Theory 2 Action Podcast
Theory 2 Action Podcast
MM#421--Riding the MAGA Momentum: Peak Trump and America's Next Golden Age
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Donald Trump's second term is rewriting presidential history with a breathtaking sprint of achievements that may signal the dismantling of FDR's nearly century-old New Deal coalition. In just 165 days, Trump has accumulated foreign policy triumphs, legal victories, and domestic policy wins at a pace unseen in modern presidential history.
The centerpiece of this remarkable run is the "Big Beautiful Bill" signed into law on Independence Day - a comprehensive piece of legislation that doubles down on supply-side economics in ways not seen since Reagan's presidency. Far from the conventional wisdom that predicted economic doom from tariffs, the economy shows declining inflation, four-year low gas prices, stable unemployment, and record stock market highs.
Trump's foreign policy achievements have been equally impressive. Operation Midnight Hammer struck Iran's nuclear facilities, restoring American deterrence and credibility on the world stage. NATO allies have committed to unprecedented 5% of GDP defense spending after years of American pressure. A US-brokered peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda demonstrates Trump's expanding diplomatic influence while securing critical mineral rights.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. Cato Inc. represents a structural change in the balance of power between the judiciary and executive branch by restricting nationwide injunctions - judicial tools that had been weaponized against Trump's agenda. Meanwhile, immigration enforcement has achieved what many thought impossible: a 93% reduction in border encounters compared to the previous year, with zero releases into the United States for consecutive months.
What we're witnessing may be more than just a successful presidential term - it could be the beginning of a new American golden age predicated on economic growth, renewed global leadership, and the rolling back of the administrative state. The next three years will determine whether Trump can maintain this momentum and cement his place as one of the most consequential presidents in American history, alongside Washington and Lincoln.
Explore the full story of Trump's remarkable comeback in Newt Gingrich's "Trump's Triumph: America's Greatest Comeback" and follow our podcast for continuing analysis of this pivotal moment in American politics.
Key Points from the Episode:
• Trump's Big Beautiful Bill signed into law on July 4th represents a doubling down on supply-side economics
• Operation Midnight Hammer successfully targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, restoring American deterrence
• Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. CASA Inc. restricts nationwide injunctions that previously hampered executive action
• NATO allies committed to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP following Trump's pressure
• Border encounters down 93%, with zero illegal immigrants released into the US for consecutive months
• Economic indicators defying predictions: declining inflation, four-year low gas prices, stable 4% unemployment
• Trump's success potentially signals the end of FDR's New Deal coalition after nearly a century
• Foreign policy victories include US-brokered peace agreement between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
• Successful tariff negotiations with China and Canada demonstrating America's economic leverage
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Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser, flourishing life.
Speaker 2:Now here's your host, david Kaiser. Hello, I am David, and welcome back to another Mojo Minute, and a delightful one it is. As is our custom most of the time, let's kick it off with the opening quote. No candidate for president of the United States has run the personal and political gauntlet that President Donald J Trump endured from 2015 to his reelection on November 5th 2024. Andrew Jackson was an aggressive, change-oriented crusader who felt he had the presidency stolen from him in 1824. Andrew Jackson was an aggressive, change-oriented crusader who felt he had the presidency stolen from him in 1824. Jackson campaigned for four solid years to defeat incumbent President John Quincy Adams. Even Jackson never faced the scale and the intensity of institutional opposition that had assailed President Trump every step of the way. This victory over all opposition made the 2024 election a moment of triumph for President Trump and all his supporters.
Speaker 2:The consequences of his success are huge. Just imagine how things would be different if would-be Vice President Kamala Harris had won and the decay of the previous four years had been validated. Or imagine if a conventional pre-Trump establishment Republican had been nominated by the GOP. In either case, we would have had a president committed to working within the framework of left-wing bureaucratic system. This system has been growing ever since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election in 1932. It then accelerated dramatically under President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society from 1964 to 1968, and again under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. President Trump rejected this system from the start, even as a candidate in 2015. Early on, he decisively sided with the legacies of Barry Goldwater, ronald Reagan and, frankly, myself. We were for fundamental change within the GOP and had taken on the Gerald Ford Bush family.
