Our Weekly White House Report Card finds President Trump opening his reelection year with a bang.
On the economic front, he moved further on working out a deal with China, fueling record stock market advances and relieving farm belt concerns of an escalated trade war.
Then, the unpredictable president struck at Iran’s terror sponsorship, approving a military strike on the country’s top military leader, Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Appearing before cameras, Trump said, “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020
Some Democrats expressed outrage, some anti-war Republicans vented, but in the end, Trump won over his base and provided them a sign of strength in foreign policy.
Our conservative report card grader Jed Babbin gave the president an ‘A’ for his efforts and successes.
Jed Babbin
Grade A
President Trump had an excellent week, beginning with announced progress on a China trade deal, continuing with the celebration of record-setting low government regulations and finishing with strong action against Iran’s regime and its terrorist surrogate forces.
Trump announced that he would sign Phase 1 of the China deal on Jan. 15 and would go to Beijing to negotiate Phase 2. Although Phase 1 doesn’t include progress on the principal issue — Chinese theft of American trade and military secrets — it clears the way for a significant Chinese purchase of U.S. agricultural progress.
If we are to go to war w/ Iran the Constitution dictates that we declare war. A war without a Congressional declaration is a recipe for feckless intermittent eruptions of violence w/ no clear mission for our soldiers. Our young men and women in the armed services deserve better.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 3, 2020
The progress on regulation-cutting and the Trump administration’s economy-stimulating regulation slashing policy resulted in the lowest level of new government-issued regulations in 44 years. The economy continues to roar, and the Democrats’ hope for an election-year recession seems unlikely in the extreme.
After Iranian-controlled militias attacked a U.S. base in Iraq, killing one contractor, Trump ordered airstrikes against Iranian militia positions in both Iraq and Syria. The ayatollahs then ordered the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist group to attack the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
At the outset of the attack, the embassy yelled for help to the State Department in Washington. They passed along the alarm to the Pentagon, which immediately ordered a force of 100 Marines and two Apache helicopters to Baghdad. Although the terrorists burned part of the embassy, no U.S. personnel were killed or injured, and the Marines’ quick action — dosing the terrorist rioters with tear gas — caused them to abandon their effort to storm the embassy.
I am introducing a bill with Rep. Khanna to stop Donald Trump from illegally taking us to war against Iran.
It’s working-class kids who will have to fight and die in a disastrous new Middle East conflict—not the children of billionaires. https://t.co/H6ZHjijCnj
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 4, 2020
Trump then said that Iran would pay a major price for the embassy assault. He ordered the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and a high figure in the Tehran regime. (The Quds face and the IRGC are listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department.) A U.S. drone strike then killed Soleimani as well as the head of the Kataib Hezbollah.
Soleimani’s death demonstrates the vulnerability of the Tehran regime and should encourage the tens of thousands of Iranians protesting against the regime. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened “severe revenge” for Soleimani’s death, so the Iranians or their terrorist proxies will strike somewhere soon. This incident is a long way from being over.
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
