In this edition of #ListenFirstFriday, the 17-year-old founder of YAP Politics discusses efforts to bridge the polarizations between political affiliations.
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U.S. President Ronald Reagan shakes hands with real estate developer Donald Trump in a reception line in the White House's Blue Room, Washington, D.C. on November 3, 1987.
Getty Images, PhotoQuest
Project 2025, Phase II: “Onward”
Mar 13, 2025
Last spring and summer, The Fulcrum published a 30-part series on Project 2025. Now that Donald Trump’s second term has started, Part 2 of the series has commenced.
Presidents are generally confident fellows. They should be. Projecting confidence can be a powerful punch in the political boxing ring. Barack Obama certainly projected confidence; George W. Bush did too. During his presidency, Ronald Reagan was the standard-bearer for projecting presidential self-confidence. And yet, no president in my lifetime acts as confidently as Donald Trump.
But here’s the problem: Confidence is not the same as competence.
In the Fulcrum article published in September entitled “Project 2025: ‘Onward’? More like backwards”, Edwin J. Feulner calls Project 2025 an ode to the Reagan presidency. It hails the Reagan administration for tax cuts, reinforcing the American military, defeating Soviet communism, and restoring a sense of patriotism “that many thought had vanished forever.” Part of Reagan’s success in advancing these conservative pillars was his highly developed sense of self-confidence. He convinced himself that he could get Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” and he had the self-assurance to stand at the Brandenburg Gate and say so.
Yet, President Reagan’s confidence was at times his Achilles’ heel, like so many presidents before and after him. Reagan portrayed himself as the ultimate Washington outsider, someone who would come to the nation’s capital and disrupt the conventional power centers. As described in Project 2025’s “Onward” chapter, Reagan “had the will to go against the established political grain in Washington. He also had the ability to speak directly to the American people and convincingly show them how those ideas could work for the benefit of all.”
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The history of Reagan is marked by enduring successes and failures. Francis Clines brilliantly captured the reality for Reagan in a 1984 New York Times editorial. Reagan’s tax cuts? Reversed a year later. His attempts to balance the budget? Unsuccessful. However, some of Reagan’s policies have withstood the test of time, although, as with most political agendas, historians might have differing perspectives. Some notable examples are:
- Economic Policies (Reaganomics): His supply-side economic policies, which included tax cuts and deregulation, aimed to stimulate growth. While debated, they are credited with reducing inflation and spurring economic recovery during his presidency.
- Ending the Cold War: Reagan's firm stance against the Soviet Union, coupled with his diplomacy with Mikhail Gorbachev, played a significant role in easing Cold War tensions. The signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987 was a landmark moment.
- Tax Reform Act of 1986: This act simplified the tax code, reduced tax brackets, and exempted millions of low-income Americans from federal taxes.
- Revitalizing National Pride: While, of course, subjective, Reagan's optimistic leadership style and emphasis on American values helped restore confidence in the presidency and national identity.
Donald Trump shares a lot in common with the late President Reagan. Both are skilled at the glamour of the television camera. Both appeal to a predominantly white, male segment of the population, and they do so with simple phrases and memorable quips. Both are storytellers. Both claim to be disruptors. Both insist that patriotism is at a premium and that the left is America’s worst enemy. Both are influenced by the media-savvy world of Hollywood. Both are caricatured by their hair.
And both are supremely self-confident. The similarities extend over to the conservative policy agenda as well. Reagan’s attempt to shrink government is now Trump’s pledge to slash large swaths of the federal payroll. Both were met with resistance, especially in the courts.
However, as similar as the two men are, there are significant character traits that speak to the heart and soul of each one that are very different and, thus, might lead to very different results.
Reagan emphasized unity and personal freedom for all, whereas Trump is famous for his divisive rhetoric. Reagan's presidency was marked by a focus on diplomacy, such as his efforts to end the Cold War, while Trump's tenure is characterized by a more transactional approach to international relations.
Reagan was certainly not perfect, and to this day, many question the mass incarcerations in his war on drugs, his illegalities related to the Iran-Contra scandal, and his inability to address the AIDS epidemic. While historians will debate Reagan’s faults, there is one meaningful distinction between Reagan and Trump that should not be overlooked: Ronald Reagan was not a habitual liar.
