It seems to me President-elect Donald Trump comes into office in a pretty strong position. He has friendly majorities in both houses of congress and can immediately appoint one justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Gallup, however, Trump starts off with historically low confidence from the American people in his ability to handle the duties of the presidency.
Gallup: “As Donald Trump prepares to take the presidential oath on Jan. 20, less than half of Americans are confident in his ability to handle an international crisis (46%), to use military force wisely (47%) or to prevent major scandals in his administration (44%). At least seven in 10 Americans were confident in Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in these areas before they took office.”
“Americans express somewhat more confidence in Trump to work effectively with Congress (60%), to handle the economy effectively (59%), to defend U.S. interests abroad as president (55%), and to manage the executive branch effectively (53%). But even in these areas, Americans are far less confident in Trump than they were in his predecessors, when comparisons are available.”
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So far he certainly appears to have influence over congress. Just today he “tweets” and the congressional action to weaken the ethics oversight process was instantly reversed. Why, with all the issues facing them, did congress address this issue immediately? After watching this Machiavellian theater, should I wonder if this wasn’t staged? This episode makes him look effective and perhaps that was the whole point.
I was already a cynic before but I had the same thought.