What Trump’s enemies are missing

President Trump left office seven months ago, but the pathologically obsessed left just can’t quit him. Every left-wing media outlet ceaselessly talks about and curses him like it’s August 2018.  Yet their six-year-long, wild-eyed, anti-Trump mania has, in many ways, only made him stronger.

Witness the most recent filings by his Save America PAC and the Federal Election Commission, showing Trump raised an eye-popping $82 million in the first half of 2021 and has over $100 million cash on hand with which to influence the 2022 midterm elections. No other former president has ever inspired and controlled that kind of political fundraising juggernaut. 

Additionally, Trump has been holding key meetings about his future, described by his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, as “[making] plans to move forward in a real way, with President Trump as the head of [the 2024] ticket.”

Right on cue, leftist commentators came out in force, claiming that the Biden administration, investigators and prosecutors are boxing Trump in and that his influence is on the wane. But as his massive fundraising, dominant poll numbers, and huge crowds at rallies indicate this is wildly off the mark and another transparent attempt to wish Trump away. You’d think by now they would have learned that is a fool’s errand.

But they haven’t, and one of their favorite ways to try to diminish and dismiss him is to ignore his achievements, which they will never concede make him one of America’s most successful presidents.

For decades, Democrats have been talking disingenuously about reducing income inequality, poverty and unemployment. In four years, Trump did it. Through a pro-growth, pro-worker agenda — tax cuts, regulatory relief, unleashing our energy sector, and working to achieve fairer, more reciprocal trade deals — Trump delivered a booming pre-pandemic economy that benefited all Americans. In fact, Trump’s policies gave us a Goldilocks economy: strong overall growth, significant wage growth, full employment for all demographic groups, low inflation, and a narrowing of the income and wealth gaps. He created a true blue-collar boom.

When the pandemic hit, Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force led a comprehensive approach to try to mitigate its impact and get the American people and U.S. businesses through the crisis. Early on, he suspended travel from China and Europe, declared a national emergency, and oversaw the implementation of the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act; his administration ensured that critical relief was sped to America’s workers, small businesses, industries, and state and local governments.

Most astounding, Trump removed bureaucratic hurdles and launched Operation Warp Speed, which made the U.S. the world leader in testing and produced a complex vaccine distribution system in just 10 months. Trump withdrew us from the World Health Organization over its mismanagement of the pandemic, and led us to a robust reopening and fast economic recovery.

Trump worked to solve the immigration problem by securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, targeting sanctuary cities, and ending “catch and release,” chain migration and the visa lottery program. He closed asylum loopholes with the “remain in Mexico” policy and worked to combat human trafficking.

For underserved communities, he established Opportunity Zones to create jobs and generate investment, made unprecedented investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and achieved historic criminal justice reform.

Trump worked with state and local lawmakers to expand school choice, signed a critical executive order that promoted and protected free speech on college campuses, and expanded  education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

In foreign affairs, Trump rebuilt our military capabilities, defeated ISIS by destroying its caliphate, and eliminated terrorists Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Qassem Soleimani. After presidents of both parties spent decades promising to name Jerusalem the capital of Israel and move the U.S. embassy there, Trump did it. Perhaps more importantly, his administration secured the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, creating a monumental geostrategic shift in the Middle East to set it on a path toward a sustainable peace.

Trump was the first modern president to forcefully and proactively take on Chinese economic aggression. He imposed crippling sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea over their malign behavior, and convinced NATO members to pay their fair share for their collective defense.

The left will never acknowledge these and other Trump successes. As with other transformative Republican presidents, such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, the left must try to besmirch Trump for the history books. But they continue their war on Trump for another reason: They fear him. Following losing campaigns, Nixon and Reagan staged successful political comebacks — and deep down, Trump’s opponents know that he could engineer the most astonishing one of all. 

So, expect continuing lies, smears and wishful thinking about Trump from those on the left. But while they appear to have learned nothing about him and the enduring “America First” realignment he set in motion, he has learned a lot about them. With that knowledge, the 800-pound gorilla of the Republican Party is quietly watching and waiting.

Donald Trump is rarely stealthy. No wonder his enemies are so worried.

Monica Crowley served as assistant secretary of the Treasury for public affairs from 2019 to 2021. Follow her on Twitter @MonicaCrowley.