Last week, CNN pundit Scott Jennings made a great point about why President Donald Trump seems to be overwhelming Democrats in so many ways. Jennings stated that Trump’s superpower is doing things that 80 percent of Americans support versus stuff that 20 percent support. Jennings added that Trump Derangement Syndrome forces Democrats to flail against Trump’s actions even if their flailing damages them.
Last week, Trump masterfully stepped in and blocked biological men from participating in women’s sports through an executive order. The picture of Trump at the White House surrounded by hundreds of young female athletes was iconic. Trump’s order was not only supported by 80 percent of the American people, but it also got the attention of those who may not follow politics closely but will vote against the political party that promotes men competing against women in female sports.
This week, Trump has signaled that he will sign an executive order rescinding the federal ban on plastic straws. This attack on plastic straws was triggered in 2011 by then 9-year Milo Cress, who called straw companies to determine how many plastic straws Americans use each day. He estimated from the conversations that Americans used 500 million straws a day. Then, it was extrapolated that that number would fill up 46,400 large school buses a year. These numbers are largely disputed, but what is overwhelmingly undisputable is that Americans want to use plastic rather than paper straws. Trump is just going to fulfill that desire.
How will Democrats react to this? They will say it’s a silly waste of time. They will say Trump has done nothing about the cost of straws, eggs, and everything else in grocery stores. They will say this is a reckless environmental move. They will flail and fail.
A new CBS poll conducted during Trump’s first 15 days in office shows 53 percent of Americans approved of what Trump has done so far. Just as importantly, 70 percent said he’s doing what he promised. The poll also indicated 63 percent of Americans view Trump as “energetic” and 69 percent viewed him as “tough.”
The next big issue for Trump will be an audit of the military budget. Trump’s audit of USAID and the Department of Education through Elon Musk’s DOGE has been pretty much popular. Even though Americans, especially Trump supporters, strongly support the military, they want the fraud and waste in that budget to be exposed. Remember the $640 toilet seat, $7,622 coffee maker, and $37 screws?
The battle that will probably be the most intense and imminent across the Delaware Valley will be the Trump administration’s enforcement of his executive orders around transgender issues. I predict that school districts like Central Bucks will resist, and we will see massive legal battles and possible withdrawal of federal funding. Resistance may appeal to some blocs of voters in school districts across our area, but in the end, they will lose. This is not an issue that people will change their minds about.
The policy that Trump has to be careful about is deporting illegal immigrants. Deportation of criminals here illegally is wildly popular. Polling indicates the deportation of those with a deportation order is popular. But deporting those who are unlawfully but have not committed crimes is a trickier issue.
Trump brands his executive orders as simply acknowledging common sense. Just in the past few days, prominent Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons defended at length on CNN America’s “soft power” through USAID, such as spending $20 million on producing “Sesame Street” in Iraq. Chris Hayes, progressive MBNBC host on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” said Democrats could win by saying parents should have the right to get surgeries and puberty blockers for their very young children.
These guys must have been asleep during the last election.