It simply was not part of his DNA to thrive on deceit, exaggerations, and out-and-out lies. Even Reagan’s sharpest political critics conceded that he was an honest man who had integrity. Honesty meant everything to him. In fact, the only time he admitted to being “down” was during the Iran-Contra scandal, when polls showed that Americans did not believe he was unaware of the nefarious deal his rogue aides cooked up. He was bewildered, angry, and somewhat depressed about the fact that people thought he was lying.
Reagan experienced a lot of harsh criticism over his career, but few have questioned his honesty and that episode bothered him deeply. To Reagan, his word was gold. Contrast this to Donald Trump, who is well known for his lack of truthfulness. A few notable examples are:
- The 2020 Election Fraud Claim: Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud. This claim has been debunked by multiple courts, election officials, and fact-checkers.
- Birthright Citizenship: Trump has falsely stated that the United States is the only country in the world that offers birthright citizenship. In reality, dozens of countries, including Canada and Mexico, also grant automatic citizenship to people born on their soil.
- Inauguration Crowd Size: Trump claimed that the crowd at his 2017 inauguration was the largest in history, despite photographic evidence and official estimates showing otherwise.
The Washington Post reported in January of 2021 that Trump's false or misleading claims totaled 30,573 in four years.
But who’s counting?!
The differences between the two men don’t end with truthfulness. The men were starkly different with respect to humility.
Unlike Trump, Reagan was often recognized for his humility. For example, during the aftermath of the 1981 assassination attempt on his life, Reagan displayed remarkable grace and humility. He reassured those around him with lighthearted remarks, even in the face of danger, and maintained a sense of humor that endeared him to many. His ability to connect with people and acknowledge the contributions of others also reflected his humble nature, a quality that is in stark contrast to President Trump.
Humility is simply not a trait associated with Donald Trump. The lack of humility embodies Trump’s persona in so many ways:
- "The beauty of me is that I'm very rich."
- "Show me someone without an ego, and I'll show you a loser."
- "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters."
- "Nobody takes things more personally than me."
- "My whole life is about winning. I don't lose often. I almost never lose."
- He described himself as "like, really smart" and "a very stable genius.”
It is difficult to analyze whether President Trump's confidence, propensity to lie, and lack of humility are part of a grand strategy or just who he is. It is probably some combination of both.
We are only a month into Trump's second term, so it is risky to predict outcomes, but one thing can be said with certainty with respect to Trump's honor and integrity. I think back to the iconic line in the 1988 U.S. Vice Presidential debate, when Senator Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic nominee, said to Senator Dan Quayle, “You're no Jack Kennedy.”
I can say with certainty to Donald Trump, “You’re no Ronald Reagan.”
Yet both men, as written in Project 2025, called for a restoration of the past that they romanticized with greatness. Project 2025 wants a renewal of a time when policies often ignored the voices of marginalized communities, the rights of the LGBTQ+ community were ignored, and workplace discrimination against women was far more common than today—just to name a few of the more restrictive policies of the 1980s. This backward-looking emphasis of Project 2025 glorifies the past while ignoring the problems that have since been rectified or at least advanced.
However, the test of our nation lies not in the past but in our ability to look forward. In the words of Geroge Bernard Shaw: "We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future."
Our nation will only be great if we can unite around shared values and live within a government that is “of the people, by the people, for the people,” as so eloquently described by Abraham Lincoln.
David Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
Samples of Phase 2 articles about Project 2025
- Project 2025: Part II
- Department of Education
- USAID
- Department of Homeland Security
- Changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Elon Musk’s DOGE Pursues Partisan Agenda
- Elon Musk’s attack on the Department of Labor
- The Foreword
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Samples of Phase 1 articles about Project 2025
- A cross-partisan approach
- An Introduction
- Rumors of Project 2025’s Demise are Greatly Exaggerated
- Department of Education
- Managing the bureaucracy
- Department of Defense
- Department of Energy
- The Environmental Protection Agency
- Education Savings Accounts
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- The Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Agency for International Development
- Affirmative action
- A federal Parents' Bill of Rights
- Department of Labor
- Intelligence community
- Department of State
- Department of the Interior
- Federal Communications Commission
- A perspective from Europe
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Voting Rights Act
- Another look at the Federal Communications Commission
- A Christo-fascist manifesto designing a theocracy
- Voters oppose the far-right playbook
- The Schedule F threat to democracy
- The Department of Justice
- A blueprint for Christian nationalist regime change
- How anti-trans proposals could impact all families
- The Federal Reserve
- A threat to equitable education
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CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Getty Images, Andrew Harnik
Voter’s remorse? Not much, but give it time
Mar 06, 2025
Colorful billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk sparked quite a reaction at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington last week when he leaped around the stage waving a chainsaw.
