James-Christian B. Blockwood, a former senior career senior executive in Federal Government, is Executive Vice President of the Partnership for Public Service and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Though the 2024 presidential general election is more than a year away, primary races have already begun. Early polling results tend to influence messaging, and it seems the more provocative the talking points—those that move a candidate to one side of the political aisle and separate them from others—the better.
Recent Republican announcements offer the latest intrigue, as Ron DeSantis launches his candidacy uniquely via Twitter Spaces, and Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Asa Hutchinson previously announced their intentions to run as alternative candidates to former President Trump. The latter candidates pitching free-thinker, bootstrapped, and restore American values and greatness platforms, but all are vying to challenge President Biden, the current Democratic front runner.
Regardless of who emerges victorious in the primaries and, ultimately, the presidency, here are three practical pledges—perhaps lacking the drama prompting headlines on the debate stage but fundamental to a well-functioning government—our next president can commit to that will affect positive change in our nation’s prosperity.
Balance the Budget and Reduce the Deficit
Good governance and fiscal prudence matters, especially when our country’s gross national debt is nearing $30 trillion, and Congressional Budget Office projections indicate debt may reach 119 percent of gross domestic product by FY2033.
Americans expect elected officials to faithfully execute their constitutional obligation to make laws and pass budgets, but when they fail to do so, it impedes the government's long-term planning capability and erodes trust in our institutions. The president, critical to this process, all too often allows political brinkmanship to get in the way.
Hostage negotiations (which Democratic Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson called economic terrorism) and crisis management was in full effect over the debt limit (the borrowing restriction placed on the government). Failing to have raised it would have been catastrophic for the economy, and those receiving government services or aid would have likely suffered the most. Though raising the debt limit still poses real world consequences and keeps our government on the same unsustainable fiscal path we’ve been on for decades. Unfortunately, it seems managing crises is becoming the norm, as our government continues to try solving our most pressing challenges through patchwork and stopgap efforts—evident in this latest conciliation which purportedly includes a multi-year appropriation and extension of the limit.
We need a balanced budget. We need to dramatically decrease the nation’s budget deficit. We need a President committed to these two causes, one who works across government seriously reevaluating and tackling the most expensive categories of spending (national defense, Social Security, healthcare and interest payments), and exacts effective governance, long-term fiscal health, and security.
Promote the Federal Workforce and the Work They Do
Though views of the government are not necessarily favorable (only 37 percent of people believe the government helps people like them), remove partisan politics from the equation and focus on localized services, and the government generally delivers. Improving trust and changing perception starts with acknowledging that some grievances are warranted, committing to strengthening the civil service, and reinforcing it should never be weaponized or politicized, rather celebrated.
While often scrutinized and negatively portrayed, civil servants operate seamlessly in the background every day, even in the face of major crises, to help Americans live better lives. A successful president recognizes this, truly understands how (and how well) the federal government serves its people, and promotes the federal workforce and the work they do.
The Partnership for Public Service’s Service to America Medals highlight how federal employees are leading innovation and service delivery excellence. Some recent accomplishments include working with airports and airlines on new programs to identify and prosecute human traffickers, helping deploy insects as natural predators against other bugs that damage crops, and creating new cotton-based medical gauze for trauma and chronic wounds.
We need a federal workforce that feels valued and is exalted for their achievements. We need a president firm on expectations and accountability while also honoring and equipping our civil servants with the resources and support to be innovative, efficient, and responsive to public needs.
Champion Trust and Cooperation
A strong government requires strong leaders, especially at the highest levels, who are stewards of public trust and committed to public good. As campaign rhetoric intensifies, particularly around divisive issues, it becomes increasingly important to think about what happens after the country has voted for its next leader.
Presidential candidates have a responsibility to promote trust in our elections and, more broadly, in our institutions. As candidates, committing now to respecting the outcome of fair and free elections (to include the process for contesting, recounts and legal challenge before conceding) and adhering to a spirit of cooperation to share information with transition teams will go a long way to increasing trust and ensuring the best start to the next presidency.
We need an election process typified by candidates honoring outcomes and participating in an amicable transition. We need a president that will represent our entire country if elected and support their former opponents to the fullest should they not be.
A presidential candidate will surely be judged on technological savvy, geopolitical acumen, economic prowess, and moral compass. However, we should also look for our next Commander-in-Chief to commit to balancing the budget and reducing the deficit, promoting the work of those who serve us every day, and championing trust and cooperation—a commitment to Americans and our nation’s well-being.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.