The drumbeat of criticism continues, unabated: Hitler! Nazi! Fascist! Dictator! Following President Donald Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard in Washington, DC, a few of his critics tossed in comparison with Josef Stalin. Who’s next? Attila the Hun? Ivan the Terrible?
We’d heard it all before, throughout the 2024 presidential campaign. Voters deemed it ridiculous noise and chose Trump to be our president. We’re still hearing it — and it’s still ridiculous.
Trump is a man in a hurry, 78 years old already, well into his last term in office. He has an insatiable thirst for action, and he’s moving at a breakneck pace to confront every threat facing the nation. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, his finger-wagging critics are saying at every turn: “There he goes again, acting like he’s in charge!”
But, of course, he is in charge. We put him in charge.
Of all the criticisms leveled at Trump, the only one that is even marginally rational is that he leans toward authoritarianism. Fair enough — he is the decider-in-chief, every time. But instead of the usual negative connotation of that term, look at it this way: he is a leader, in a position of authority, who acts — fearlessly — on that authority. I think that’s exactly why we hired him.
So in that context, on the subject of authoritarian leadership of the Donald Trump variety, let me offer three observations.
1.) We like it. We knew Trump, and we chose him with eyes wide open. We want leaders who lead, and we admire Trump’s willingness to take on every challenge, full speed ahead. And by “we,” I don’t mean just Trump acolytes or just Republicans — I’m referring to the public at large and the majority of the 2024 electorate.
2.) We need it, particularly now. If there were no crises staring us in the face and no storm clouds on the horizon, we might be able to get by with a caretaker president, just minding the store. But right now we have no choice but to face up to the problems at hand. Look around — economic uncertainty, rampant violence and crime, the ongoing consequences of massive illegal immigration, multiple ongoing wars, and the ever more real risk of nuclear war. We can no longer sit back and hope for the best. We tried that. It’s time for action.
3.) Leaders are imperfect. They are human, and even the best make mistakes. Moreover, a leader’s missteps are always easier to spot than if he had taken no steps at all. And in the case of Donald Trump, countless folks are standing by to gleefully chronicle every character flaw, every misjudgment, and every real, imagined, or potential error in judgment. How that serves the greater good is not clear, but it’s the world we live in.
For example, our president’s inability last Friday to wrest meaningful concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin again opened the door to a flood of reminders that last year, candidate Trump boasted that he could stop that horrible war in a day. He was wrong. But to the critics who delight in his failure so far, we should ask who — in the entire world — is doing more, or having any success at all, in stopping the senseless killing?
Two hundred days into his term, President Trump’s scorecard is astonishing for its successes — illegal immigration stopped in its tracks (a previously supposed impossibility), an economy roaring despite doomsday predictions, Iran’s nuclear ambitions rudely interrupted, and a long list of works in progress. On those ongoing matters, including his efforts to stop the Ukraine/Russia war, let’s quit throwing rocks (literally, as in anti-ICE actions) and cheer him on.
The broader reality is that history is replete with amazing stories of leaders with both the clarity of thought and sufficient courage of their convictions to take bold and controversial actions — with no guarantee of success — to achieve what needed to be achieved, Abraham Lincoln was one of those: how bold — and infuriating to many — was his Emancipation Proclamation? Who knew how the Civil War would end and whether our still fledgling nation would ever recover? Lincoln very nearly presided over the collapse of our nation — instead, he is revered as its savior.
Consider also Winston Churchill, who managed to fight back from his career-ending blunder as First Lord of the Admiralty in WWI, and then years later took on the impossible task of prime minister in his country’s darkest hour. Churchill may have been the only person in England willing to stand up to the Nazi menace — but it had to be done, and his steely resolve arguably saved the world.
At this point in history, who knows if Trump’s phenomenal energy, drive, and resilience will carry the day — or whether his policies and programs will lead to his promised golden age or to the critics’ predictions of doom? But by and large, we elected him because we admired his strengths and trusted his instincts. Now it’s time to stay the course.
Right now, there are two competing and very powerful political movements in the USA. One is taking action at a frenetic pace, doing the things its leader, Donald Trump, promised that he would do if elected. The other movement, currently leaderless, is working ceaselessly (and in some cases violently) to block him at every turn. Call one faction the “can-dos” and the other the “can’t-do’s.”
Which one do we want?
