Our Weekly Presidential Report Card finds President Trump steadily checking boxes in his long list of campaign promises. But unlike in his first week, he bumped into some hurdles, notably judges that sidelined an immigration order and a wobble on Israel policy.
Jed Babbin
President Trump once again dominated the week, wrong-footing the Democrats and making them look more and more radical. Trump hit a home run by going to Dover Air Force Base to honor the return of the body of SEAL Team Six member William “Ryan” Owens, killed in a raid on al Qaeda. Trump did it without fanfare or publicity, which was precisely the right way to go.
Trump’s nomination of Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch to replace conservative icon Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court bestirred the predictable outrage on the left. Within minutes of the announcement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went to the mattresses and demonstrations ignited around the country. Many demonstrators held signs which had “Oppose” printed on one line and “Gorsuch” hand-written below. If Trump had nominated Mother Teresa, her name would have appeared below “Oppose.”
Trump and National Security Adviser Mike Flynn both put Iran “on notice” after its ballistic missile test. New sanctions were imposed on a dozen people and another dozen companies but were far short of materially penalizing Iran.
The Gorsuch nomination and the trip to Dover to meet the aircraft carrying the SEAL’s body were enough for an “A+” grade for the week, but Trump’s performance was marred by two serious missteps.
First, the Treasury Department announced an easing of sanctions on the Russian FSB intelligence agency, child of the infamous Soviet KGB. The new eased sanctions permit U.S. software, computer and cell phone businesses to do business with the FSB to obtain licenses to import their products into Russia. The FSB may already – or will soon — require access to computer code in order to get those licenses. That could grant the FSB access to computer espionage and hacking tools they wouldn’t otherwise have.
Second, Mr. Trump inexplicably went wobbly on Israel, saying that the Israelis should stop announcing new settlements in the West Bank area. Why this was done is entirely unclear.
Averaging the good and the bad leads to a disappointing grade for a president who is otherwise doing really well.
Grade B
John Zogby
Not a good week at all for President Trump. Unemployment ticks up, he disses the Australian PM on a routine courtesy call, he starts shimmying towards the predecessor he reviled on Russia, and a federal judge issues a halt on his executive order on immigration. His choice for education secretary has even a few Republicans scratching their heads. Momma said there’d be weeks like this. But his second full week in office?
And his low polling numbers for a new president are dropping. In our latest Zogby Analytics survey, for example, 48 percent of business leaders disapprove of Trump’s job as president so far, while slightly less 44 percent approve.
Grade D-
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 We are Many, We are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in 21st Century America. Follow him at @TheJohnZogby
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
