Dem
47
GOP
53
When Donald Trump entered the White House on Jan. 20, 2017, he didn't have a clue how the government worked or where the levers of power were or how to operate them. Now he knows, and he also has a detailed playbook in the form of Project 2025, so this administration could be very different from Trump 1.0.
To get an idea of what Trump might actually do, Politico convened a panel of four reporters who have covered Trump from the start and asked them about Trump 2.0. To start with, last time his Cabinet and other top picks were conservatives, but largely respectable people he didn't know. This time, the main (and, in some cases, only) requirement is total loyalty and obedience. Also, being good looking or having been on Fox News a lot seems to be a common thread. He wants people who know television and look good on television. In contrast to last time, many of the picks know nothing whatsoever about the department or agency they are going to lead. In fact, some of them are downright hostile to the mission of their department or agency. Also, having escaped 88 indictments and two assassination attempts, Trump feels invincible and emboldened. Excess testosterone and excess hubris doesn't always work out well.
Last time, there were many people around him who tried to rein him in, often successfully. There is not going to be anyone like that this time. Last time the RNC tried to make him behave like Ronald Reagan. It didn't work, but at least Ronna McDaniel tried. Now the RNC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump Organization. He is almost totally consumed by retribution, grievance, settling scores, and punishing his "enemies." There was much less of that last time. These will be major themes of his administration. And to make it easier, the resistance is exhausted after 8 years of dealing with Trump, both in office and out of office.
Another difference is that there was no Elon Musk whispering in Trump's ear all day last time. They admire each other for different reasons. Trump will never be as rich as Musk and Musk will never be president like Trump (he is not natural born, having been born in Pretoria, South Africa). We don't yet know what Musk's influence will be, but it could be enormous, especially on economic issues. Will Musk undermine other administration officials? Will he quietly stab people in the back?
Although Trump has hinted at a third term and we have pointed out how he could become president without being elected president, he will be 82 at the end of this term, and simply may not be up to another term. He knows that if he breaks the law in ways not covered by the Supreme Court ruling, he could possibly spend all of his post presidency fighting to stay out of prison. And the current cases might come back again. This may constrain him a little bit. We didn't have that the first time.
One final thought is that Trump has always been unpredictable, and will probably continue to be unpredictable. Stuff may happen in the country and the world that we cannot foresee now and we have no way of knowing how he will deal with it when surrounded by incompetent flunkies. (V)