Last week Spy Contributor Maria Grant warned us, “Be Very Afraid. He’s Coming After You.” The “he” is Donald Trump. The piece offered a rich sampling of nasty nicknames Trump bestowed on former members of his cabinet, political opponents, and others. Grant’s message was that somebody as nasty as Trump knows no loyalty to anyone but himself. She also implied that anyone who thinks Trump is their friend or is watching out for them, is mistaken.
Grant is right about Trump, but not everyone agreed and told her so in their comments. I read the comments and was surprised to read something that I hear and read more often these days: Trump defenders explaining why Trump was an excellent president.
Maybe I wasn’t listening, but I do not recall many Trumpers making the effort to explain their admiration for the Trump presidency until recently. The change, I think, results from the fact that Trump himself has shrunken in stature because of his four indictments, 91 felony charges, being accused of rape by a federal judge in the E. Jean Carrol case and being found guilty of fraud in the New York business case. Add to that Trump’s increasingly violent rhetoric and sometimes bizarre behavior.
There is not much of Trump the man left to respect. That was confirmed for me two weeks ago when a hard-core Trump supporter, the type of person with whom you avoid all political discussions, told me he had lost respect for Trump. He may still vote for him, but there will no longer be a Trump flag flying in front of his house.
So, what about the defenses of the Trump presidency we now hear? They are interesting, both in what they include and what they don’t. They are a problem for Democrats because parts of the Trump record weren’t all bad. They are not entirely honest because Trumpers do not want to address the January 6 insurrection, Trump’s embrace of racism and anti-LGBQT+ rhetoric, and his relentless quest to divide America.
Let’s look at a few of the claims Trump supporters say Trump accomplished during his four years in the White House:
Trump built the wall and reduced illegal immigration.
The U.S. was not at war during Trump’s presidency.
Trump cut taxes.
The U.S. became energy independent.
The economy boomed.
Gas prices were low.
The stock market flourished.
Through “Operation Warp Speed,” which hastened the availability of a vaccine for COVID, Trump ended the pandemic.
Trump cut federal regulations to create a more favorable business environment.
Unemployment hit record lows during Trump’s presidency, including for people of color.
The U.S. military was rebuilt.
Inflation was low under Trump.
Trump brought peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords.
Russia did not invade Ukraine until Trump left office and would not have done so had Trump been re-elected. (Trump also says if he is elected in 2024, he will end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.)
Trumpers usually follow their litany of Trump accomplishments with disparaging remarks about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, with the implication that anything good that has happened during the Biden presidency—things like continued low unemployment—is something Biden has not gotten around to screwing up or it is because of Trump laying the groundwork.
As is often the case with self-congratulatory lists of accomplishments, the Trump list includes exaggerations and, in some cases, lies. (Not a surprise given who we are writing about.)
Just a few comments on the Trump list:
Trump did not build that “big, beautiful wall” that he promised. He built a mere fraction of what he claimed he would build. Mexico did not pay for any of the wall, despite Trump’s 2016 campaign promise that he would force Mexico to do so. He also reduced illegal immigration by embracing inhumane border policies.
It is impossible to “rebuild the military” in four years. Military procurement is a multi-year process. Increases in appropriations for the military under Trump included increased personnel costs. Trump also takes credit for “enhancements” that were originally funded under Bush or Obama.
Gas prices were lower during the Trump administration because of the pandemic. Demand for gas dropped precipitously because people stopped going to work and other places and generally avoided contact with others.
Trump’s tax cuts favored the rich. Lower income taxpayers did not benefit. And the cost of the tax cut contributed to an increase in the national debt by 7.8 trillion. That increase, as well as other “unpaid-for” spending, contributed to today’s inflation.
Yes, “Operation Warp Speed” hastened the availability of a COVID vaccine. But Trump’s handling of the pandemic included denying that a pandemic was starting (he said it would soon simply disappear), disseminating misinformation about medicines to combat the virus, and he participated in a presidential debate with Joe Biden three days after testing positive for COVID. Plus, his accusations regarding Dr. Fauci were unconscionable and resulted in Fauci requiring security even to this day.
The claim that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president, is speculation. The claim that he could end the war in one day is ludicrous.
I could comment on each of the claims, but you get the idea—even if Trump deserves credit for some claims, Trumpers overstate the case.
What about what is not on the list:
The January 6 insurrection.
Praising racists (Charlottesville).
