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Trump’s Second Act: Hopes, Fears, and the Brand

 


 

Photo by AP: Trump Inauguration, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025

 

 

By Patrick Newton

I write this as Donald J. Trump is being sworn in as POTUS for the second time. He joins Grover Cleveland (1885–1897) as the second POTUS to serve two non-consecutive terms. (I Googled it.)

There are many people who do not approve of Trump’s behavior, language, disrespect of others, double-talk, exaggeration—you get the idea. Admittedly, even proudly, I consider myself among such people.

Growing up in NJ, I saw Trump from afar. He was always in the headlines, had lots of money, and ‘saved’ Atlantic City. But I also heard the stories about bankruptcies, and worse. Through it all, he always seemed quite pragmatic. I think in the back of his mind—not that he ever would admit it—he always wondered how far he could push his image. His Brand? Well, it has now carried him to the White House. Twice.

But back to the pragmatic side. Forget for a second about what he says. Let’s face it. In Washington, DC, what a person says is often not what they do or how they vote, but that’s another article. Let’s take immigration—a hot-button issue many of us have very strong opinions about. I see signs at rallies saying, “Mass Deportation!” But again, that’s what’s being said. What will Trump actually do? It’s always about the Brand first, but when you can build the Brand AND give the people what they want, that’s the true Art of the Deal.

There are a lot of people in our country illegally, and some of them have committed crimes. They are living in the US for a variety of reasons, including not showing up for a warrant or living in a Sanctuary City where local government has agreed not to cooperate with federal authorities. If Trump removes these people from the US and deports them, many, myself included, will see it as a step in the right direction for us to start rebuilding our communities. Now, if he starts stripping babies from their mothers at the border and locking people in cages without due process, I’ll be writing an article about that if and when the time comes.

Let’s take government spending. I have spoken to several financial experts who, in a variety of ways, have told me basically the same thing: unless something drastically changes, this is not sustainable. Rome will burn financially—and hopefully not literally. I heard one Trump doubter say, “Elon Musk will never trim $2 trillion from the national budget; he will be lucky if he gets $500 billion.” As a taxpayer, I would say, “I’ll take the $500 billion, please!”

There are lots of government agencies that struggle to get services to the people that need them. I have seen it firsthand and have spent many hours volunteering to help stretch those services as much as possible. But I can honestly say it’s not always about throwing more money at it, especially when the government spends like it is “Monopoly Money” when it is actually our hard-earned tax dollars. As tax-paying citizens, we won’t be able to continue giving more and more in taxes while the politicians continue to increase spending more and more.

But back to Trump and the Brand. I’m hopeful. Not because I think Trump is a great guy and he is going to put the needs of people like me and you ahead of his Brand, but because if building his Brand turns into providing common-sense, common-ground solutions that the majority of us can all agree on, then we all win! What if he starts calling out the crazies on the far left AND the far right? The far left hates him already, and where is the far right going to go without him? Which, by the way, I would advise the people at the RNC to get started NOW on what they think their party is going to look like after Trump leaves office for the second time. What’s left of the Republican Party is simply now a part of Trump’s Brand—they have officially lost their identity.

Now, the fundamentals haven’t changed. We won’t be able to truly fix any of this until we repair the system itself. End gerrymandering. Get the dark money out of elections. Utilize Ranked Choice Voting and other methods to give people more voice. Build a viable third party so people can stop choosing between the lesser of two evils. Oh wait, that’s exactly what we are doing!

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  • Joshua Peters
    published this page in Blogs 2025-01-20 11:51:12 -0500