Grading President Trump's First Fifty Days

Ever since FDR’s famous (or infamous) “First Hundred Days”, filled with the rapid implementation of dozens of new government programs in response to the Great Depression, the first three months in office for a new president has been seen as critical for setting the tone of the rest of his tenure. The Daily Signal has a good recap of the major actions President Trump has taken so far here, as well as comparing them to his promises on the campaign trail.

Overall, if I were a Trump voter who agreed with every one of his campaign promises, I would be enormously pleased with the record so far. As it is, I am, quite frankly, surprised that Trump has shown as much commitment as he has to fulfilling campaign pledges. As I said many times during the campaign, one of my major issues with Trump was that he simply hadn’t given voters any reason to believe that he would actually follow through on many of his more conservative proposals—securing the border, for instance, or pushing to defund Planned Parenthood—based on his history.

But in areas of policy, Trump has actually stayed remarkably consistent. And, he has actually surrounded himself with many good people—Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos, to name two—despite the mocking of that particular claim by myself and others during the campaign.

Of course, he’s had some missteps and done things I disagree with, some quite strongly—embracing Obamacare Lite being only the latest example. And his Twitter feed is another matter entirely.

But on the substance, I would have to give Trump a solid B for his first fifty days in office. May his presidency have many more such days, without the missteps (both overblown and real) which have plagued the administration thus far.

If Trump Wants My Vote In 2020, He's Off To A Good Start

Coming on the heels of announcements regarding his picks for Attorney General, CIA director, and National Security Adviser (my analysis of these picks can be found here and here), Trump announced just before Thanksgiving that Nikki Haley would serve as UN ambassador—a post that would be considered Cabinet level in the Trump administration—while Betsy DeVos, a school choice and charter-school activist and former head of the Michigan Republican Party, would be Secretary of Education.

In short, I’m enthusiastic about both. Nikki Haley in particular, after two terms as governor of South Carolina, needs almost no introduction to conservatives across the country (although her Wikipedia page offers a good overview, if necessary). She’s been considered a rising star in the party for years, ever since her initial gubernatorial victory in 2010, and her criticisms of Trump throughout the campaign make it clear that she’s no blind Trump loyalist, one of the few solid arguments against the nominations of people like Jeff Sessions.

As a governor and former state legislator, she has little in the way of extensive foreign policy experience, something Senate Democrats will undoubtedly use against her come confirmation time. But she has led several important trade missions, has extensive knowledge of foreign policy concerns, and has proven herself to be both a quick study and a strong-willed individual who will stand up against America’s enemies at the United Nations—and is extremely likeable to boot. She should be easily confirmed.

DeVos I was unfamiliar with before word started leaking several days ago that Trump was considering her for Education Secretary, but as the reports on her nomination make clear, she has been a strong proponent for charter schools and school choice measures for years. About the only valid argument against her nomination from the Right is her past support for Common Core—although she has also declared that she now opposes it, and for now all we can do is wait to see what, if anything, new comes up in confirmation hearings to prove that isn’t so.

The other open question about DeVos is how committed she will be to ending the federal Department of Education, a long-held conservative dream that Trump occasionally spoke about on the campaign trail, but on which he has been silent since the election. That, presumably, is something else that will come up during her confirmation hearing if not before. In the meantime, the other points on her resume look strong, and prominent #NeverTrumper Bill Kristol didn’t hesitate to praise her selection.

Don’t get me wrong—Trump has said several things since the election to make me proud I voted for Evan McMullin, most recently his softening on climate change and the Paris climate agreement at a meeting with the New York Times. But as troubling as those statements are, they are, as of yet, only words. The only concrete actions Trump has yet taken have been his Cabinet choices, and so far they have been almost uniformly stellar.

He proved two weeks ago he didn’t need my vote to win, but it seems like he’s working hard to earn it for 2020.