“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy. CHAINSAAAW!” he exclaimed. "Uwaaauwaargh!"
That’s Elon. Always ready to light up an adoring crowd.
As the CPAC audience settled down, Newsmax talking head Rob Schmitt asked Musk what it feels like to "absolutely shred … the government — the swamp — whatever you want to call it."
It’s cool, Musk said (according to a transcript published by The Verge). It’s awesome. "We’re … trying to get good things done, but also, like, you know, have a good time doing it and, uh, you know, and have, like, a sense of humor."
The "good things" Musk and his minions at DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, are doing consist of cutting government payrolls, canceling contracts and apparently aiming to "delete" (Musk’s word) whole federal agencies.
The most visible fruits of their efforts have been large reductions in force, or RIF in government-speak: layoffs, furloughs and terminations of thousands of Americans who work in the public sector.
What’s less apparent so far is the effect these RIFs will have on potentially millions of Americans who count on services from the targeted government offices and agencies. For example, the Internal Revenue Service began laying off some 7,000 employees Thursday, according to the AP. While tax cheats across the nation will no doubt take comfort, tax filers who need customer service in the upcoming tax season are possibly in for some major frustration.
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DOGE’s purported goal is to rid the government of waste, fraud and abuse. And who wouldn’t want to do that? It’s been a standard political mantra of both parties for a long time. The worry is that it’s a cover for other ulterior motives.
The problem I have with the Trump administration’s RIFs is the manner in which they have been carried out, which is too fast, too indiscriminate and utterly lacking accountability or oversight, not to mention the question of legal authority.
DOGE is acting so fast and sowing so much chaos that it’s difficult to grasp the nature and scope of its operations. It’s also difficult to find out who besides Musk is calling the shots.
Musk and Trump claim to have found thousands of cases of rampant waste and fraud, yet DOGE has been suspiciously light on details about its accomplishments or effectiveness.
DOGE has claimed to have cut $55 billion in government spending already, but an analysis by Yahoo Finance finds the figure is closer to $8.5 billion.
And some of the claims Trump and Musk have made about DOGE’s work don’t hold up to scrutiny. They claimed repeatedly last week that DOGE found Social Security beneficiaries who were hundreds of years old. The claim is based on a misunderstanding, perhaps willful, of how COBOL, the programming language used by the Social Security Administration, deals with files lacking birth dates. SSA’s new acting commissioner explained Wednesday that dead centenarians were "not necessarily receiving benefits," according to AP.
Yes, I still cite the AP, which remains one of the most reliable news organizations on the planet, even though Trump bars the agency from presidential events for refusing to use “Gulf of America,” his new made-up name for the Gulf of Mexico. So much for freedom of the press.
Another embarrassing development boiled up last week when DOGE actions resulted in more than 300 staffers fired at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) as part of Department of Energy layoffs.
Apparently somebody later realized that retaining those hundreds of experts, with the required security clearances, would be more than a little useful — critical, actually — to managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile, CNN reported.
Fortunately, some members of Congress petitioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright to rehire the workers, and most were reinstated once they could be found, despite having had their telephones cut off.
It’s almost as if haste makes waste.
Anyhow, the chaos sown by DOGE has done little if any damage to the president’s approval ratings so far. According to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll last week, 45 percent of Americans say they support what the president has done during his first month in office, while 53 percent say they disapprove.
On the question of whether the president has exceeded his authority since taking office, 57 percent said he had. Yet Trump has so conditioned us to be shocked, or at least surprised, by his excesses (pardoning all of the Jan. 6 offenders, including those who confessed to beating police, is a prize-winning excess in my view) that it may take more than the usual affronts to turn the electorate against him.
