LIZ PEEK: Trump's First Year: The good, the great and the foolish

Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for a 2nd word arsenic president precisely 1 twelvemonth ago. It is harmless to accidental the country, and the world, volition ne'er beryllium the same. 

President Trump has engaged successful energetic and bold governing and diplomacy, fulfilling run promises similar boosting home vigor production, portion besides seeking bid successful turbulent parts of the satellite and attempting to travel done connected semipermanent ambitions, similar acquiring Greenland.

He has engaged with the property connected a near-daily basis, boosted recruitment for our military, dismantled harmful left-wing shibboleths similar DEI, convinced our NATO allies to walk much connected their ain defense, junked burdensome regulations that interfered with our country’s progress, challenged our woke universities, extracted and jailed alleged cause kingpin Nicolás Maduro, defended women’s sports, importantly derailed Iran’s atomic program, overseen caller wellness initiatives similar ridding our nutrient of artificial dyes, shrunk the ever-expanding national bureaucracy, and pushed done a reconciliation measure that lowered taxes for middle-class Americans. It is an unthinkable boatload of accomplishments.

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But Trump’s archetypal twelvemonth is astir notable for closing the confederate borderline that predecessor Joe Biden opened to millions of unvetted amerciable immigrants, and for resetting U.S. commercialized relations done the instauration of tariffs. As helium mightiness boast, fewer imagined that these efforts would succeed; however, neither has been without controversy.

Today, President Trump is astatine a crossroads. He begins midterm campaigning with support ratings that are underwater, according to polling aggregated by RealClearPolitics, adjacent connected his signature issues of migration and the economy. He has, successful particular, mislaid favour with independents and with immoderate of the groups that helped him triumph successful 2024, similar young voters and Hispanics. 

Surveys suggest voters deliberation the president is spending excessively overmuch clip connected overseas affairs alternatively of moving to trim the outgo of living. While helium pursues bid betwixt Ukraine and Russia, Americans privation little cereal prices and cheaper housing. 

President Trump is trying to bash excessively galore things astatine once. On the 1 hand, we applaud the vigor and gait of this president, a invited alteration from the inert Joe Biden. On the different hand, Americans privation stability, not chaos.

President Trump is aggrieved that the state is not giving him precocious marks for booming economical growth, a declining fiscal deficit, caller investments flowing into the U.S., a declining commercialized gap, rising middle-class wages, all-time precocious lipid accumulation and grounds banal prices.  And, ostentation is substantially little than the decades-high 9.1% recorded during the Biden presidency.

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Public perceptions astir the system volition play a decisive relation successful the midterm elections. Given today’s subdued user sentiment, President Trump faces the precise existent imaginable that Republicans volition suffer their slim power of the House and possibly adjacent their vantage successful the Senate. He has warned much than erstwhile that should Democrats instrumentality over, they volition astir surely determination to impeach him; helium whitethorn good beryllium right. 

Faced with that threat, and seemingly rattled by Democrats’ caller "affordability" pitch, Trump has unleashed a barrage of caller policies meant to code the outgo of living, immoderate of which look half-baked. He has projected capping involvement rates connected recognition cards astatine 10% and has strategized about that arguable conception with progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a improvement giving astir Republicans hives. In addition, helium has launched an onslaught connected corporate-owned housing, which helium claims has driven up rents. The fig of homes bought up by businesses successful caller years is small, and not apt to beryllium a large root of rent inflation.

The frustrated president is besides lashing retired astatine adversaries, threatening to writer JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for "debanking" him successful 2021 and waging warfare against Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, for instance. 

Trump blames the Fed seat for keeping involvement rates excessively high, which successful crook drives up the outgo of living. The Justice Department’s probe into whether the Fed Chair lied to Congress astir the costly renovation of the Fed’s office was a foolish miscalculation; it has backfired arsenic Powell has dug successful and caused the Senate to balk astatine confirming his successor.

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Trump has besides precocious rolled retired "The Great Healthcare Plan," which would marque payments straight to households to screen wellness expenses, alternatively than nonstop national subsidies to insurers connected consumers’ behalf. This connection comes arsenic Congress continues to statement extending enhanced premium subsidies connected Obamacare; the lapsing of payments augmented during COVID-19 volition rise immoderate peoples’ security costs significantly. For not being acceptable with a solution to this dilemma, which was anticipated for much than a year, voters should blasted Republicans successful Congress, not President Trump. Nonetheless, attempting to reconfigure our dysfunctional healthcare system, astir 1 5th of our economy, should not beryllium done connected the fly.

Most recently, Trump has again threatened to slap onerous tariffs connected European Union countries unless Denmark agrees to merchantability Greenland. This is simply a mistake, arsenic it undermines the president’s constructive usage of tariffs, indicates our partners cannot spot hard-fought commercialized agreements, and again plunges America’s committedness to NATO into uncertainty.

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President Trump is trying to bash excessively galore things astatine once. On the 1 hand, we applaud the vigor and gait of this president, a invited alteration from the inert Joe Biden. On the different hand, Americans privation stability, not chaos.

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his accomplishment astatine Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Luis M. Alvarez/AP Photo)

They particularly don’t privation chaos connected the streets connected Minneapolis, with ICE agents nether attack. They besides don’t privation chaos successful our dealings with overseas nations. And, they don’t privation chaos successful our economy, with tariffs being raised and lowered according to the latest propulsion from the Oval Office and with large proposals being spun retired astir daily.

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The president has accomplished a large woody successful his archetypal twelvemonth successful office. He needs to physique connected the wins, and punctual voters wherefore they elected him. That begins with deescalating immoderate of his confrontations and restoring assurance done dependable leadership. It continues with hitting the run trail, talking to the American people, and bringing them backmost connected board.

President Trump’s docket is not complete; fto america anticipation helium reboots and wins for 3 much years to proceed making America large again.   

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