In our weekly White House Report Card, President Trump fought off the Democratic impeachment team in the Senate trial with an unlikely ally — media polls. Both Gallup and the Washington Post said that the president hasn’t been dinged by the trial and in fact is buoyed by his highest approval ratings yet.
Conservative grader Jed Babbin noted that the trial hasn’t caught on in the country. And Trump is already moving ahead with his 2020-and-beyond agenda, announcing plans to unveil his Middle East peace plan soon.
Democratic grader, John Zogby, wasn’t available, but in his new podcast, he revealed details of his latest poll of younger voters and found that all Democratic challengers except Sen. Bernie Sanders aren’t wowing millennials and Generation Z. What’s more, he found that many younger voters remain undecided. Said Zogby on his podcast, “They may not vote at all, that could be deadly, that could be deadly for a Democratic candidate.”
Jed Babbin
Grade B+
President Trump had a very good week with regulatory actions further spurring the economy, a very strong speech in Davos at a glitzy economic conference, and despite the opening acts of the Democrats’ impeachment melodrama.
Trump’s boffo speech to the World Economic Forum (held, as usual, at the Davos ski resort in Switzerland) was pure Trump. He boasted about the U.S. economy’s boom since he became president, threatened the European Union with tariffs (saying China was easier to deal with), and ridiculed the prophets of doom who are whining about “climate change.” His remarks were unpopular among the attendees whose disdain Trump savors.
On the regulatory front, Trump’s administration approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline over federal land (which had been held up seemingly forever by the Obama administration) and announced a new EPA rule regarding U.S. waterways. In September, Trump’s EPA revoked the Obama-era rule that gave the federal government control over every water-filled ditch and stream. The new rule is far better at leaving control of local waters to private owners.
Trump’s Senate impeachment trial began. Despite the media’s booming it around the country and the world, most people are ignoring the amazingly boring show. (Some senators are playing with fidget spinners and reading books during the proceedings.) The highlight so far was Rep. Adam Schiff’s opening statement in which he mentioned the totally debunked “Russia collusion” theory about 15 times. He said that senators who don’t pay attention to the trial could go to jail.
The week ended with Trump’s invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (and his political rival Gen. Benny Gantz) to the White House next week to be briefed on the long-awaited Middle East peace plan. It was a good move to invite both because Israel has held two elections (and is headed to a third) in which neither Netanyahu nor Gantz has been able to form a majority-coalition government.
Jed Babbin is a.Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