Still, only 35% of respondents in the Washington Post-Ipsos poll deemed Trump "honest and trustworthy." And they’re even less sure about Musk. Only one in four (26%) approve of him shutting down government programs.
At this point, Musk and Trump are rolling out a fast and furious agenda, and most Americans can only look on in awe.
Good luck with that, Mr. President, but be careful. At some point the dust will settle, and American voters will be able to check your work. And they might just hold you accountable.
Clarence Page: Voter’s remorse? Not much, but give it time was originally published by the Tribune Content Agency and is shared with permission. Clarence Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board.
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President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.
Getty Images/TCA, Melina Mara/POOL/AFP
Where is the Democratic Party’s Ronald Reagan?
Mar 05, 2025
With all the attention deservedly on President Trump and what he intends to do with his defiant return to the White House, there’s a more than good chance we’ll spend the next four years consumed once again by all things Trump.
There’s already been a dizzying amount: a giant raft of executive orders; attacks on a constitutional amendment; his threats to invade sovereign nations; a seeming Nazi salute from one of his biggest surrogates; his sweeping Jan. 6 pardons; his beef with a bishop; his TikTok flip-flop; his billion-dollar meme coin controversy; scathing new allegations against one of his Cabinet picks; unilaterally renaming a body of water; a federal crackdown on DEI; promises of immigration raids across major cities. All this in just the first three days of Trump’s second term.
And this may be his greatest trick — getting not only his own fans and supporters to obsess over him, but his critics and opponents, too.
He does that by flooding the zone — he is never not talking, posting, pointing fingers, ranting, raving, and keeping us all in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.
The problem with that is that so much gets missed. For Republicans, that often inures to their advantage, as they get to slip significant policy changes past an unsuspecting public, or bury bad news under the pile of Trump’s ever-mounting detritus.
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But for Democrats, four more years of Trump distractions could mean they miss yet another opportunity to fix their own house, and mount a serious and convincing challenger to end what could be 12 more years of Republican rule in Washington.
They need to find their Ronald Reagan.
Trump’s first term was marked by unprecedented chaos, and Dems admittedly got lured into Trump’s expanding web of distractions. While they busied themselves with investigations and hearings in order to make Trump as weak a president and candidate in 2020 as possible, they weren’t as focused on identifying and cultivating a Democratic candidate, a Democratic message, and Democratic policies that could deliver a fatal blow to the Trump era once and for all.
Over the course of Trump’s first term, his approval rating was never above water, fluctuating between a low of 35% and a high of 49%. After a term marked by civil unrest, incompetence, moral and ethical failures, conspiracy theories, extremism, mismanaging COVID-19, and overseeing Republican losses in the House and the Senate, America was decidedly tired of Trump’s ineptitude and self-destructiveness.
Joe Biden emerged from a crowded 2020 Democratic primary and a general election not with a political mandate but with a collective sigh of relief — he was elected to turn the page on Trump, and then (hopefully) pass on the torch to a younger, fresher, forward-looking Dem.
That, as we know, did not happen. Not only didn’t Biden want to pass the torch, but Democrats didn’t seem to want to architect a winning platform of dynamic messages and successful policies to keep their existing coalition and attract new voters.
Instead, they stuck with old messages that largely centered around Trump: he’s anti-democratic, he’s a convicted felon, and he’s going to end access to abortion.
They also boasted of demonstrably failing policies, insisting the economy was strong as hell, the border wasn’t a crisis, and crime was down.
Without a candidate, messages, or policies that transcended Trump, Democrats were once again playing Trump’s whack-a-mole game.
Instead of finding their own Ronald Reagan, an enormously popular president who not only transformed the conservative movement and the Republican Party, but America and in fact the world, Dems found a Jimmy Carter — a well-intentioned man whose messages and policies nevertheless inspired little confidence in the party.
Instead of setting off 12 years of party control like Reagan did, Dems eked out just four, and now risk finding themselves in the political wilderness.
Democrats must find their Reagan now — a candidate whose utility isn’t just to temporarily sideline Trump but vanquish him and his would-be successors for good.
