There are many differences in the way this Trump administration handles issues compared to prior administrations. In some ways, Trump 2.0 is more robust on policy than Trump 1.0.
For the most part, presidential administrations have handled issues behind closed doors. There are meetings and negotiations that take place, often before the public is aware of anything that’s going on. Public announcements often don’t happen until all the behind-the-scenes stuff takes place — unless there’s a crisis, of course.
But Donald Trump has done things differently, both as president and when he was president-elect. In today’s Briefing podcast, Dr. Albert Mohler discussed Trump’s unique style in relation to the growing issues with USAID:
And it is also interesting that Secretary of State Rubio has accused at least some of the leaders in USAID of direct insubordination, refusing even to give information. And again, I’ll just underline the fact that, in previous administrations, doing things by, say, the historical norm, there might have been some private conversations and even some direct initiatives undertaken before all of the public attention was drawn to this situation.
That’s not the way President Trump works. He wants the public to understand exactly what he’s doing. He wants the public to watch the administration as it undertakes these actions. And it’s going to be very interesting, as I say, to see what kind of evidence they begin to put on the table. But I know enough to say that I think "radical" is not going to be seen as an exaggeration when we see where American monies have gone, often, as Secretary Rubio indicated yesterday, in direct conflict with America’s national interest and the aims of the State Department in some of these very same regions. Stay tuned.
Mohler also refers to this modus operandi as Trump “playing chicken.” When he does that, he tends to win, and we’re seeing it a lot these days.
It's a noticeable change from the norm. We’ve often said that Trump’s mouth gets him in trouble, but it also gets him results. This term, his willingness to lay his cards on the table for all to see is achieving more in less time than the traditional ways of past presidents. (Of course, it also helps that he has Rubio, who is turning out to be a formidable secretary of state, in his corner.)
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Another contrast is the way Trump is tackling things in this term as opposed to his first term. He’s relying on the wisdom he has picked up, as well as learning from the mistakes and missteps of his first term. Mohler noticed that, too:
By the way, what is a key distinction between Trump administration number one and Trump administration number two? Well, for one thing, Trump administration number one, by President Trump’s own description, really didn’t understand how the federal government works. Trump administration number two is in an entirely different place. For instance, the actions undertaken by the president when it comes to terrorists and some of these other issues come under the authority of a 1977 act known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.
So all that is required here is for the president of the United States to declare a specific emergency. In this case, the president has identified it, mostly in terms of fentanyl coming into the nation with devastating results, and he declares an emergency and then he may take such executive actions. It really does make a difference if those who are running the administration are aware of the existence of such a law or not. 2017, they didn’t know. 2025, buckle your seat belts, they’ve read the law.
My friend and colleague Stephen Kruiser and I recorded an episode of our podcast “Faith All Over the Place” today, and we talked briefly about how this Trump administration is acting like it’s on a mission and doing so with a sense of unity. I believe that’s a byproduct of this wisdom and focus that Trump 2.0 has. And as long as the president and his administration are proactive and willing to be up-front about what’s going on, that will surely continue.
You’ll recall that Trump promised many years ago that we might get tired of all the winning. There’s something different about this version of President Trump, and it’s resulting in more winning. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.
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