When I plant seed I am relegated to a crank seeder. They are difficult to calibrate and control. I envy the farmer who, using a precisely calibrated seeder, drills the seed in a lightly cultivated field. President Trump is using a crank seeder. Or, as one commentator noted, he is “flooding the zone”.
Trump’s domestic agenda includes remaking the bureaucracy and opening up all sources of energy, along with significant changes in tax, trade, and tariff policies. And we can add to that the Elon Musk led DOGE with its pledge to find some $2 Trillion in federal government cost reductions. I could go on.
The President, before taking the oath, voiced international ambitions that included a takeover of Greenland and the Panama Canal. He is now using the threat of tariffs to reshape foreign relations and his withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) is clearly a reversal of a more globalist agenda which in decades past was largely bipartisan. Although the withdrawal probably has more to do with strong disagreements between Trump and Dr. Tedros who heads the WHO.
President Trump’s “explosive” beginning is on one level a brilliant move. He is, among other things, making it difficult for the opposition to focus. What to take on? Well, this week, the targets probably include three leadership nominations: RFK Jr, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard selected to lead Health and Human Services, the FBI, and the Department of National Intelligence. It is my guess that he has backup nominees for each of those positions. Recall how quickly he went from Matt Gaetz to head the Department of Justice to Pam Bondi.
Yet as I look back only a few days, even with subservient Republican majorities in Congress, the better leadership move would have been to select a Secretary of Defense who can be confirmed by at least 2/3rds of the US Senate. There will be moments where the Secretary’s integrity is crucial, and Pete Hegseth, who had to have the Vice-President break the tie in the US Senate to be confirmed, does not have that level of trust at the beginning. I hope he earns it, but am not optimistic.
Just ahead of Hegseth’s confirmation, President Trump pulled Secret Service protection from the often threatened former National Security Advisor John Bolton and his first-term Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Yes, the President, a target of an assassin’s bullet, decided to deny protection to two public figures that served in his first administration. Vengeance is not only not a good look, but if that becomes a consistent characteristic of his Administration, then count on a vengeful opposition. Human affairs guarantees moments when goodwill is essential.
The President likes to brag about his popularity. He loves the limelight. He is ultra-transparent. Contrasted with President Biden he is an action figure. But it doesn’t take long for self-love to turn into self-destruction.
Self-destruction comes in many forms. There is the bullet to the head and there is the popular anecdote about the frog failing to escape the boiling water as the temperature rises. Trump is certainly not the first to invite polarization, but in my lifetime ,he is the best at it. My question: why invite a higher intensity of unpopularity when you know the cycles of politics turn on approval and the next election is less than two years away? Regardless of boasting, the President won in a relatively close election and won against a self-destructive Democratic Party.
President Trump revels in his revival; it would be uncharacteristic if he didn’t. But, I am reminded of the prophetic comment: “when you are hot you are about to cool off.”
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
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