The Corner

Politics & Policy

Nothing If Not Bold

I’ve been trying to think what Trump has done in purely the substantive realm — putting aside the tweets, the personnel issues, the general atmosphere of zaniness, etc. — that we wouldn’t have gotten from any other Republican president. And I find it difficult to come up with much. So far there’s been much more bark than bite on trade, one of his key distinguishing issues. His signature pledge to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it has proven, not surprisingly, a non-starter. And the rest of what he’s done is pretty firmly in the Republican mainstream. But I think on Paris, regulation in general, and immigration enforcement there has been a greater resistance to elite pressures than we would have seen from most other Republicans. This is in large part a function of his let-it-rip decision-making which, of course, has downsides, potentially very significant ones if he runs up against a real-time crisis with higher stakes than whether to stay in or leave a mostly symbolic climate accord. But I can’t say I’m 100 percent certain we would have gotten a withdrawal from Paris with any other Republican this side of Ted Cruz.

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