By Brandon Smith
Back in 2016 I predicted a resounding win for Donald Trump in his election campaign against Hillary Clinton despite a chorus of voices telling me I was crazy. The argument from skeptics was that the establishment would never allow Trump into office. My position on the event was relatively straightforward – The conservative populist movement was far too strong to deny and the globalists might not see a Trump White House as a total loss if they could control it from behind the scenes, or sabotage it with a national crisis.
By 2020, Trump was in the midst of the astroturf BLM riots and a fabricated pandemic crisis over a virus with a 99.8% survival rate. By November, the election was effectively rigged in favor of Joe Biden. It’s not just the shady mail in ballot voters (millions of them magically disappeared by the 2024 election), it was also the establishment media’s censorship of vital news stories that could have turned public opinion against Democrats along with social media censorship of conservative dissent. All of these factors together gave Biden a win.
However, there was also a number of bad decisions that might have helped to remove Trump’s edge in the elections and blunt conservative enthusiasm. I was highly critical of Trump’s first term, as many commentators were, mainly because of the DC “swamp creatures” flooding into his cabinet.
To be fair to Trump, he walked right into a den of vipers and parasites. He was surrounded by people who were intent on controlling his policies and sabotaging his second term prospects. There are thousands of cabinet positions to be considered and Trump trusted the wrong people to fill them.
His second term and his dramatic reboot of the federal government has been nothing short of epic. I have far less to criticize this time around. Though, there are still some serious problems to address.
First, I want to go over Trump’s first quarter in office and examine his greatest wins to this point. Some people might not see certain items in this list as “wins” – I really don’t care. Like they say, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Win #1: Complete Shutdown Of Illegal Immigration
This is an undeniable win. I can’t tell you how many times I heard naysayers argue that Trump would “never get the border under control and never commit to deportations”. These people were wrong (again).
Only a month after Trump’s arrival nearly all illegal border crossings stopped. The Border Patrol, which was dealing with 50,000 to over 300,000 southern border encounters per month under the Biden Admin, is now living the easy life with a minimal 8000 encounters per month. This is the lowest border traffic in the recorded history of the agency.
Median encounters have dropped 95% since Trump took office. This is unheard of. It’s a success that no critic can take away, which is why the media barely mentions it.
The collapse in border crossings proves that the vast majority of people trying to sneak into the US were NOT coming here because they were escaping tyranny or crime. If they were, then those people would still be lining up at border checkpoints begging to get in. In reality, border cities on the Mexico side, once flush with migrants ready to slip into the US, are now ghost towns. There was no humanitarian crisis; it was a fraud perpetrated by Democrats, NGOs and the UN. Migrants were rushing into the US to get cash and welfare handouts, that is all.
Win #2: DOGE Closes USAID And Other Saboteur Agencies
Elon Musk’s DOGE has had mixed results, but getting rid of decades of corruption and waste is not going to happen in mere months. That said, the DOGE closure of agencies like USAID is an excellent start.
USAID’s slimy tentacles were tied closely to leftist NGOs and their agenda seems to have been the spread of the woke virus into every aspect of social cohesion. They were manipulating culture not just in the US but around the world. All they had to do was offer juicy subsidies to leftist activists and shut out conservative based programs.
I have noticed a distinct change in the woke movement – A kind of death rattle. Suddenly, a lot of these activist groups have gone quiet. Their protests are smaller. Their momentum is frozen. Many corporations have abandoned woke messaging. There has even been an observable decline in online troll activity. Our favorite anonymous lefty stalkers have vanished from the face of the Earth (I almost miss them).
Win #3: Tariff Campaign
It might be too early to make a call on this, but there has been positive movement on the trade front because of Trump’s tariffs. The UK has capitulated and accepted 10% tariffs while cutting their taxes on US goods to around 1%. American products will flow freely across the Atlantic.
China has admitted it’s entering into negotiations, probably because the communist country is currently on the verge of deflationary collapse. Multiple governments are working with the White House to come to an arrangement. Several international companies are moving manufacturing to US soil.
If Trump can actually shift enough manufacturing to the US, then this will mean greater production capacity, which means higher supply and lower prices. It means a higher number of middle income jobs and better wages. Finally, Trump’s efforts to eliminate the income tax and replace it with tariff revenues would be the ultimate success, as it would free the public from IRS and central bank slavery.
Win #4: Removal Of LGBT/DEI Propaganda From Schools And Federal Institutions
Trump’s threats to cut off federal funds to woke schools is having a far reaching effect. Woke teachers are taking to social media to cry and whine and post videos tearing down trans flags and BLM posters from classroom walls. How this groomer ideology was ever allowed to infect the educational system and target our children is a conundrum that will be studied for generations.
Mentally ill trans activists are being booted from the military under the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. These are people that only entered service to get taxpayer funded gender reassignment hormones and surgeries. They made a mockery of the armed forces and made America look exceedingly weak. Good riddance.