Speaker 2:Mitt Romney, accommodationist wing of the Republican Party. President Trump's willingness to reject the old order led to the rise of the never-Trumpers and the bitter anti-Trump wing of the GOP and Washington establishment, many of whom are no longer in office. After President Trump's first term, the GOP's old order and the establishment Democrats understood that a second Trump administration would mean the end of their world. They were fighting for their ideological and political lives. This is why it made perfect sense for Liz Cheney, the erroneous of the GOP establishment, to campaign enthusiastically with Harris in the closing days of the 2024 campaign. They were on the same side, representing the same interest, and they opposed President Trump with the same fervor and intensity. So in many ways, president Trump's re-election saved America from a future of government domination, economic decay, aberrant social policies and other domestic and foreign threats that could eliminate our freedom.
Speaker 2:And that very long quote comes to us from a fabulous book I finished just over a month ago, newt Gingrich's. Trump's Triumph, america's Greatest Comeback. And this book is a wonderful capstone to the last six months of what we've been watching day in and day out. Six months of what we've been watching day in and day out. Actually, I stand corrected, it hasn't even been six months, it's been 165 days as of the day he signed the big beautiful law rather the big beautiful bill into law. And what has he accomplished has just been incredible. But before we go there, let's hear again from Newt and this fantastic book. Going back to the book For nine years, starting with then businessman Trump and his wife Melania, who came down the long escalator at Trump Tower, the establishment did everything it could to destroy him.
Speaker 2:He was the first real threat to its political dominance in modern times. This victory felt like a triumph far greater than the popular vote margin or the electoral college. It was the scale of the effort to destroy President Trump that made his resilience and ultimate victory so amazing. Consider the scale and endless effort of the federal government and its establishment allies to destroy the president chosen by the American people. First there was the FBI intelligence community enabled Russia hoax of 2016, initially funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Then came the Lord in dishonest rumors about Russian recordings of the new president's personal behavior president's personal behavior by then FBI Director James Comey. Then came the jailing of Trump's first national security advisor on totally phony charges Recall the Robert Mueller investigation, which produced nothing but empty headlines after two long years of investigations. We saw two impeachments in the Democratic-controlled House, which were rejected by the Senate, move on to the massive outpouring of money and information games in the 2020 election. And then we saw the Kangaroo Court of January 6th and its committee led by, of all people, liz Cheney. Throughout all of this, countless lawsuits were designed to drain President Trump's money, absorb his time, discredit him with the American people and potentially put him in jail. Finally, there were two assassination attempts, one of which President Trump survived only through the providential intervention, and the establishment and its followers used every deceitful and disgusting tool available to crush and drive him out of public life. They feared him as a mortal threat to their careers and self-identities, and so that is a wonderful two quotes from a fantastic book. Again, gingrich's, trump's Triumph, america's Greatest Comeback.
Speaker 2:Now I will say, for the record, I was late to this party. Now I will say, for the record, I was late to this party way back in 2016. I thought there was no way Donald Trump is going to sell us out absolutely sell us out and the Republican Party and the conservative movement. His track record on all the major issues in 2015 said exactly that. In 2015 said exactly that he was an unknown, always switching on this issue or that issue, never fully committed. And so for me, it wasn't until 2018, after I had been turned off by politics for just over two years, even though I'm a political junkie and I had to, much like some parts of the GOP, had to intellectually come to grips with what was actually happening. First for me was the economic team that Trump had surrounded himself with Larry Kudlow and Robert Lighthizer. Those guys were supply-siders and that piqued my interest. And then there was Victor Davis Hanson's incredible book, the Case for Trump. That really opened my eyes to see what was going on, from the GOP establishment to the never-Trumpers, to the rank-and-file of the GOP establishment, to the never Trumpers, to the rank and file of the GOP party hacks. And then there was the investigations. Everyone remembers Russia, russia, russia. So this book Trump's Triumph by Newt Gingrich is a wonderful synopsis of the last decade, the last 10 years of the last decade, the last 10 years. Now let's talk about just the last six months Correction, correction the last 160 plus days.
