devine-rfk-jr-hearings-reveal-the-border-crisis-under-the-biden-administration-is-why-our-healthcare-has-faltered/

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/03/if-presidents-cant-control-executive-agencies-elections-are-fake/

 

The American public clearly demonstrated through their votes that they’ve had enough of the progressive, liberal stupidity championed by the Democrat Party and their allies.  But remarkably…there are apparently several Democrats who have not received the memo.

 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-the-dei-madness/

 

You can run, but you cannot hide… https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/a-collusion-hoax-coda.php

 

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/04/leftist-wisconsin-senator-confuses-coup-with-will-of-the-people/

 

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/05/murphys-law-how-new-jerseys-governor-turned-virtue-signaling-into-a-virtual-nightmare/#more-228484

 

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