Win #5: Freedom For January 6th Prisoners
Everyone said this wasn’t going to happen, but it did. The Democrat narratives surrounding January 6th were egregiously dishonest and politically motivated. Capitol police are caught on video launching tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd of peaceful protesters; the feds knowingly triggered the riots that followed. The media then rewrote history and labeled the riot as an “insurrection” designed to interfere with Joe Biden taking office.
While some people did damage property and others took souvenirs, the prison sentences they received were absurd in light of their minor crimes. They were being made into examples and justice was not blind or fair. Trump was absolutely correct in pardoning and releasing them all.
Now we need to get to the fails, and though there will be some debate on these issues I think most conservatives agree that these are areas where Trump needs to improve. I’ll also point out that Trump is highly changeable and these situations can flip overnight.
Fail #1: Exposure Of Biden Admin’s Economic Manipulation
Trump has not done a very good job warning the public about the Biden Admin’s manipulation of economic data. The Democrats spent two years denying that stagflation was a threat, then spent two years claiming inflation was declining (it wasn’t). They claimed jobs and GDP were rising (jobs for American citizens were stagnant and GDP was manipulated upward by increased government spending). They said the financial system is as “strong as it has ever been”.
Because most Americans are not aware of these rigged numbers, they will inevitably blame Trump as the true data comes out and the stats go into decline. Trump needs an economic representative or “czar” that gives the public detailed analysis on how the Democrats used disinformation to hide recession signals. There needs to be regular updates on what is being done to repair the situation. The populace needs to see more proactive movement on the economy or there will be a crisis and everything will be blamed on Trump and conservatives.
Fail #2: The Epstein Files Release
What a PR disaster. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been leading the public around in circles for months, claiming that the Epstein client list would soon be made available. She has released fragments of info but nothing new of consequence. She now says that her office is sifting through thousands of hours of video evidence, much of it involving the sexual assault of minors.
Look, the public doesn’t want to see that stuff. All we want is a concise list of who engaged with Epstein and his “services”. These people need to be called out and brought to justice NOW. If they are in government they need to be removed ASAP. There is no room for pedos in American leadership anymore.
I can understand certain obstacles, such as keeping victims protected. An outright dump of info would be reckless, not to mention illegal. That said, the feds have had years to go over this evidence. I suspect that the White House is stalling because the client list could destroy a large portion of the government. The number of leaders exposed must be extensive enough that a release of the list would cripple the system. It’s the only explanation that makes sense for why they continue to keep the American people waiting.
Fail #3: Foreign Aid To Israel
I’ve made my position on the war in Gaza consistently clear – I don’t care about either side, I care about America. Let them vaporize each other, as long as we aren’t subsidizing the vaporizing. It’s ancient tribal insanity. If we’re going to go back thousands of years to determine who should control the Levant region, well, that right goes to Christians in my view. It was controlled by Christians for centuries until the Islamic hordes overran it in 634 AD.
Trump shut down foreign aid to hundreds of countries, but he still kept tens-of-billions in annual aid to Israel in place. I get that his father was fond of Israel and that the evangelical base wants to keep Israel out of Muslim hands. I get that many conservatives see Israel as the only foothold western civilization has in the Middle East. I understand the defensiveness when it comes to Israel as a symbol.
However, there also needs to be consistency of principles and Israel does not need our money. If we’re going to cut foreign subsidies and pursue America-first policies, then we need to cut off some of the largest panhandlers. We can maintain relations with Israel without allowing them to drain our pockets.
Let the war play out without us paying for it. It’s not our concern.
Fail #4: Continued Military Aid To Ukraine
As with Israel, the conflict in Ukraine does not concern the American people. It may be that Trump wants to keep the EU from inserting itself into the quagmire and sparking off WWIII. Perhaps if the US backs out completely then this would leave a vacuum that the European elites are more than happy to fill. Of course, the EU has no capacity whatsoever to fight the Russians, they only have the ability to set off a regional nuclear event by sticking their noses into other people’s business.
At bottom, a freeze on US military aid is more likely to force Ukraine to settle on a practical peace agreement. The Russians have consistently stated they want a return to diplomacy, but they have also said they won’t be giving up the lands in the Donbas or Crimea. In his delusion, Zelensky has demanded that these lands be returned before any talks are organized. To the credit of Trump and JD Vance, they called the little man out on his fantasy publicly.
I’m doubtful that Ukraine or Europe will allow a true peace accord. I suspect they will drag the situation on for months while pretending they want to negotiate. Trump needs to end military aid once and for all and if Ukraine wants to trade minerals they can do so in exchange for humanitarian aid and infrastructure rebuilding. America has no business being involved in such a war.
Fail #5: Real ID And Biometric Tracking Of US Citizens
The Real ID program is another ugly remnant of the Bush and Obama era. It is essentially a requirement for mandatory biometric tracking of anyone traveling by air. The reason you can use a US Passport as a substitute for the ID is because passports already have biometrics in place on traveler photos.
There is truly no practical need for Real ID, it only serves to intrude on the privacy of US citizens. It’s not going to prevent terror attacks. It’s not going to speed up airport processing. TSA will still be a thing. With mass biometrics they might as well put a lo-jack on every traveler (with cell phones they’ve basically already done that, too).