Speaker 2:And I found this piece in the Free Press, which is a new American media company founded by Barry Weiss and Nellie Bowles, both former New York Times reporters. So I was a little suspect. But this piece is written by Matthew Cottonany, which for the most part is a right of center columnist. I think he works over at the American Enterprise Institute, aei, but he has written for the Washington Free Beacon, which is a conservative outlet. So, regardless, this column and its title caught my eye, so I wanted to share it. And the name that caught my eye the title of this column, rather is this Is peak Trump. Let's go to the article.
Speaker 2:Donald Trump keeps racking up wins. Since June 21st, when B-2 bombers struck Iran's nuclear facilities, the president has enjoyed a run of foreign policy victories, legal triumphs, trade wins and domestic achievements. The positive headlines haven't let up. Now Trump's looking to crown this streak by signing his big beautiful tax and spending bill into law on July 4th. Obviously we're recording after that. So the bill became a law. Cotton Enney goes on in his piece. He couldn't ask for better timing. Codifying the MAGA agenda on Independence Day would see men Trump's brand of conservative populism as America's governing doctrine and lay the foundation for the more than three years that remain in his term.
Speaker 2:For Trump supporters, it doesn't get better than this. The man they elected, constantly and consistently underestimated and demonized by his critics, has delivered on the issues that secured his re-election last November. His achievements are so numerous. Cataloging them requires categories and I dare say, if you go back just to look, let's just take the modern presidency, let's go back you could even go back almost 50 years. Let's go back to Jimmy Carter. There's never been a president, even Reagan's first six months. No matter how you want to slice or dice it, whether it's the first term or the second term, there's been no US president that has had this successful of a first six months. Trump has hit the ground running with people in place, with a Senate and a House that was ready to rock and roll. They got a lot done in less than six months. I keep saying six months, it's 160 days. It's not even the full six months. So this has just been incredible. So this has just been incredible. Probably nothing like it unless you go back to FDR in his first 100 days, which is really where we get the benchmark. That is, the presidency where we get the benchmark on the first 100 days.
Speaker 2:Going back to Matthew Contenani's piece Foreign policy, operation Midnight Hammer fulfilled Trump's decades-old pledge to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. The debate over how far Iran has been set back misses the point, with significant damage dealt to the program. But Israel's air superiority also ensures ease of operations over Iran if America and the Jewish state must strike again. Trump, acting on a long-standing bipartisan commitment to thwart Iran's atomic dreams that previous presidents only talked about and he did so in concert with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a major joint operation between US and Israeli forces. Acting decisively, trump enhanced America's global standing. He restored American credibility and deterrence Very, very important point there. With no daylight between the US and Israel. Iran's axis of resistance lies in ruins, its war machine has been pummeled, its leadership has been thrown into disarray and the stage is set for finishing the Gaza War and expanding the Abraham Accords to include Syria, lebanon, indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2:Meanwhile, trump's brought burden sharing among America's allies closer to reality. When he took office in January 2017, nato members, on average, barely spent 2% of their economic output on defense. Now, more than half of the expanded NATO meets that threshold, and on June 26, nato committed to raising defense spending to 5% of gross national product, and most of those countries have agreed with Trump. They are now committed to doing five percent. The only people that objected was uh, spain, that's. I think that's actually after this. Uh, this article was written. Going back to the article, nor was trump finished. This is still on foreign affairs. At the end of last week, the, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda signed a US-brokered agreement to end their latest round of war. For decades, political instability and ethnic strife have plagued this region. By stepping in America, reduced tensions, secured rights to critical minerals and checked Chinese ambitions. Trump, the peacemaker at work.