Trump’s appointments of anti-LGBQT judges and supported discrimination against LGBQT people.
Trump’s serious weakening of U.S. relationships with our allies, jeopardizing U.S. world leadership.
Trump’s administration characterized by high turnover among political appointees and ethical lapses on the part of appointees.
Trump’s disrespect for the military, calling troops “suckers” and refusing to appear at events with wounded warriors due to fear it would make him look bad.
Trump withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, making the U.S. the only country to walk away from its promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
I could go on, but you get the idea. The Trump presidency was not the triumph that Trumpers now claim. The record, at best, is mixed. And if you consider the harm done to America’s future by the January 6, 2021, insurrection, you cannot say that Trump’s presidency was a success. It was not.
Occasionally, history repeats itself. Despite many of Trump’s “accomplishments” having been proven false, he continues to make ridiculous claims. Just last Sunday, Trump posted this on his social media site: “THE HORRIBLE ATTACK ON ISRAEL, MUCH LIKE THE ATTACK ON UKRAINE, WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT – ZERO CHANCE!”
If you believe this nonsense, please contact me. I am selling the Bay Bridge and will make you an extremely attractive, beautiful offer.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects. (Disclosure: Maria Grant is the wife of J.E. Dean)
Matt LaMotte says
Nobody talks more about Donald Trump’s supposed accomplishments than Donald Trump himself.
To quote Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, “If you have to tell people you are powerful, it means you aren’t.”
John Dean says
I hope Thatcher is right–I worry about Trump’s lead in the GOP nomination race.
Kay Klepfer says
MG and JE, thank you both!
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. Maria thanks you as well.
Suzanne Todd says
I don’t understand why your friend will still vote for Trump even though he has lost respect for him. I fear for our country if Trump gets re-elected.
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece. I think my friend still plans on voting for Trump because he thinks that Trump was an “excellent president” despite his personal flaws.
darrell parsons says
I continue to wonder why anyone thinks the Trump presidency was a success. In particular it seems to me that those who make the strongest claim in that regard probably experienced the least “success” from Trump’s approach to being President.
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece. I think my friend still plans on voting for Trump because he thinks that Trump was an “excellent president” despite his personal flaws.
Wilson Dean says
Thank you JE Dean for debunking the false claim that the Trump presidency was anywhere close to a success. As you point out, there were some positives, but they are so outweighed by the negative impact of his trying to overthrow our American government that it’s a bit like pointing out that Benedict Arnold also had his good points.
One negative feature of the Trump presidency that you pointed out rarely gets (in my mind) sufficient coverage. Trump’s response to the COVID crisis was to belittle the scientists who urged us to wear masks and keep social distance as well as get vaccinations. Many of his followers fell into line with his lies and…paid the price. Both South Korea and the US encountered their first COVID deaths within a few weeks, yet if you adjust for population differences between these two countries, the US had more than 5 times the deaths from COVID than South Korea. Using this metric, one can argue that the Trump policies killed about 900,000 people unnecessarily. That’s nothing short of a horrible legacy. Other studies have shown that people living in Republican-dominated districts (who presumably followed the Trump lies on COVID) experienced about a 50% higher chance of dying from COVID than people living in Democratic-dominated districts (who presumably would have been more inclined to follow the scientists). Let me conclude by adding our Eastern Shore representative Andy Harris followed the Trump lead and said he even prescribed Ivermectin to his patients, a solution which the CDC concluded had no scientific basis and local government entities who did the same are now paying thousands of dollars to the people to whom they gave Ivermectin.
L Baker says
Mr Dean, wait until you find out who was behind COVID. And it wasn’t Trump. It was another plan to be a thorn in Trump’s presidency. It is so much bigger than you can imagine, and Trump handled the attack well. The sad part is the American people were just collateral damage of that plan.
As far as Ivermectin. It has been around as a prescription since the 80’s. Africa has used it for years to treat malaria. Over 250 million people around the world take it annually. The pharmaceutical companies/CDC don’t want it prescribed for 2 reasons, it gets rid of COVID and it’s cheap! They made patients take Remdesivir which was $25,000 and caused damage to major organs like liver and kidneys. No one is paying thousands of dollars to anyone that took Ivermectin, because it’s one of the safest drugs out there. People are suing over being given Remdesivir though.
Eva M. Smorzaniuk MD says
Ivermectin has been shown to be a complementary therapy to anti-malarial drugs as it decreases vector transmission of the disease. It is an anti-parasitic drug, not an antiviral drug.
