A few hours after attacking Iran on February 28, President Trump released a video informing us that massive and ongoing military combat operations were launched to eliminate imminent threats from the Iranian regime. He also said he wanted to end 47 years of Iran threatening world peace through countless attacks on other countries, including murder…
Going back decades, practically every US President has been challenged when initiating military force to address foreign policy objectives. When the Commander in Chief is a Democrat, Republicans howl that that President violated the Constitution because the degree of force used is tantamount to war. And it’s Congress—not the President—with the power to declare war.…
Departing from my usual academic approach, I am compelled to write about what I believe is going to happen with respect to President Trump and his stewardship of the country. Both gut instinct and critical thinking lead me to conclude that the challenges and stress Trump is facing are too much and will push him…
On August 11, President Trump invoked emergency authority to deploy some 800 members of the Washington DC National Guard to crack down on “rampant crime” in the nation’s capital (USA Today, August 11). To ensure widespread publicity, he announced the highly unusual action at a major press conference. Here are a few of his key…
Part 2 in a 2-Part Series In Part 1 of this series, we examined demographic data from The Economist/YouGov polls on President Trump’s job approval at two points in time—upon entering office and seven months in. We quantified the decline in job approval for various demographic groups based on political party identification, race, gender, age,…
Part 1 of a 2-Part Series It’s common knowledge that President Trump’s job approval numbers have plummeted since he entered office just over seven months ago. In January, most polls reported his job approval at around 50%. As of late August, here are numbers from three highly-respected polls: The conventional wisdom explaining this sharp drop…
Trump’s propaganda machine is in overdrive Trump and his propaganda machine, including Fox News, Truth Social and other conservative media outlets, are working 24/7 to tell Americans how great everything is with him in office. Gasoline is way down—below $2 in some places. Grocery prices have dropped. There’s no inflation. The economy is strong. Tax…
I can’t speak for all Americans, but I believe there are several of President Trump’s policy stances that most Americans can support or accept, at least in principle. Let me suggest a few: While most Americans can support or accept the policy stances cited above, we are heavily divided over President Trump’s willingness to use…
Part 1 in a series of letters to Trump voters Congratulations on electing Donald Trump as our 47th President. It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, and I candidly admit to being conflicted about how to respond to the loss. I ultimately decided there is no point in being bitter or combative. Instead, for the sake…
Even before all the votes are counted, Americans are finding themselves buried in a cascade of opinions about the election results and the implications for Trump’s second term. Fox News and conservative pundits extol Trump’s “landslide victory.” He is characterizing his win as an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” especially with control of both the House…