Speaker 2:Moving on to legal affairs, as Trump reshaped the Middle East, the Supreme Court ruled for him at home. On June 23rd, the court ruled the administration could deport illegal immigrants to third-party countries, places where they have no ties. Next came rulings bolstering parental rights and affirming that state governments can establish age verification procedures for adult websites. But most significant was the court's decision in Trump v Casa Inc. At stake was not just birthright citizenship that will be decided later in the year but the judicial weapon that has bedeviled Trump for years nationwide injunctions. These allow a single district court to halt federal policies across the entire country An extraordinary measure used against Trump more than any president in history, no more. In a 6-3 ruling, the court punted on birthright citizenship but restricted the use of nationwide injunctions. On birthright citizenship but restricted the use of nationwide injunctions. Quote when a court concludes that the executive branch has acted unlawfully, wrote unbelievably, justice Amy Coney Barrett for the majority Quote the answer is not for the court to exceed its power to. Trump was thrilled at a pop-up press conference Friday afternoon. He said the court had upheld the Constitution and now he was free from Lilliputian judges. Even Trump's foes agreed that the ruling was a big deal, a sign of grudging consensus that Trump is in the ascent. And here we have Trump winning more and more.
Speaker 2:Let's go back to the article for trade policy. In early June, america agreed to end an effective embargo on China and place fewer restrictions on Chinese students, granting comparatively lower tariffs in exchange for US access to rare earth minerals. Besant said that China was now slow walking exports of strategic commodities. That led Trump to rattle the cage, and he got results. On June 26, trump announced we signed with China yesterday. Reportedly, as part of the latest negotiations, china has agreed to expedite exports of strategic commodities. China has agreed to expedite exports of strategic commodities.
Speaker 2:Canada has a similar experience. When Ottawa insisted on leavening a erroneous digital service tax on the United States, trump cut off trade talks saying Economically, we have such power over China. I'd rather not use it, but we do have that power. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would rather he not use it, but we do have that power. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would rather he not use it either. And within 20, or rather within 48 hours, canada dropped the tax Talks resumed, message received. Now the broader trade picture remains fluid, but unnecessarily so. Trump has delayed the Liberation Day tariffs on most countries, but perhaps not for long. He says I'm going to send out letters that's going to end the trade deal over the weekend and that would say something like dear Mr Japan, here's the story. You're going to pay 25% tariff on your cars. Mr Japan won. Here's the story. You're going to pay 25% tariff on your cars. Mr Japan won't be happy.
Speaker 2:And then we move on to domestic policy, and domestic policy is where Trump is hitting home run after home run, whether it's immigration or whether it is the big beautiful bill that is now a law. And tax cuts are coming, and we have been out front early on vying to end the trump tax cuts uh the uh. Make them permanent. Rather, we want to end the increase. We want to make them permanent, so we wanted to end the increase. We wanted to make them permanent so that this economy, its economic engine, can absolutely go on jet fuel and skyrocket, and that's what we've been wanting to do. If there's ever been a president that has doubled and tripled down on supply side economics, it's Donald J Trump. He deserves credit and had not the pandemic interrupted the country in 2020 and the whole world, we were well on our way to establishing a viable plus GDP growth across the economic sectors. So, with Trump even making this big beautiful bill a law now we will get into the details. We will break down more of the big beautiful bill in terms of tax cuts, but it's so big we're still digesting it, and so more to come on that.