John Dean says
Thank you for the detail on the Trump and Andy Harris records on COVID. I am hopeful that someone will do a detailed book on Trump’s actions on COVID during his presidency. I agree with you that many people died unnecessarily as a result of his “leadership.”
Carol Voyles says
And, yes, Obama’s debt was slightly higher than Trump’s, but he was handed our nation’s deepest recession since the Great Depression and served 8 years, not 4.
John Dean says
Good point.
L Baker says
Mr. Dean, you are really reaching in this commentary and the untruths are blatant.
J6 is being proven that there were Antifa and FBI infiltrators pretending to be Trump supporters in the crowd that went in the Capitol. (Keep up with the news). Donald Trump signed an order for 20,000 NG to be deployed for that day. The House Seargent of Arms refused them under Pelosi’s directive.
Regarding the border wall. 458 miles of border wall were built before he left office and Biden stopped it and let in millions of “illegal “ immigrants that are overwhelming our nation. We have American citizens living on the streets and children starving and Biden is putting the illegals up in hotels, giving them food stamps, and sending them in our schools without having to have vaccinations that American children are required to have! You want to talk about inhumane border policies, Biden has also had the caged quarters at times for the immigrants, children are coming in without parents, possibly to be sold in sex trafficking. Did you even pay attention to that?
As far as gas prices. They averaged $2.50 all 4 years Trump was in office. We had COVID from March 2020 thru 2022 and gas prices under Biden averaged $4. So there goes your theory on that.
You have the audacity to say Trump doesn’t support the military considering Joe Biden’s actions. Trump visited the injured military veterans in the hospital, he and Melania both! He went to Dover every time a veteran who died overseas was brought back home, even 2 o’clock in the morning. (Of course the lame stream media didn’t show this because you can’t show anything good Trump was doing). He went to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving and helped serve the troops dinner and visited with them while in office. Why don’t you know this?
Regarding your comment that other nations didn’t like him. Trump got along with most leaders of other countries. I believe he was even given the sword to hold in SA when they did their dance ceremony while he was there, he met with NK leader and stopped him from testing rockets (the only president to meet with NK I might add), he met with Putin for peace against other nations, and most importantly he had Israel and Palestine sign a peace agreement (the Abraham Accords). Now look what is happening!
We don’t have a leader and haven’t had a leader for over 2 years. Biden gave billions to Ukraine and pennies to our own American people that suffered destruction, Hawaii, Florida hurricane, PA train derailment with chemical spill.
He pulled out of Afghanistan before safely getting citizens out and we ended with 13 soldiers killed in the process, of which he barely recognized and was paying more attention to his watch than the ceremony for them. You and I both know he is a worthless president who has and still is destroying this great country by his lackadaisical actions. When are you finally going to stop taking up for someone because they are of your political party and look at the real picture of what is happening with our country right now. Trump has been gone over 2 years, you can’t blame him for what shape our country is in today. We were 117% better off 3 years ago!
Jeff Undercoffler says
It’s to bad the so called Trumpers will never read this. I suppose even if they did they would call it all lies. Question is, how do we get through to them to avoid another Trump presidency?
Barbara Denton says
You article is absolutely wrong. L Baker’s response says it all. The usual Dem responders are congratulating you on your baseless article which again reflects your Trump Derangement Syndrome. Congratulations on another hit job that failed like a dud Hamas rocket. The fourth estate has failed since 2008 on questioning what goes on in DC and in representing the people instead of becoming the written arm of the Democratic Socialist government we now have.
Patty Heaps says
Now you just beclown yourself with fear and loathing. The efforts to distract from this current administration must be exhausting! They bring the true meaning to the word “gaslight”. All one has to do is ask if they are better off than they were 3 years ago. It now costs me over $700 a month more for the necessities such as gas, food and cooling and heating. I’m thankful every day that my kids are grown and I no longer have to feed a teen-age son. I look at the taxes I pay and what’s being done to facilitate the over 7 million illegal immigrants that have poured over the open southern border – where’s my pony? The purchasing power of $100 in 2000 declined to about $68 in 2018 and by 2022 is down to $59. Are consumers better or worse off over the past four years? Mortgage rates have doubled so how does that play into buying a house? And once you have the house? I was already budgeting over $1000 a month for property taxes and that price went up this year.
“But Trump” is becoming stale and trite in light of what’s really going on.