And yet, both supporters and opponents alike understand everything he says perfectly well, then immediately proceed to distort it to their own preferences and biases. Trump's words are a Rorschach test. If you're triggered by hyperbole, you're doomed in Trump's presence.
Promises Made and Kept
Trump is not much of a stickler for stating facts accurately, but when it comes to action, his word to the voters is his bond, far more than with any other President in living memory. Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping.
Trump is not much of a stickler for stating facts accurately, but when it comes to action, his word to the voters is his bond, far more than with any other President in living memory. Trump has compiled a remarkable record of presidential promise-keeping.
1. Promises Made and Kept (A Trumpian Anthology)
Marc Thiessen recently wrote an opinion piece, in Washington Post of all places, titled, "Trump could be the most honest president in modern history." Here's why.
Marc Thiessen recently wrote an opinion piece, in Washington Post of all places, titled, "Trump could be the most honest president in modern history." Here's why.
2. Trump exaggerates and fudges the facts all the time, but when it comes to the real barometer of presidential truthfulness — keeping his promises — Trump is a paragon of honesty. Let's review Trump's record in office.
3. Trump kept his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something his three immediate predecessors also promised yet failed to do.
4. Trump promised to “crush and destroy ISIS,” and two years later he is on the verge of eliminating the Islamic State’s physical caliphate.
5. Trump promised to impose a travel ban on countries that he saw as posing a terrorist threat, and after several false starts the final version of his ban was upheld by the Supreme Court.
6. Trump promised to punish Syria if it used chemical weapons on its people, and, unlike his immediate predecessor, he followed through — not once but twice.
7. Trump pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices “in the mold of Justice [Antonin] Scalia,” and now Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh sit on the high court.
8. Trump also pledged to fill the federal appellate courts with young, conservative judges, and so far the Senate has confirmed 29 — more than any recent president at this point in his administration.
9. Trump vowed to pass historic tax reforms and signed the first major overhaul of the tax code in three decades.
10. Trump vowed an unprecedented regulatory rollback, with a strict policy to eliminate two existing regulations for every new regulation. In his first year, he achieved $8.1 billion in lifetime regulatory savings and is on track to achieve an additional $9.8 billion this year.
11. During the campaign, he told African American voters, “What do you have to lose? . . . I will straighten it out. I’ll bring jobs back. We’ll bring spirit back.” On his watch, African American unemployment reached the lowest level ever recorded.
12. Trump's tax reform also included a little-noticed provision creating “Opportunity Zones” to try to revitalize struggling towns and inner-city communities.
13. Trump promised to cancel President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, withdraw from the Paris climate accord, approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. He fulfilled all of those pledges.
14. On trade, Trump kept his promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. He also committed to renegotiating NAFTA and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement — and recently signed new deals with Mexico, Canada and South Korea.
15. Trump committed to imposing tariffs on China to force it to open its markets and stop its theft of intellectual property — and is following through on that pledge. Whatever one thinks of Trump’s trade policies, he is doing exactly what he said.
16. The president pledged historic increases in defense spending, and delivered.
17. Trump pledged to bring back manufacturing jobs, and manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest pace in more than two decades.
18. He pledged to sign “Right to Try” legislation to give dying Americans access to experimental treatments, and did.
19. He pledged to take on the opioid epidemic and will soon sign a sweeping bipartisan opioids package into law.
20. Where Trump has failed to keep promises, such as building the wall or repealing Obamacare, it has not been for a lack of trying.
21. Only in a few rare instances has Trump backtracked on a campaign pledge — such as when he admitted that he was wrong to promise a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and reversed course. It's a good thing he did.
22. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Trump is not the point. When Trump says he will do something, you can take it to the bank.
23. Yes, Trump takes liberties with the facts. But unlike his predecessor, he did not pass his signature legislative achievement on the basis of a lie (“If you like your health care plan, you can keep it ”) — which is clearly worse than falsely exaggerating some accomplishments.
24. Just go over the above list of accomplishments and notice one thing. Not a single one of these accomplishments was an easy do. Most presidents would brag incessantly if they accomplished half as much in twice the time.
No wonder his supporters love him.
The End.
No wonder his supporters love him.
The End.
President Trump just tweeted this out. Read the above thread in this light. What's noteworthy is that Trump does indeed view his own performance by the standard of delivering on promises he made, and not by his rhetorical exuberance and hyperbole.