Speaker 2:But getting back to domestic policy, going back to this continuity piece, trump has leeway in his trade negotiations because, contrary to predictions, tariffs haven't cratered the economy, at least not yet. In fact, the inflation rate has declined since Trump took office. Little side note here just saw Larry Kudlow on his show and he had the deputy secretary for, or rather counsel to, trade secretary not trade secretary, but Secretary Besson, this was counselor to the Treasury Secretary Besson, besant, this was counselor to the treasury, secretary Besant. And they just, council of economic advisors, just did a complete study for the last six months no sign of any tariffs or any inflation coming from tariffs. So that was all bunk. You know, classical economics says tariffs will just be passed along into prices, consumer prices, and that may very well happen, but as of right now, there is no inflation after six months of this tariff talk happening from the president. Going back to this article, gas prices are the lowest they've been in four years, the unemployment rate is a stable at 4% and last week the S and P 500 hit a record high. None of this was supposed to happen with tariff ban at the helm, though Trump's delaying most tariffs has helped calm economic headwinds, and that might be true. That certainly might be true. That might be the reason why tariffs are not inflationary as of yet.
Speaker 2:We will keep looking for it, but in May Border Patrol agents encountered 8,700 illegal immigrants trying to enter the country. That's a 93% reduction from the previous year. None were released into the United States. It used to be a record number at the border that dominated the national conversation. Now the border is an afterthought. It's Trump's deportations that everyone is talking about, and actually we just got June's numbers in and there were none released into the United States in June. Back to back months. Has there ever been a US domestic policy where, within six months, us domestic policy where within six months, the president, just by sheer leadership and executive order, has silenced, eliminated the issue? I cannot remember it in my lifetime.
Speaker 2:Going back to this piece by Matthew Cotton and me, his efforts will receive an infusion of cash and manpower if Congress passes the one big, beautiful bill this week, which he actually did last week as of this recording. So the bill is now a law. It's the centerpiece of Trump's domestic agenda and it may prove a hinge point in the MAGA saga. It could provide for border security. Point in the MAGA saga. It could provide for border security, energy development and economic growth necessary for Trump's promised golden age, or its Medicaid changes could hand Democrats a winning issue for next year's midterms, threatening Trump's final years in office with the familiar haunts of investigations and impeachment.
Speaker 2:After all, the electorate remains divided. Trump's job approval rating, according to the Real Clear Politics Average, has held steady at around 46 percent over the last few weeks. That's higher than at this point in his first term and roughly where George W Bush and Barack Obama stood at this point in their second terms. Now, all three presidents subsequently lost at least one chamber of Congress. To avoid this fate, trump will have to address his persistent weakness on inflation, he'll have to define the Democrats as hopelessly out-of-touch socialists, and he'll have plenty of help with New York City's Democratic mayoral nominee, zoran Mondami-Thakami. Above all, trump will have to weather various flashpoints the Russo-Ukrainian war, the continuing threat from Iran, jihadist terrorism, a belligerent China, civil unrest and the coming debt bomb, along with a possible financial meltdown and possibly even a pandemic. The list of horribles is long, and politics never follows a straight line.
Speaker 2:For now, though, as the nation heads into the July 4th weekend, president Trump and his Republican coalition have permission to gloat. They're riding one of the most remarkable news cycles in memory. Best to enjoy it while it lasts. So, as you can see this piece written by one of Trump's doubters, matthew Cotton, I'm still an establishment conservative follower, most likely because his father-in-law is Bill Crystal, the small little man that used to head the Weekly Standard, and a never-Trumper. He leaves the never-Trumper movement of currently, I believe, a handful less than 10, certainly, and he is the fitting analogy. As risky as history is writing itself after this July 4th and signing of this big, beautiful bill into law, trump's comeback for his second term is like winning the Super Bowl. Trump's winning in the midterms will be like winning back-to-back Super Bowls. And this bill getting signed will have the economy humming, because we know supply-side economics works every time it is tried.
Speaker 2:Look at the 1980s, look at the 1960s and look at the 1920s. Now, like we said, we're going to get details of the bill once the dust settles, but boy it's a big bill. Very surprised they were able to get it across the finish line. Very surprised they were able to get across the finish line. And for an analogy, since I'm a Steeler fan, you know the Pittsburgh Steelers ran off an incredible four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s, 1974, 1975, and 1978, 1979.
