It was 3,939 days ago today that Donald J. Trump, billionaire New York real-estate mogul and successful reality-show host, made his entrance into the political life of the United States.
He and Melania glided slowly down a gilded escalator into the five-story atrium of the giant Manhattan tower bearing his name that stands more than two football fields tall. They lived, literally, upstairs.
And there, before an enthusiastic crowd and disbelieving media, the 69-year-old businessman announced his goal of becoming president of the United States:
"It is time to bring real leadership to Washington. The fact is, the American Dream is dead. But if I win, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Together we will Make America Great Again!"
It was an outrageous announcement, immediately mocked widely. The guy had never spent a minute in politics. He was going up against more than a dozen experienced Republican names for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
If successful, he would then have the “opportunity” to compete against the well-known wife of a two-term president, a former U.S. senator, and Secretary of State, who was set to become the United States’ first female commander in chief.
Additionally, Trump had multiple business bankruptcies, three marriages, and he sometimes said controversial things beyond “You’re fired!”
Good luck with all that, seeking to convince enough Americans in just the right places to make him the most powerful man in the world.
People should have believed the 69-year-old. So should Nicolás Maduro. And Iran’s now departed Supreme Leader and dozens of his cronies and lackeys who followed into oblivion some 40,000 countrymen they killed recently for daring to protest the government.
Here's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shortly before his demise, threatening President Trump before a very obedient audience, saying that the strongest military in the world "might get slapped so hard it cannot get up." (1:06 mark).
When Trump says he will do something, he does it. Marco Rubio, his one-time GOP primary opponent and now ardent advocate as bilingual Secretary of State, reminds reporters of that almost every single day. “Don’t play games or mess with this president,” he says.
Trump bobs and weaves, like Muhammad Ali. He threatens. He sets deadlines, then moves them. Or drops them to talk more or threaten again. He offered the Venezuelan ruler a comfortable exit in exile. Like some Americans, in fact, Maduro didn't believe Trump. How do you say Trump Derangement Syndrome in Spanish?
But over time, sometimes in circuitous routes after dusty tumults, this president seems to get pretty much what he wants and does what he says.
Russia’s Vlad the Invader appears unconvinced so far. That is likely because the stalled failure of his ill-founded, four-year-old adventure to conquer Ukraine in a few days leaves him no good way out.
The five-foot-seven ruler with dreams of a renewed Russian empire has blithely arranged the deaths of more than a half-million people on both sides, the crippling of many more, kidnapping countless thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the destruction of innumerable cities and towns.
Any end to this senseless “special mission” without a perceived victory could well provoke Moscow’s version of leadership term limits, which often proves fatal, as former KGB agent Vladimir Putin knows well.
Remember all those Trump campaign promises in 2015-16? How he was going to cut income taxes, appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court from a list he published, rebuild the volunteer military and pay them better, support pro-life causes, build a wall along the border with Mexico?
All that stuff he said he would do? The kind of vows that D.C. politicians on both sides have promised forever and then forgotten once they flew into town to their Reserved parking spots at the airport?
Trump kept those promises then, one by one. And voters noticed.
He endured hoaxes, fraudulent impeachments and trials to cripple his finances and reputation, convictions and huge fines later vacated. And he came back stronger. He has willpower and endurance, even on five hours of sleep. All the underhanded games they gleefully played to undermine him and his plans failed. It drives Democrats crazy. Media too.
Trump is still pursuing his stated goals with more than 250 Executive Orders so far this term. On Friday, he did it again, ordering pay resumed for the dedicated TSA agents who’ve continued working through this latest Schumer Shutdown of government.
It’s called Authenticity, a very rare commodity in modern U.S. politics.
Here’s a good example of that: Donald Trump has said that Iran, the fanatical theocratic regime and its terrorist allies that have been killing Americans in a war for 47 deadly years, can never ever get nuclear weapons because they would use them on the U.S. and on their Mideast neighbors.
Trump said it way back on Nov. 4, 2011: “We can’t allow Iran to go nuclear.”
Trump said it just last month on the 19th: “They can’t have nuclear weapons. It’s very simple.” That was one of eight times he has made his point clear this year alone.
And, in fact, over the years, Trump has said it at least 74 times in total.
Other presidents have tried to convince Iran to drop its nuclear weapon and missile development programs, all without success. Barack Obama even sought to buy the regime off with billions in U.S. dollars. All failed.
Although those pallets of U.S. cash did enable Iran to finance more terror and weapons research:
خیلی ممنون
That's "Thank you very much in Farsi."
So, if anyone had paid attention to Trump the man, they could reasonably expect that, as president, he would do something about Iran’s refusal to abandon its plans to impose Armageddon on infidels.
In his first term, Trump threw away Obama's lax agreement with Iran as "the worst deal ever."
Last spring, Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate a new nuclear agreement prohibiting uranium enrichment to weapons-grade. The regime did not comply.
On the 61st day, 30 Tomahawk missiles and seven B-2 bombers with 15-ton bunker-buster bombs inflicted severe damage on Iran’s major nuclear installations.
At that time, I wrote a column here, (The Art of Trump’s Deal-Making Includes a Willingness to Blow It Up) that “Trump’s political reputation is not founded on nuance,” adding:
Maybe it’s Trump’s own political maturation and evolving wisdom after enduring these past 10 years of joys, setbacks, collusions, and disturbing deceits. Whatever it is, Donald Trump 2.0 has found his game.
Last month, Trump said:
"After (last summer's) Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, and in particular nuclear weapons. Yet they continue. They’re starting it all over…
"One thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon."
Four days later, the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated attacks that obliterated much of Iran’s religious and military leadership, sank its entire navy, and in ensuing weeks destroyed much of its air force, missile, and air-defense systems.
Trump explained:
"Despite my Administration's repeated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to Iran's malign behavior, the threat to the United States and its allies and partners became untenable."
While other attacks continued this month, Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or he would, one by one, eliminate that country’s power plants. He later extended the deadline to April 6, citing constructive talks, indirectly through Pakistan.
Trump granted the pause in power-plant attacks for his own strategic reasons and appearances. Looking at Iran’s record of broken promises, agreements, and stalls, not everyone believes genuine diplomatic progress is likely or possible. What we know of Iran's initial demands — i.e., removal of all U.S. bases in the Gulf — does not seem promising.
Some Washington politicians and media claim to be disturbed by what they call “Trump’s unpredictability.”
Apparently, they have not been paying attention these past 3,939 days.
Come April 6, eight days from now, we’ll learn if Iran has been paying attention.
