Liz Peek: Trump’s four years – productive, contentious, energetic and … fun. Let's review
Supporters know they may never again elect a president more dedicated to protecting their interests
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It is hard to imagine that President Trump will soon leave office. His presidency has been so big, so full of energy and purpose, that it seems almost impossible that it will come to an end.
Trump supporters are angry, yes, that the election was unfair, and, many think, dishonest.
They are also sad, knowing they may never again elect a president more dedicated to protecting their interests and so ready to take on the intolerant liberal mob.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}To be sure, he is not done. Just recently, President Trump signed off on two new rules that remove water restrictions, allowing people to take more satisfying showers and buy dishwashers that actually do the job.
Of course, the environmental lobby was outraged. It was a classic Trump move, heartening to those who rebel against the expanding and intrusive role of the federal government, and offensive to our woke overlords.
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For four years, the president has tackled one issue after another, some big, some small – like the water rules – using common sense and sheer orneriness to buck the system. Not being a creature of the "swamp," Trump entered the Oval Office four years ago prepared to challenge everything.
For four years, he did just that, perpetually riling the Establishment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For example, Trump questioned why we allow tens of thousands of people to stream illegally across our southern border every year, which no country should permit. Rather than ignore the problem, Trump looked for solutions, ultimately demanding that Mexico keep asylum seekers in their country while they await their hearings, and working with governments in Central America as well.
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In the face of enormous opposition, Trump also began to build a wall, to narrow the places along our nearly 2,000-mile divide where gang members or coyotes could steal across.
The flood of caravans heading north from Central America slowed to a trickle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In his very first year, Trump also focused on undoing the damage done by the regulatory zeal of the Obama-Biden crew. He issued 17 executive orders, his Cabinet officials made 96 agency decisions, and Republicans in Congress revoked 14 recently issued regulations and passed three laws that canceled Obama-era rules and policies concerning the environment, labor law, civil rights, government reform and a host of other issues.
Over the next three years, Trump never let up.
In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency replaced Obama’s signature climate bill, the massively disruptive Clean Power Plan (CPP), with the Affordable Clean Energy law. The CPP directed states to adopt "green" measures in their power industries so that by 2030 the country’s overall power plant emissions would drop 32% below 2005 levels.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler explained at the time that "The CPP would have asked low- and middle-income Americans to bear the costs of the previous administration’s climate plan… One analysis predicted double-digit electricity price increases in 40 states under the CPP."
Such is the cost of meeting the goals set under the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump has presided over a remarkably productive and, many think, extremely successful four years.
Trump is reviled by climate warriors, but protecting one of our greatest geopolitical competitive advantages – our abundant and cheap energy -- was the right thing for our country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some of the changes Trump made, on labor practices and immigration, for example, won’t last; many will be challenged in court. But the outcomes of those legal battles will benefit from President Trump’s appointment of more than 227 conservative judges to federal courts, more than a quarter of the total, including three associate justices of the Supreme Court.
Those mostly young judges will make a lasting contribution to protecting our Constitution; given the extent to which our freedom of speech, in particular, is under attack today, nothing could be more important.
Trump’s achievements in foreign affairs include the historic Abraham Accords, which forged first-ever diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of Arab states, ring-fencing Iranian belligerence in the Middle East.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump also took a harder line against ISIS, freeing our troops to crush the caliphate, which they did in short order.
Most important, President Trump confronted China, exposing and demanding an end to their unfair trade practices, massive theft of American know-how and persistent human rights abuses. In thrall to Big Business and Big Tech, previous presidents turned a blind eye to the rising threat from Beijing; Trump did not. No wonder China hoped for a Joe Biden presidency.
As for accusations that Trump has been soft on Russia, the charge is as dishonest as the Russiagate hoax. Unlike Obama, Trump sent lethal weapons to Ukraine to help in their battle against Russia, closed consulates in Seattle and San Francisco, threw dozens of suspected Russian spies out of the country and imposed sanctions on Moscow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More important, Trump’s enthusiastic backing of our oil and gas industries helped drive oil prices down, wreaking havoc on Russia’s economy. If the climate zealots succeed in hobbling our energy businesses, it will be a great gift to both Russia and China.
Over four years, Trump brought home hostages, revamped important trade deals, rebuilt the military, boosted school choice, created nearly half a million manufacturing jobs before the virus hit, and pushed through major tax cuts.
In February of this year, before COVID-19 hit, 45% of Americans told Gallup they were satisfied with the direction of the country, a higher level than ever recorded during Obama’s eight years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Additionally, in a recent poll, 56% of the country says they are better off than they were four years ago. Only 50% said that at the end of Obama’s presidency.
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Trump has presided over a remarkably productive and, many think, extremely successful four years. Those years have also been, at times, chaotic and disruptive, marked by some false steps as well as unprecedented opposition from the liberal media and dishonest Democrats.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For his supporters, patriots from all walks of life fed up with political correctness and the censorious Left, the Trump presidency has been a breath of fresh air. It has also been – dare I say it? – great fun.