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6 chaotic months, and no major Trump legislation
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Donald Trump鈥檚 first six months in the White House have been a riot of scandal, chaos and outrage that 鈥 absent a major course correction 鈥 could spell doom for his entire administration.
All US presidents face crises that seem to sweep the White House from its moorings.
Abraham Lincoln struggled through a bloody Civil War. Bill Clinton was humiliated by muck-raking investigations. Barack Obama took five months to plug a devastating oil spill and even longer to right the economy. But few presidents have caused such outrage or faced such a multitude of crises as Donald Trump has in his first six months.
鈥淭o be consumed by scandal from day one is not good, no major legislation is not good, to have approval ratings that are so low and the potential for Republican defections, all of this is not what you expect,鈥 said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University.
Trump swaggered into office on January 20 declaring Washington was broke and only a killer businessman such as himself could fix it. That promise looks increasingly threadbare.
The White House remains understaffed, under-skilled and struggling to attract new talent. Existing staff admit to being exhausted and demoralized. Trump鈥檚 political agenda has been blown to smithereens: The border 鈥渨all鈥 has not been built, NAFTA has not been torn up, the Iran deal is still in place and Obamacare remains the law of the land. Even with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, the influential and nominally supportive Drudge Report declared this the 鈥淢OST UNPRODUCTIVE CONGRESS IN 164 YEARS.鈥
Oratorically, Trump has continued where his campaign left off, picking fights with the press, judges, his own party, Democrats and FBI director James Comey, whom he fired.
All the while, a drip of evidence has amplified allegations that his family and aides sought help from Russia to tip the election against Hillary Clinton.
There have been bright spots. But Trump wins have been few and far between.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see these six months as a success and it鈥檚 hard for me to see the argument that it was,鈥 said Zelizer.
鈥 About face? 鈥 But presidents can and do right the course.
鈥淗istory is full of examples of presidents who learn from their mistakes and go on to have major legislative successes,鈥 said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist at Firehouse Strategies who served in George W. Bush鈥檚 administration.
鈥淧residents are ultimately judged on what they get done and he鈥檚 only six months in. There is still plenty of time for them to do a lot. He could still end up being a highly successful president.鈥
But changes would be needed, Conant admits. Even Republicans have criticized Trump鈥檚 recent failed efforts to push his own healthcare reforms over the line.
With little policy background, Trump has seemed more at home with the theater of the presidency: preferring military parades in Paris to making policy speeches and wrangling votes.
鈥淎 couple of meetings with Senators and a handful of tweets is not going to cut it on something as controversial as healthcare reform,鈥 said Conant.
But, he argues, Trump still has the time and some of the skills needed to secure victories, as long as he is willing to make the pitch.
鈥淗is entire life he鈥檚 been a very good marketer and during the campaign he did an amazing job energizing the conservative base,鈥 Conant said. 鈥淭hose are the skills he needs to now apply to governing.鈥
鈥淚n his previous life he was marketing everything from steaks to bottled water to condos with his name on it. Now tax reform is going to have his name on it.鈥
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