Amid distractions of his own creation, Trump moves swiftly to change the country dramatically

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-distractions-he-created-trump-moves-swiftly-to-change-the-country-dramatically/2017/01/28/2f84f884-e4e3-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html?utm_term=.bc38699a7026


Amid distractions of his own creation, Trump moves swiftly to change the country dramatically

By Dan Balz Chief correspondent January 28 at 12:29 PM

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The reality is that he governs as a minority president, and a controversial one. His approval ratings hover around 40 percent. Although he fairly won a majority in the electoral college, a majority of all votes cast in the election went to other candidates. A plurality went to Hillary Clinton. Those facts obviously bother him, as he can’t let go.

His opponents should not be fooled by any of this. Nothing has affected his governing priorities or his seeming determination to act on as many of them as he can as quickly as he can. He is the perpetual-motion president. He may appear obsessed with the false claim that the election was marked by massive voter fraud or the exact size of the crowd at his inauguration. But he is still moving on the agenda that he outlined as a candidate as if he won by a smashing landslide.

Trump’s opening days fully reflect his campaign. He was the chaos candidate, someone who continually found ways to inject controversy and distractions into the conversation. His words and actions often seemed random and self-defeating. But they also seemed designed in part to distract from other controversies and to keep his opponents off balance. His first week in office is an extension of that style and strategy: speed and disorder, but disorder whose partial purpose is to keep his opponents spinning.

Throughout the campaign, the controversies he created drew the most attention. Trump understood there were other powerful forces at work in the election that he could use to his advantage: the dissatisfaction with traditional politicians, a desire for change, Clinton’s political weaknesses, and the iron bond between him and his supporters. What was supposed to sink him did not. Trump has not forgotten.

Nor has he forgotten who put him where he is. He gives no indication that he believes he must reach beyond his base to be successful. His inaugural address was both a vow of dramatic, even radical, change and an ode to the “forgotten Americans” he sees as his base. He also has identified his antagonists, which is always important to him. To the Washington ruling class, Trump rhetorically offered the back of his hand. He would not be bound by convention or tradition. He has been even more blunt in his attacks on the media, which both he and White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon have labeled the true “opposition party.”

Trump’s policies still lack depth and detail. Given a free hand, his would be a United States drawn inward and self-interested, wary of the world. He favors trade and economic policies that not only carry significant risks but also would reverse years of consensus among Democratic and Republican presidents. His executive order on immigration moves the country to where it has never been before, with an all-but-stated religious test for entry into this country. Republicans who reluctantly backed him as their nominee now own the policies, too.

Trump is attempting to take full advantage of one of the biggest powers of the presidency: the ability to set an agenda and communicate his vision and priorities. He is attempting to bend the governmental bureaucracy in his direction, intimidate opponents and even scare his allies in Congress. He has gotten the attention of all of them, along with every world leader of note in every capital around the world. As he was in the campaign, he is the pole around which everyone else moves.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-distractions-he-created-trump-moves-swiftly-to-change-the-country-dramatically/2017/01/28/2f84f884-e4e3-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html?utm_term=.bc38699a7026