It is now 50 days into the second Donald Trump administration, halfway through the period that FDR turned into a marker for all future presidents.
Trump has strived for a similar burst of energy, but in attempting to reshape the federal government without the input of the GOP-led House and Senate, he has also put himself in a position to accept all the blame when things go wrong.
And some things are already going wrong.
The stock markets, and Wall Street more broadly, are becoming more vocal about how Trump’s agenda can harm their bottom line. The White House communications team’s efforts to shape the narrative by becoming, as The Washington Post put it, a “rapid response influencer operation” is busy trying to sell the American public on deeply unpopular ideas.
If Trump were as impervious to external pressure as he projects, he’d barrel through all that. But we’ve seen less of Trump’s supposed iron spine and more of his most useful ability, bending in the wind like a reed to adjust course (at least slightly).
Trump hasn’t called off Elon Musk’s DOGE in its attempts to slash government spending. He hasn’t backed off fully from his idea that tariffs are somehow a miracle solution to any foreign trade issues. The people around him in his administration, who are more ideological and less susceptible to outside influence, are poised to ignore setbacks while keeping their same lofty ambitions in place.
On tariffs, Trump has taken a break more times than the worst on-again-off-again couple you know.
But on the long-threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada, Trump has taken a break more times than the worst on-again-off-again couple you know. He’s also shown himself sensitive to the political downside of embracing Musk, publicly praising him before privately reminding agency heads that they can hire and fire.
“Adaptability” isn’t often the word one would associate with Trump, but his willingness to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear has gotten him this far in his political career. That, in turn, means there are still weak points in his MAGA armor that can potentially be exploited.
Public pressure may never be enough to get Trump to do the right thing — but his deep-seated desire to be popular may keep him from doing the worst thing.
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