Who that might be is both an open question and a problem. Democrats’ abject failures in places like California, New York and Chicago shine an ugly spotlight on some of the party’s biggest faces and worst policies. Other boldface names are either too old or too extreme. Identity politics, egos, and intraparty disagreements could easily get in the way.
Democrats must rebuild their party with new faces and new ideas, winning policies and inspiring messages.
For many of us, the next four years under Trump feel like an eternity. But for Democrats, they’ll come and go in the blink of an eye. What they do with that time will change history — possibly forever.
S.E. Cupp: Where is the Democratic Party’s Ronald Reagan? was originally published by the Tribune Content Agency and is shared with permission.S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.
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Rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
From Trump’s pardoned fans, intimidation, and bomb threats
Mar 01, 2025
There were 14 Missourians, me among them, who were negatively impacted recently by President Donald Trump’s pardons to the approximately 1,500 individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. We all saw a demonstration in real time about just what kind of people are part of that group that has now been set free to continue spreading fear on behalf of this president.
Trump granted “full, complete and unconditional” clemency to the Jan. 6 rioters. Among them was Henry "Enrique" Tarrio. From 2018 to 2021, Tarrio was the head of the Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist organization which promotes political violence.
Tarrio had been convicted and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to Jan. 6. That was until this past Jan. 20, when Trump, on his first day back in office, pardoned him.
This past weekend, I joined more than 1,150 patriots who traveled to Washington, D.C., for the all-volunteer, fifth annual Principles First Summit to listen, debate and learn how to communicate the Principles First’s set of 15 principles.
Principles First founder Heath Mayo describes the grassroots movement like this: “Principles define who we are, what we believe in, and the type of country we’ll become. That’s why we choose to put them first — before politicians and before party.”
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Many call Principles First an “Anti-Trump” group. While many are “Never Trump” conservatives, many others have recently joined because they worry about the state of our democracy and the direction that the country is moving in. Principles First offers a positive way forward promoting principles that include honesty, integrity and respect for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.
Our meeting was interrupted twice — once on Saturday, and once, and more dangerously, on Sunday.
On Saturday, Tarrio turned up at the conference site and confronted former Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officer Michael Fanone and former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn, both of whom defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack.
Tarrio called Fanone and Dunn “cowards” and told them to “keep walking,” as he and a group of his supporters filmed and followed them through the hotel.
Shortly after noon on Sunday, organizers of the Principles First Summit received an email from someone claiming to have planted two pipe bombs at the JW Marriott Hotel in D.C., as well as at the home of former national security adviser John Bolton and at Fanone’s mother’s house.
The email also threatened many of the summit’s speakers, saying they “all deserved to die.”
The threat was sent from an untraceable address with the signature “Enrique T.” It was presented as a way “To honor the J6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump.”
Tarrio denies any involvement. There is an active and ongoing investigation by law enforcement into the bomb threat.
Yes, the terrorists succeeded in instilling fear, at least in me. As the brave men, women and dogs of the Metropolitan Police Department swept the hotel for the pipe bombs, all I could think of was wanting to see my family again.
But they did not win. Once we got the “All clear,” it was my honor and pleasure to welcome and introduce our next set of speakers.
For the record, I am a member of Principles First Board of Directors. As noted above, this is an all-volunteer organization. I do not receive any compensation for my involvement.
While you may or may not agree with the positions shared, it was our right under the First Amendment of the Constitution to gather and share freely. Every American has this privilege, and they should not be terrorized for exercising this right to free speech. There were attendees who traveled on their own dime to attend from 44 states across the country.
I am not naive enough to believe that the FBI, under the direction of Kash Patel and newly appointed Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, will adequately investigate the events that occurred.
Nor am I under any illusion that the Trump supporters among Missouri’s U.S. Congressional delegation will stand up for the 14 of us from their state and condemn the behavior aimed at their constituents.
I am deeply saddened to say that this is where and how we live now in America. Only when voters stand up and say, No, this is not who we are, will things change for the better.
From Trump’s pardoned fans, intimidation, and bomb threats was first published in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was republished with permission.
Lynn Schmidt is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. SchmidtOpinions@gmail.com.
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