Analysis: Trump's start creates chaos by doing what he promised
WASHINGTON — New presidents typically start with a flurry of actions designed to demonstrate to supporters and opponents alike that they will deliver on their campaign promises, and that there is a new guy in charge.
But never in modern times — a phrase that Donald Trump has made familiar in his opening 10 days in the White House — has there been a whirlwind of action that has so disrupted the political order. President Trump has opened a breach with Mexico over building a wall, created chaos at U.S. airports by blocking immigrants from Muslim countries, moved to undercut the Affordable Care Act even before Congress formally resumes debate over repealing it and more.
In other words, after a campaign that upended political assumptions, Trump has grabbed the headlines and prompted protests in the streets and the courts by doing precisely what he said he would do if elected.
"We've been in office now for about seven or eight days, and we've done an incredible amount," White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation after deflecting questions on the orders to begin building a wall along the southern border and to temporarily block refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries. "I think that one thing people can say about President Trump is that he's following through on his promises, and I don't think people should be surprised that he's doing it. I'm kind of surprised that people are surprised that he's actually conducting himself exactly the way he said he would."
It has been a surprise to those who assumed candidate Trump had more of a combative attitude than a specific policy plan. That gave rise to the observation, first credited to Saleno Zito of The Atlantic, that Trump's supporters took him seriously but not literally, while journalists took him literally but not seriously.
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What's also surprised many is the speed with which Trump has moved, in some cases reportedly without the traditional consultation with members of his Cabinet, leaders of Congress or even the government lawyers who customarily would review the language and legal basis for the executive orders and presidential memorandums he has signed with fanfare.
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Of course, presidents who have taken over at times of crisis have acted in the past with far-reaching actions and left it to the future for the courts and the critics to sort out. Franklin Roosevelt, taking over during the depths of the Great Depression, on the day after being inaugurated in 1933 declared a bank holiday and called Congress into special session. When he took office in 1861, Abraham Lincoln was dealing with a nation being split by Southern secession.
This time, though, Trump isn't taking over at a time of war or economic calamity. He has in effect created his own sense of crisis, a situation he seems to find useful when it comes to dominating the debate and conducting negotiations.
And while FDR coined the idea of the "first 100 days" as a measure for decisive action, Trump seems to be speeding up even that timetable — akin to his mode of unprecedented and instantaneous presidential communication via the burst of 140-character tweets.
For the new president, though, there may be surprises ahead as well.
There are differences between declaring a policy as a candidate and imposing it as president, where the details matter and institutional checks-and-balances apply. Trump's immigration order, signed late Friday, was blocked over the weekend by federal judges in at least four states. Congress could act to limit or reverse a president's actions, although in general the Republicans in control of the House and Senate have signaled support or acquiescence with Trump so far.
Still, a handful of Republicans on Sunday did raise concerns about the immigration order.
Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who reportedly was a finalist to be Trump's secretary of State, said the order was "poorly implemented" and urged the administration to make "appropriate revisions." Senate Armed Services chairman John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a joint statement that said they "fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism."
Trump responded with a tweet accusing McCain and Graham of being "sadly weak on immigration."
Republicans as well as Democrats also have expressed concern about Trump's openings to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he spoke by phone Saturday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday on ABC's This Week that he was opposed to lifting sanctions on Russia, a step Trump has suggested he might take.
Public opinion also can be a spur or a check, since a president's standing with voters affects his clout with pols. At his inauguration, Trump had the worst rating of any president since Gallup began routinely measuring it during Harry Truman's tenure. (The 45th president, coincidentally, had an initial rating of 45% approve-45% disapprove.)
Since then, his Gallup rating has declined, on Saturday at 42% approve-51% disapprove. There were demonstrations in Washington Sunday in front of the White House and the Trump International Hotel, at Boston's Copley Square and New York's Battery Park and elsewhere.
That said, there are no signs that Trump is having second thoughts or plans to slow down. On Friday night, the White House sent out a pat-on-the-back rundown titled "President Trump's First Week of Action," including 15 steps it said moved toward fulfilling specific campaign promises.
The second week is poised to be just as dramatic. That Supreme Court announcement? It's coming.
