Underestimating Trump has led to two historic presidential wins, one of which was successful. Trump became the first elected president since Ronald Reagan in 1984 to win all seven swing states. So now, people have to stop underestimating him with his cabinet appointments.
Trump likes to keep things entertaining when he has absolutely nothing to lose. We saw this in 2016 when Mitt Romney was floated as Secretary of State or when he had his riveting Twitter wars. Now, we are seeing it with a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico and cabinet appointments such as Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr. Matt Gaetz, and Pete Hegseth. Here’s the difference: He’s more focused now in 2024 than ever before.
A week after Trump got into office, Trump made an extremely questionable pick for Attorney General Matt Gaetz. A chaos-driven congressperson from Florida, someone who ousted the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, on the basis that Kevin McCarthy worked with democrats, and someone who has been accused of sleeping with 17 year-old girls. Of course, Matt Gaetz did not have the votes, so Trump called him and told him to drop out, and so Gaetz did. But Trump quickly assumes a qualified Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida’s former AG. Her resume is acceptable for the Attorney General’s position—next, Pete Hegseth. Trump nominated him for Secretary of DEFENSE. Only an $883 billion budget, and head of the most potent military…in the world. Hegseth is a former Fox News commentator. Allegations came that he sexually abused multiple individuals, ran two veteran non-profits, and showed up drunk every day to one; another was decimated financially. Six republican senators have said they won’t support him, meaning he won’t have the majority to pass as it will be 53 disapprove, 47 approve. And suddenly, Trump has a “backup,” Ron Desantis of Florida. Desantis is qualified despite his social controversy compared to Hegseth. And for defense, an economic record is important. Desantis knows how to scale sustainably, and he was in the military. Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. aren’t facing clear disapproval from the Senate…yet, but I believe Trump has backup plans for the controversial ones, and so far they have been qualified.
Shifting focus, last month, Trump tweeted on Truth Social that he is going to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico unless our neighbors stopped the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs that come to the U.S. As a result, their leaders freak out. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum called Trump, and Trump laid the groundwork. So far, she has held her side of the bargain and most recently oversaw the biggest seizure of fentanyl in history. This is a significant breakthrough. Immigration and drugs have become an impactful problem on Mexico’s part to the United States. It took decades of work, and finally, they are doing their part to halt the drugs that are killing day-to-day Americans. People underestimated why Trump threatened the tariff, but it worked, and Mexico is finally delivering for the U.S. instead of hurting us.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is severely struggling with his approval ratings going into next year’s election, was so scared he flew to Mar-A-Lago to meet with Trump. Trump asserted that Trump must do this as 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., which would severely impact Canada’s economy and potentially diplomatic relations. Trump told Trudeau that Canada could become America’s fifty-first state if the tariffs got so bad.
Trump then posted a photo on his social media platforms of him next to a Canadian flag, looking onto the mountains with the caption “Oh Canada.” He’s keeping things entertaining for the business he simply can, and America is benefiting. It is still challenging to uncover what Trump thinks about the Canada scenario, but he has a plan, as Mexico worked out for America, the Attorney General worked out for America, and the defense secretary worked out for America.
Here’s my point: the media and Americans perceived Trump as a loser, the end of the world, someone who’s done with politics, and he won by a landslide with all seven swing states. And he has been doing an acceptable job on an international scale. When he met leaders in Notre Dame, he had a highly productive meeting with Zelensky, strengthening support for Ukraine and aiming to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. They called him stupid when he was President, and we got a vaccine in nine months. I admit I even underestimated him this election cycle; moving forward, we can’t underestimate him. Trump is grateful he got a second chance and has a whole Trump policy plan ready to enact. Based on the past four weeks, he has mainly highlighted foreign affairs and the economy; he did that well last time. If Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. get denied, and Trump chooses qualified people, he will be set up for monumental success. Let’s not underestimate him but hope for his success and hope for a lack of controversy.
