Now that President Trump has been elected and in office for about one month here is my assessment.
First of all I am a Conservative Republican and have been one since the draft Goldwater campaign of 1963- 1962. I voted for Marco Rubio in the Oregon primary in May of 2016 and wrote in Evan McMullin in the general election of 2016. Until the election I was #neverTrump. I believe in limited government, maximum individual freedom and the responsibility that goes with it.
The Good:
I have liked most of Trump's appointments to his cabinet and in particular General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, Betsy DaVos at Education, Nikki Haley as UN Ambassador, Tim Price at HHS, Scott Pruitt EPA, General John Kelly at Homeland Security, Ryan Zinke (an Oregon Duck) at Interior, Mike Pompeo at CIA and Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence. I am taking a wait and see about Rex Tillerson at State and Jeff Sessions as AG.
I love the nominations/appointments of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill Judge Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court and General H.R. McMaster to be National Security Adviser.
All in all a good group of advisors around the President with a few exceptions as outlined below. I will be the first to admit I am pleasantly surprised that he made these appointment. He now has some really good people around him.
I think President Trump is correct that he will NEVER get a fair deal out of the Liberal Main Stream Media and is correct in trying to neutralize their attacks on him provided he recognizes their 1st Amendment Rights. I agree with him that many in the entrenched Federal bureaucracy including Obama holdovers will attempt to sabotage him and his agenda and it is important for him to take them on. I am very of skeptical alleged leaks coming from the bureaucracy. The Democrat strategy to President Trump appears to be a scorched earth policy that will cause many to rally to Trump.
I believe in enforcing the laws of this country and as long as we have immigration laws they need to be enforced in a humane manner. If laws are ignored then that breeds disrespect for all laws. Every country has the right to enforce and defend it's borders. No question that we need immigration reform but until that happens the law is the law!
The Bad:
I still don't personally like Donald Trump. I don't think he is a good person and I don't like his style. He is a bully and I don't like bully's. He can be cruel and often overstates his case. As much as I dislike the Main Stream Media they are not the "enemies" of Americans. He is erratic, self centered, undisciplined and thin skinned.
I strongly dislike Steve Bannon his chief strategist. I believe he appeals to President Trump's "dark side."
It was also a big mistake to appoint Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor but thank goodness he is gone and replaced by a good man.
I don't understand why President Trump has a blind spot regarding Russia's Putin. Is it a mistake as to strategy or something darker?
The Ugly:
President Trump's Inaugural Address was the ugliest and meanest in U.S. history and I saw Steve Bannon's fingerprints all over it.
The vetoing of Eliott Abrams to be Deputy Secretary of State because of campaign criticism of Trump in the campaign was wrong!. Secretary of State Tillison needs a strong deputy to get control of the State Department and President Trump let that cloud his judgment when Tillison sought Abrams appointment.
The rollout of the Executive Order on limiting immigration from certain countries. I agree the President has the authority to make such decisions under current law and the courts that ruled against him did so for political and not legal ground but, non the less, it was clumsy and a self inflicted defeat.
This country is deeply divided and was before President Trump became President.. President Trump will not bring us together and will further divide us not only on policy but because of his personality. I saw and see in Senator Marco Rubio a real conservative that could help bridge our differences and bring civility back into politics.. However, the country was so divided in 2016 that each side was only interested in appealing to it's base regardless of the consequences. I firmly believe that the anger generated on the Right by Obama's 8 years of only appealing to his Left led to President Trump! I also see the Democrats still moving farther to the Left!
In Conclusion:
I remain a President Trump skeptic. I will support him when he is attacked unfairly by the Left, the Main Stream Media, Democrats and the Obama/Hillary sore losers. I will defend him when he makes Conservative appointments and works for Conservative policy. I will work against him when he doesn't and if he fails to recognize the evil of Russia's Putin. Russia, Iran China and North Korea are run by evil men and we need a President who recognizes this and takes action to protect us and the world!
I didn't vote for him, but Donald Trump is my President and because I love this country I want him to succeed!