Speaker 2:Chuck Knoll was their legendary coach. He wasn't the most well-liked coach. He was cantankerous, he had some other shortcomings, but he produced results. Now, who was the Steelers coach before Chuck Knoll? That's right. No one remembers and no one cares when you are producing results that the country has been waiting on for decades and decades. You frankly don't remember that Bill Austin was the coach before Chuck Knoll and you certainly don't remember that three years before Bill Austin was a one-year coach named Mike Nixon. No one cares because they didn't produce any results. And speaking of producing results, let's go back to Newt's book for one more quote, because it sets the stage for what we are witnessing and what will happen over the next two years.
Speaker 2:So the second most important project after having a booming economy is developing a system for every citizen in Democratic swing districts thoroughly informed of how often their member votes against their values. A system of information that penetrates the district and reaches most people should be up and running as early as possible. It should be monitored in polling to ensure that the messages about the radical votes are reaching people. This should be launched in the spring and summer of 2025. We cannot wait until 2026 for it to become a project. The steady drumbeat of bad votes will lead to candidates in the primary and in the general election. It will make the incumbents vulnerable to challenges. It will increase fundraising for the challengers and decrease fundraising for the Democrats as the back home grassroots pressure builds. It will lead to a civil war in the Democratic Party because the true believers and the survivalist are at each other's throats.
Speaker 2:As of right now, it's possible for Republicans to increase their majority in the House in 2026. It's possible for President Trump, with a renewed majority, to lead America through four solid years of reform and recovery, launching a new golden age for America. It is possible, building on that, to elect a new Republican president and a solidly Republican House and Senate in 2028. Here's the kicker those victories will end President Roosevelt's New Deal coalition nearly a century after it was created in 1932. If all that happens, president Trump will have been the most consequential president of modern times and may rank just below George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as leaders who have created a new and better future for America and for the world, with the help of the American people. It is possible. It is just up to us to help save the country. And that is your key takeaway, nugget of wisdom from today's Mojo Minute. Those victories will be the end of President Roosevelt's New Deal coalition, nearly a century after it was created in 1932.
Speaker 2:With the signing of the Big, beautiful Bill, trump's peak legislative victory is achieved for the ages. Now he and the GOP will have to sell the American voters and the American economy will have to boom, and we have no doubt that it will boom. But we're watching closely because since Reagan's presidency we have been waiting for a president to do what Donald Trump has just done. Trump has just done gone fully, supply aside economics and gone full early in the first term so we can get the economy moving again. And we are as excited as I'll get out. Fdr had Keynesian economics adopted for 50 plus years without barely any results, and now supply ciders have their chance. In later Mojo Minutes we will debunk FDR's economic programs and how they didn't work during the Great Depression. They merely just prolonged the Great Depression.
Speaker 2:You know, the president of Hillsdale's College, larry Arnn, said somewhere that there was three great epochs in US history the American Revolution, the US Civil War and the battle for the administrative state.
Speaker 2:Now I would add a fourth.
Speaker 2:I would say that World War II was an epoch in and of itself because we were fighting literally for Western civilization.
Speaker 2:Because we were fighting literally for Western civilization. But if we take Larry Arnn for his initial statement, if that's the case, then Donald Trump just stimulated the economy to create an arsenal of democracy in World War II terms, and now he should go after the administrative state with reckless abandon for the next three and a half years. That will cement him because he will have the economy on his side in one year. So in today's Mojo Minute America, as we just passed our 249th birthday, we just got a shot of energy from possibly one of the most pivotal us presidencies in history and we got one of the most doubling down of supply-side economics ever since it was invented in the late 1970s. We are poised for the golden age of amer, as the digital creator and commentator Patrick Bet David tells his audiences all the time. The future looks bright and we agree. Peak Trump and the rolling back of FDR coalition in that top down administrative state has never looked so good. God willing, we will be watching and we will keep fighting the good fight.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.