This week’s report card finds President-elect Trump increasingly influential from Trump Tower where he has forced changes already in Congress and in corporate boardrooms. But our graders view his fight with the nation’s intelligence chiefs looks as a loser.
Jed Babbin
President-elect Trump continued practicing his approach to governing by Twitter this week. His first shot was at Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama. After Chicago suffered over one thousand more shootings than it had in 2015 and almost eight hundred murders (up from 485 last year) Trump tweeted that if Emanuel “can’t do it” he should ask for federal help.
Mr. Trump had more measurable success in Ford’s determination to cancel the plan to build a billion dollar plant in Mexico. Trump had severely criticized Ford during the campaign for investing in Mexico. It’s announcement promises to invest $700 million in a Michigan plant creating about 700 jobs. Another big win for Trump before he’s even in office. He’s now going after Toyota for its similar plans.
Trump also scored with the newly-sworn 115th Congress. He bashed Republican plans to change the House’s method of handling ethics complaint, and House Repubs cancelled their plan immediately. He also took his first shot at Senate Dems, Tweeting that Obamacare was built on lies and that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was the “head clown.” As rough as Schumer makes it for Trump, he’ll make it rougher for Schumer.
Trump was striking out on his disagreements with the intelligence community on Russia’s “hacking” into DNC computers to affect the election, however. Trump, who sided with Wikileaks chief Julian Assange on whether the Russians were involved, picked a fight with the intel guys that he is losing big time. The Dems and the media are hanging their case against Trump’s election on this story. The longer the story remains in the news, the worse it is for Trump.
Grade C+
John Zogby
Another good week for the president-elect. Ford Motor Co. decided to cancel a factory in Mexico and actually expand in Michigan after Mr. Trump chided them. Stanley Black & Decker Inc. follows with a similar announcement. And the House of Representatives decides to cancel its plan to strip its Ethics Committee of any power and status, also after Mr. Trump chides them.
The “Chider in Chief” appears to be effective already, even before he takes office.
The biggest news is about Russian hacking and the looming war between the new president and the intelligence community (and pretty much everyone else inside the Beltway, too). For now, America’s presidential brain is being re-wired and it is hard for us to figure out which lights are going to be turned on and which are going to be short-circuited. So we watch and wait like everyone else.
Grade B
Jed Babbin is an Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him @jedbabbin
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is and author of “We Are Many, We Are One.” Follow him at @TheJohnZogby
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
