CNN
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Donald Trump is having the time of his life.
“Everyone wants to be my friend this term,” the president-elect said Monday at the Mar-a-Lago resort, speaking to foreign leaders, CEOs and Republican heavyweights as he prepares for a second term. He said he was delighted with the outpouring of respect he received.
Since winning last month’s election, Trump has become much more visible than Joe Biden and could easily be mistaken for the incumbent president. He controls future foreign policy, towering over world leaders during his visit to Paris, and tech giants flocking to pay their respects.
He already has that power. All that’s missing is actual constitutional authority given to him by the oath of office he takes on January 20th.
“Everyone was fighting against me in my first term,” Trump said at a press conference. “The biggest difference is that this time people want to be friends with me.”
The problem is that when President Trump emerges from his post-victory bubble and re-engages with a troubled and divided nation and a dangerous world where Trump is widely unpopular and full of threats, How long will the era last?
But for now, Trump has dreams.
“This will be the most exciting and successful period of reform and renewal in American history, and perhaps in the history of the world. I call it America’s Golden Age. It has begun.” he said.
Trump has never looked more at ease or cheerful than when he is busy caring for the presidency. And there is no doubt that when he returns to his desk in the Oval Office, the burden on the Oval Office will be much heavier than it is now.
He’s living in the best of worlds, reveling in the thrill of victory and the feeling of retribution to avenge what he sees as a rigged 2020 election loss. Although he didn’t win four years ago, the president has real legitimacy – this year’s electors believe he has a mandate to implement a hard-line policy because he won the popular vote and the Electoral College. .
So far, most Americans seem to agree. A CNN/SSRS poll released last week found that 54% of respondents expect Trump to do a good job when he returns to the White House, and 55% approve of his handling of the transition so far. . It’s tricky territory for one of the most polarizing politicians of our time.
President Trump is experiencing an opportunity that only the only president in history, Grover Cleveland, knew of: the chance to start his second term from scratch. As only the second president to win non-consecutive terms, he will be able to learn from the lessons of his first presidency and start over with an entirely new team and position. One reason most second terms are tough is that incumbent presidents never escape the fallout from the decisions, drama, and scandals of their first term.
But President Trump has spent four years out of power trying to identify a team that indulges his wilder impulses more than the generals, Washington insiders and establishment Republicans who first tried to restrain him. Ta.
Barring the early ouster of Matt Gaetz, the president-elect’s first pick for attorney general, there was little to think things could get any better so far. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, is his new friend. Most of his provocative Cabinet picks are likely to be approved by compliant Republican senators. Meanwhile, technology industry leaders are rushing to court him at Mar-a-Lago and fill the coffers of his first account. This is because although Mr. Trump is a lame duck with a limited term, the Republican Party maintains monopoly power in Congress, and following a Supreme Court ruling that gives the president substantial powers, his powers at the beginning of his term of office have been expanded and curtailed. This is one of many signs that it may not be possible. Immunity for acts in official capacity. (On Monday, there was just one fly in the ointment when the Manhattan judge responsible for Mr. Trump’s hush money conviction ruled that Mr. Trump did not qualify for presidential immunity in the case.) has acknowledged that Trump will not be sentenced while he remains in office.
President Trump’s current sense of frivolity may also be explained by comparisons to his first term. In early 2017, he was already clinging to claims that his victory was tainted by Russian election interference. But Trump didn’t just win the presidency in November. Taking back presidential powers gives him the power to cancel a series of ongoing lawsuits that have threatened Trump’s political career and freedom.
But President Trump’s vacation from reality won’t last forever.
If he becomes president, every decision he makes will create a backlash, depleting his political capital and risking reigniting public skepticism about presidents who have historically been highly divisive.
If President Trump fails to effectively deliver on his campaign promises to lower supermarket prices, build historic prosperity, and take control of the border, he could soon see his approval rating drop to normal levels. you might notice.
