The left will tell you that Trump’s presidency has been riddled with controversy. He’s always in hot water, and the mainstream media has put him on the grill and left him there.
But, for all of the proclaimed controversy, what has Trump really gotten wrong?
His economic policy is certainly doing well. He’s managed to keep promises on jobs, wages and GDP. His foreign policy has brought America’s biggest enemies to their knees. In fact, most of the so-called outrage over Trump’s presidency doesn’t seem to last long at all. When was the last time a news cycle persisted for more than two weeks? If you look carefully, you can find that Trump’s “controversies” follow a pattern, and it explains why none of them last.
Travel Ban
The Muslim ban was possibly Trump’s earliest controversy as President. His original travel ban was struck down in court, but a revised version became policy. The left decried it as a racist ban that specifically attacked Muslims (because they really don’t know what the word “racist” means) and protested adamantly. Then, they just kind of stopped talking about it. The entire cycle lasted a few weeks.
There are a few reasons why this controversy didn’t last. First, it was never a Muslim ban. It was a travel ban on countries that were identified by intelligence agencies to represent the most direct threat to America. Some of those countries are majority Muslim, but the ban had absolutely no language that mentioned any religion.
The second reason it didn’t last is because it became clear that former President Obama was the one who actually compiled the list of countries on the ban.
The third reason this controversy died so quickly is because it was all hot air. It was one of President Trump’s first policies, and the left just wanted to fight him for the sake of it. You’ll find that’s a common theme.
Iran Nuclear Deal
When President Trump announced his plans to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran, we were told that it was the end of the world. It was going to guarantee that Iran developed nuclear weapons (even though the opposite is true), and it spelled certain death for civilization.
There’s so much cognitive dissonance here. If Iran having nuclear weapons is a threat to the world, maybe we shouldn’t be financially supporting the regime. Just a thought.
Anyways, this is a classic case of outrage dying in the light of the truth. President Trump pulled out and very little changed. Iran is still Iran. The only real difference is that we aren’t funding a known evil regime who is bent on doing us harm. Even Trump haters tend to begrudgingly acknowledge that much.
Israel Embassy
This was one of the biggest controversies. The entire left nearly outed themselves as full-blown anti-Semites. President Trump committed a terrible, evil act by following the directive of Congress and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. How could he!
This controversy was particularly fun to watch because the left had to be careful about using their usual hyperbole. If they went as hard as they usually do, they would be implying that acknowledging Israel as a legitimate state is a horrific act.
Fun as it was, this policy decision had no fallout and tons of benefits. The state of things in Israel didn’t really change from the embassy move, but roughly a dozen countries have followed President Trump’s footsteps, and Israel has a little more security in a world that mostly wants to wipe them off the map.
Paris Agreement
Above everything else that President Trump has done to end the world, this was the worst. Sure, you get nut jobs who still whine about the decision, but for the most part, this is not still a controversy. President Trump decided that we shouldn’t be a part of the pact, and we left. The outrage was nearly violent for a while. Then, as always, the truth followed.
After leaving the agreement, the U.S. led the world in reducing CO2 emissions, and not by a small margin. In the meantime, the combined efforts of all members of the agreement saw CO2 efforts accelerate.
For all rational people, this controversy died because of the scoreboard. President Trump didn’t promise winning on environmental policy, but he did it anyways (assuming CO2 emissions even matter).
These are just a few of the greatest hits, but they point to some clear trends. There are two reasons President Trump’s “controversies” don’t last. The first is that they’re manufactured. Most of the outrage thrown his way isn’t legitimate. Lefties just want to hate Trump, so they’ll pour vitriol on anything he says. They’ve literally condemned him for praying for natural disaster victims. It’s complete nonsense, and everyone knows it.
The other reason the controversies don’t last is because President Trump’s policies are working. As hard as the left tries to spin the narrative that the economy isn’t good, you can always destroy their claim with one question, “How are your finances since President Trump took over?” Anyone who is honest will admit that they’re doing better.
That’s because President Trump’s economy is the best Americans have seen in decades. Additionally, his foreign policy has been massively effective. He has somehow managed to perfectly walk the line between demonstration of American might and unwillingness to intervene where we shouldn’t. He has taken us out of wars where previous presidents only added.
The simple truth of it all is that President Trump has exceeded expectations. It has been so long since a president was able to change so much in only two years that most of us don’t really know how to respond.
For the vitriolic left, the only thing they know how to do is complain, and that’s what they keep doing. But, every time they steer into another faux controversy, they lose ground. Anyone who isn’t a mind slave can see that the country is in fact great again.
