“A range of factions with mutually exclusive policy goals entered the Trump White House hoping the president would prioritize their particular political project.” So begins an interesting article by Christian Britschgi last week at Reason.
It sounds like a setup for failure. And Britschgi presents a case that that is what is unfolding for these factions whether they advocated removing government barriers to operation of the free market or imposing trade barriers, ending wars or starting more wars.
The Trump administration seems to have spent its first two-plus months working intently, though ineptly, on all of these endeavors, argues Britschgi who concludes in part:
The most common way politicians disappoint you is by saying they’ll do the thing you want and then doing the opposite. There’s been plenty of that during the Trump administration for sure.
In large part, however, Trump has failed in a more unusual way: doing what his supporters want in the most haphazard and incompetent way possible.
For details, read the complete article here.
This sort of approach often worked out alright for Mr. Bean in the British television series. But, things are different for a US president.
Blundering into authoritarianism in American and war abroad can be expected to proceed through Trump’s second term. Those objectives have much support in the DC establishment and seem to be reached by administration after administration over the last few decades. However, to the extent Trump seeks to protect liberty and bring about peace, he is up against entrenched, powerful special interests that will be working diligently to thwart his efforts. It is looking like he doesn’t stand a chance in overcoming them.
