During the 2016 campaign, many on the Right had reservations about Donald Trump. Fearing that he was more an opportunist than a conservative, they worried that a President Trump would prove to little better than Hillary Clinton. Those concerns, however, should now be allayed. Trump has been in office for just over four months, but in that time he taken decisive steps to reverse or erase many of the worst of Barack Obama’s policies. As the Democrats and the media seek to undermine or even destroy his presidency, conservatives should rally around Trump as one of their own, because the consequences of failing to back Trump will be disastrous for the party and the country.
Last week showed just how transformative a Trump presidency is proving to be. In just his first trip overseas, Trump has completely recast American foreign policy. Barack Obama believed he could bring peace to the Middle East, but in fact he left the region a far more dangerous place than when he took over in 2009. Neither John McCain nor Mitt Romney would have sanctioned a deal with Iran that has aided Iran’s economy while only temporarily delaying the country’s nuclear program. Obama abandoned Iraq just when the country was developing into a working democracy, allowing ISIS to take over a third of the country. Trump has jettisoned the anti-Israel animus that drove Obama’s foreign policy but at the same time has asked Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu to reach out to the Palestinians in an effort to reach a peace deal. Trump’s visit to the Middle East was a success even before he did or said anything, as evidenced by the reception the Saudis gave him when Air Force One touched down in Riyadh. King Salman and dozens of other members of the Saudi royal family were there to greet Trump, a stark contrast to Obama’s last visit, when Salman sent a distant relative to meet Obama. Before leaving, Trump signed an agreement for $110 billion in arms sales to the kingdom, and Saudi Arabia approved licenses for American companies of investments totaling over $300 billion.
Liberal historians love to talk about “transformative presidencies” by which they mean Democratic presidents who move the country to the left. Trump is taking America in the opposite direction, which has not gone unnoticed by his opponents. In her first post-election interview, Hillary Clinton told New York magazine “we hoped that there would be a different agenda for governing than there had been for running.” Politico ran a story highlighting the Trump administration’s reversal of many of the worst of Obama’s regulations, which Politico noted “may be the administration’s biggest untold success.” Both quotes highlight the realization that Trump is not only a conservative president, but a successful one, which has made his enemies hate him even more.
Trump’s success is the most underreported part of his presidency. Since taking office, the stock market has risen over five percent, and from below 19,000 to above 21,000 since his election in November, a rise analysts have dubbed the “Trump Bump.” Consumer confidence is thirty percent higher than it was one year ago. And a number of businesses have announced plans to open plants and factories, fulfilling a pledge by Trump to bring jobs back to America.
Going forward, Donald Trump has the opportunity to rival or even surpass Ronald Reagan’s legacy. Trump is going to pull the United States out of the job-killing Paris climate accords. While his plan to cut taxes is currently stalled, Trump and Republicans in Congress will almost certainly reach an agreement before the 2018 off-year elections. Trump’s most lasting contribution could be the makeup of the Supreme Court. His appointment of Neil Gorsuch is just the first of possibly as many as four he could make in just his first term. Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 84. Anthony Kennedy is 80. Stephen Breyer is 78. There will certainly be at least one vacancy after the end of 2018 term next May and with the filibuster gone, Trump could get several other nominees on the court.
The Supreme Court is the most important reason why all Republicans must stand with Trump. The 2018 off-year election is going to be as vicious a campaign as any we have ever seen. The Democrats, particularly the far-left that now dominates the party, are angry and energized. The mainstream media has entirely abandoned any pretense of objectivity and will be working hand-in-hand with the Democrats in their effort to take both houses of Congress. It is more likely than not that the Republicans will lose control of the House, so the key is the Senate. The Republicans currently hold 52 seats. Half of all Democrats are up for reelection, with several in very deep red states, seats that could swing to the GOP. Most of the Republicans who have to run should be relatively safe. But for the party to hold the Senate or even add a few seats, the party base must get and vote. A lot of Republican voters will stay home if they perceive that leading Republicans in Washington are only lukewarm in their support of Donald Trump, thereby giving the Democrats the Senate.
Barack Obama wasn’t right about much of anything, but he was correct when he said elections have consequences. 2018 will reverberate for decades. If the Democrats take the Senate, no Trump Supreme Court nominee will even get as much as vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Still seething over the filibuster against Merrick Garland, Senate Democrats will get payback for that supposed injustice. If one justice retires in 2019 and the Democrats refuse to allow a vote or simply reject the nominee, it would mean almost two years of a Supreme Court with eight justices, which will lead to a number of tied votes on the some of the most important political and legal issues of the day. Democrats in the Senate will be fine with that. They will wait it out in the hope that Trump is a one term president and a Democrat will take office in January 2021.
The Trump administration is under assault from the left. For the sake of the country, Republicans of all stripes must get behind him. The investigations into the supposed Russia connection are not efforts to discern the truth but an attempt to overturn the results of November 8. Donald Trump won and his presidency is showing that elections do have consequences—very good consequences for Republicans and the country. Trump could be this generation’s Ronald Reagan. For this alone he deserves the support of all Republicans.