Going into a holiday weekend, particularly one that is reserved to pay homage to those who served in the nation's uniform and gave their lives, I think it's the perfect time to recognize something that we all take for granted, and that is electricity.
On this weekend, which is the traditional kickoff of Summer in the United States of America, we just assume that we flip a switch and instantly have power. We need to be extremely thankful for that, particularly the way that the world is today.
So what is it that has me pondering one of the blessings that we all take for granted during this important extended weekend? The simple fact that we have a President of the United States who is working to make sure that the country is able to depend on the grid that delivers the power that we need.
As my colleague Nick Arama wrote earlier today...
One hallmark of the Trump agenda is to get energy up and going again, to ensure our energy independence, dominance, and security. We're already seeing positives from that agenda, including lower gas prices, including the lowest gas prices for Memorial Day in years.
The article continues...
Part of that energy agenda is nuclear energy.
On Friday, Trump had an event signing executive orders to spur the industry.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum spoke about how nuclear energy had been choked by regulations for 50 years and stagnated the industry.
.@SecretaryBurgum gives remarks ahead of @POTUS signing executive orders on nuclear: "This is a huge day for the nuclear industry... This is going to turn the clock back on over 50 years of regulation of an industry." pic.twitter.com/jW6x64pkyo
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 23, 2025
READ MORE: Trump Goes 'Nuclear' With Important Executive Orders to Secure America's Energy Future
In this regard, Donald Trump is truly America first, and he wants to make sure America is not depending on foreign resources so that we can flip on the switch and get power anytime we want. President Trump is single-minded in his focus that any sort of calamity on the world market would cost consumers in the United States more money or possibly put them at risk of not being able to access energy when needed.
This, of course, is a radical concept in the world today, and I'm glad that we have a president who is all about this.
Coal, gasoline, and nuclear are all part of the system that is meant to keep the electricity flowing whenever we need it.
Yet, Trump in his first term was also concerned about the delivery method and our dependency on foreign countries for the material needed for the transmission of power from power plants to the factories and individual homes.
I learned about this by watching a documentary called Grid Down, Power Up, about an executive order (13920) that Trump signed in May of 2020 titled "Securing the United States Bulk-Power System."
This executive order is found HERE and entails that
This order declared a national emergency regarding the security of the U.S. bulk-power system and aimed to prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting vulnerabilities and authorized the Secretary of Energy to prohibit transactions involving bulk-power system electric equipment if it was deemed to pose a national security risk and was developed, manufactured, or supplied by a foreign adversary, or entities controlled by or subject to their jurisdiction.
Namely, China.
This is part of the president's overall plan to produce not just medicine that we would need but also critical parts of our infrastructure. If the United States were beholden to a foreign adversary to get massive transformers that take months, possibly even years to get, we would be in a world of hurt.
Of course, Joe Biden and whoever was controlling his auto-pen went ahead and put a pause on the executive order that Trump had signed on his first day in office with E.O. 13990. This executive order (that Biden might have known about) contained some garbage that included rejoining the Paris Climate accords.
Thankfully, President Trump, on February 5th of this year, rescinded that Biden mess-up, and hopefully, we will soon be back on track with making sure that we have all the power this nation needs whenever it needs it.
One of the more important lessons from this, I believe, is that we need to be able to create our own power and depend on our own resources if stuff gets hectic around the world. Trump's one-track mind on this is exactly where we need to be today, and however the power is created, we need to make sure that we can deliver it across the country and in whatever region whenever necessary.
Ultimately this is the best example of why elections matter and we need to put the screws to our elected officials to clean up the system and make sure it's honest across the board all over the country on making sure that the votes are counted correctly.
Also, so that we can count the ballots in the light with the flick of a switch, with no worries.