For Trump fans, there are already worrying signs. He told Time magazine in an interview published last week that while he wants to lower food prices, “Once they go up, it’s hard to bring them down.” You know, that’s very difficult. ”
And on Monday, after promising to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, President Trump warned that the reality could be even harsher. “I think things are going to be good in the Middle East. In fact, I think the situation with Russia and Ukraine is going to be even more difficult.” Trump’s comments are not just an almost comical underestimation of the dangers that lurk in the Middle East. . It may reflect a lack of influence over his friend, President Vladimir Putin, as the battleground tilts toward Russia.
And while failing to keep a promise may hurt President Trump, if he actually follows through on his promise to shake up Washington, the nation, and the world, the resulting wave of chaos will cause social and economic damage. Trump could do even more damage.
For example, if Americans witness scenes of human tragedy, if immigrant families are torn apart, if law enforcement slows down agricultural production, and if shoppers lose access to their favorite fruits and vegetables. , President Trump’s planned mass deportation campaign could easily prove unpopular. President Trump’s tariff threats against Canada, Mexico and other countries may signal that he is standing up to foreigners and demanding better conditions for workers. But the trade war could quickly backfire on the president-elect if inflation spikes and the prices of essential goods soar. President Trump’s pledge to quickly pardon supporters imprisoned for the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol could also prove highly unpopular.
And all of this doesn’t take into account the factionalism within Mr. Trump’s team and his own outbursts of temperament that marred his first term and limited his effectiveness as commander in chief. It seems unlikely that “my personality changed or something happened,” as the president-elect speculated at a freewheeling press conference in Florida.
Such turmoil is unlikely to undermine the solid loyalty of President Trump’s political base. His eccentric demeanor gives the impression that he is an anti-establishment rebel whose desire to burn down the government is rooted in the MAGA movement’s disdain for it. Additionally, polls showing improved economic sentiment may reflect the tendency for partisans to view their prospects in a rosier light once their favored candidate is in power. There is sex.
But Trump also needs to take the country with him in times of crisis. The narrow cross-sectional appeal that helped him win the election could disappear if moderate voters begin to perceive him as bent on punishing political opponents or pursuing personal goals. be.
Even during President Trump’s sunny press conference on Monday, the crisis and critical decisions that lie at the end of his victory lap began to materialize.
One reporter took issue with Iran’s acceleration of uranium enrichment. At some point in the future, that could force a president determined to avoid another war to decide to take military action, or a commander-in-chief who authorized the Islamic Republic to acquire a nuclear bomb. may be forced to make decisions. “That’s a great question. Why would I say that?” Trump replied.
The president-elect has repeatedly warned that the war in Ukraine must end. But he showed no signs of having any thoughts as he lamented the horrific damage inflicted on Ukrainian cities and the unrest in the Middle East caused by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. . That should never have happened. That would never have happened. If I was president, that war would never have happened, and Israel would never have happened,” Trump said. His fanciful visions of his own omnipotence will be of little use after January 20, when he will assume responsibility for such matters.
Trump’s more sinister side has also been exposed, fueling fears among his opponents that he may seek to crush democracy and political freedoms. The president-elect’s long press conference continued to be full of lies, conspiracy theories, and blatantly false facts.
Trump also said he plans to sue the Des Moines Register over its final poll of Iowa voters, which showed Vice President Kamala Harris no longer leading the paper. , claimed that this amounted to election interference. He said he also plans to sue CBS’s “60 Minutes” because he is dissatisfied with the way the interview was conducted with Harris. If a president can dictate the results of public opinion polls and editorial choices to news organizations, fundamental rights long taken for granted will come under attack in a second term.
Yet for now, President Trump is mostly fixated on his victory and the praise it has generated. He said more than 100 world leaders “called to congratulate us, not just on the election, but on the scale of the election and the extent of the victory, and they were amazing.”
“I’ve talked to over 100 countries. You wouldn’t believe there are so many.”
