What to watch for as the dust begins to settle
In the spring of 2010, I was an observer at an editorial meeting at The Guardian newspaper in London just days after Britain’s general election.
Neither the Conservatives nor Labor had secured a majority of the seats in Parliament, so there would be a coalition. However, to the shock of Labor and the editors at The Guardian, the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest party, chose to throw their lot in with the Conservatives, ending 13 years of Labor rule.
The question before the editors was what to do. Should they hold their fire and give Prime Minister David Cameron a “honeymoon,” or should they go on the attack immediately and oppose, oppose, oppose? They chose the latter.
Those who fall into the never-Trumpers camp (from both parties) have no choice but to do the same. That is what politics is all about. Fight for your beliefs and for your vision of this country.
The first-blush post-mortems suggested multiple reasons why former President Trump clawed back power. Inflation, certainly. The border. The wars. The burden of incumbency in a turbulent world, which we have seen everywhere this year.
And, of course, the ability of a lot of voters to ignore Trump’s substantial baggage.
The irony is that a candidate who personifies chaos has been returned to power to bring order out of the stew of economic insecurities, a broken immigration system and a world that provides images of death and destruction on our TV screens virtually every night. For some voters, there appeared to be a “burn it all down” mentality.
Now the dust needs to settle, but what might one look for in the early days of a new Trump administration?
The first clue will be appointments. In his first term, Trump appointed so-called central casting cabinet secretaries — the general, Mad Dog Mattis and the executive, Rex Tillerson. And even at the end of his administration there were some mainstream Republicans like Mike Pompeo and Bill Barr.
These folks were characterized as the “adults in the room,” an unsettling image. Why were “adults” needed and what did that imply?
As some have the suggested, the most important appointment might be the White House Counsel. Don McGahn was particularly adept at steering Trump away from acts of questionable legality. The fear, of course, is too many “yes men” and not enough contrary opinions in the “room where it happens.”
With Senate control, Trump can be assured of confirmation of his nominees regardless of their level of fitness unless Senators such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski push back. Will he appoint a Democrat as a sign of bipartisanship? Robert Kennedy does not count.
And what of Elon Musk? What role will he play? He has billions in federal contracts. Will anyone be bothered by potential conflicts of interest?
Trump, as a second-term president, will be a lame duck from Day One and presidents normally have a bit more than a year to get big things done before our insane election cycles kick in. He will want to move fast. What will Trump do first beyond resolving the debt ceiling extension?
Will he institute tariffs immediately? (He can do that without Congress.) Will he submit a comprehensive immigration bill or just work through executive orders? Was he telling the truth when he said Project 2025 had nothing to do with his agenda?
Trump has been president-elect for just a couple days and the bond market is already signaling its concern. If the Bond Vigilantes believe his policies are inflationary, they will enforce discipline and Americans will suffer.
Lots of questions. Soon we will live through the answers. The dust might not settle for a while.
• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86. His new book “American Dreams: The Story of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission” is available from Amazon.com.