The Real ID was in development long before Trump’s rise to the White House. DHS claims they will not have access to the files (I don’t buy that for a second) and that this is a “state based program”. They went through the states because that makes it more difficult for any single administration to shut the program down. Trump still has power over the DHS. He can also encourage states to remove REAL ID as a requirement.
Biometric tracking of the population is an Orwellian nightmare waiting to happen. Maybe not under Trump, but under another government this will undoubtedly become a threat to people’s freedoms. The feds do not need to know where we are and what we are doing all the time.
Overall, I would weigh Trump’s presidency as exceedingly positive, especially compared to the grotesque degeneracy and autocracy we faced under the Democrats. If Trump can take a hard stance against Patriot Act era violations of the constitution, if he can better communicate his economic vision and keep America out of foreign entanglements that could lead to global hellfire, then he might end up as one of the greatest presidents in modern history.
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One of the biggest questions about the Trump Phenomena is whether he and the MAGA Movement he currently leads represents the past – or the future.
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For many Americans, Donald Trump represents a return to some of the legacy American values that have set America apart and helped to make it prosper and grow. For others, Trump is a step backwards and de-evolution away from the World’s inevitable conjoining into one great big orgasmic Globalist Borg Blob of strict authoritarian controls over everything with us all ‘Liking It!’.
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Early returns say he looks like a little of both of these things. He was worked to reestablish America’s borders and to rid the Nation of the social sickness of DEI and Wokeism. He also brought in Robert Kennedy Jr. who is exactly the person we need to work to restore the health and welfare of Americans and push back against the sickening power and influence of America’s Nazi-Scientist-Inspired Big Harming Pharma. Killing off Americans one dose at a time.
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On the other hand, Trump and the group he has brought in to lead America’s Government remain firmly under the punishing and dominant thumb of That Certain Most Favored Middle-Eastern Nation that has ruled America for decades. And he is throwing even more money at the badly obese Military Industrial Complex which has likewise ruled America since the days of President Eisenhower’s warnings that this additional Borg Blob was taking over.
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Most Americans would agree at least at this point that Trump is better than the Babbling Giggler of Confusion and Mindless-Free-Associating-Into-Madness that was America’s other choice in the most recent Presidential election.
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Trump’s Tariff Gamble has the potential to bring prosperity and the vitality of American industry back to our Nation. This gamble also has the potential of creating an economic disaster and great harm to the finances of many Americans.
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The quick scorecard on Trump is that he is doing some very good things while at the same time doing some very bad things: A few runs, a few hits, and a few errors. And plenty of runners still left on base.
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But at least doing some good is better than no good. And we are all still in the early innings…
Nice summary of the last quarter.
About win#1: Michael Yon reports that the infrastructure for the Invader Pipeline is still intact….mostly silent but it would be nothing to restarting it. Raises the question if globalists are merely planning to wait out the administration or do some other action to take control to resume previous behavior.
Win#2: PROVES that the rioters are /were paid actors…..as many believed and saw on Craig’s List during the summer of BLM love.
Win#3: has brought me cautious hope that the Chinese people could find opportunity to change their regime to a liberty oriented government. Time will tell. I also love seeing this mechanism tearing down what I perceive as the globalist construction toward a One World Gov. Did you hear all the complaints about the effect on the “Rules Based Order?”
Win #4:…totally awesome but the teachers who espouse this philisophy are still in position and will continue to indoctrinate until removed. We are responsible for doing this and hopefully local elections will accomplish this necessity.
Failure#1: I agree…Trump needs to get the right people on the tv educating the public of the efforts of former administrations to destroy our economic fabric. Hoping my theory that he is focused on getting the system adjusted soon enough to be able to show what is occuring will protect essential economic infrastructure while corruption is cleansed out?
Failures#2-4: Spot on. I expect that Bondi’s reputation and inaction on many fronts is about to do her in….but is anyone talking about a potential replacement that would be anti-corruption and still get past the Senate? Is there one??
Failure#5: This is the reason so many are claiming Trump to be a hidden globalist or stupid. It’s hard to read him properly sometimes. I do at times wonder if he understands that the globalists are working to install a national surveillance system through him…..or that he hasn’t understood it’s detriments??
A well presented checklist! My comments / questions are as follows:
On the subject of Real ID, what sort of biometrics are used? I have not been through the process, but from what I know, you take your birth certificate to the DMV and that proves you are you. Same as with getting a passport? Also a finger print may be required, which has been part of many official documents going back decades. That might be considered biometric data. I hear of scans of the face and eye, which is like a finger print I suppose. But I can also see this as a bread crumb trail leading people into a massive database under the guise of protection that they don’t necessarily need to be in. However, we already have that? Fingerprints on file? So is this latest rage against biometrics a straw man argument? I’m with you – the last thing we need is to be wandering “free” in a digital prison having every move monitored.
About Trump admin dragging their feet on the Epstein matter. It is said he is a customer so imagine if that got out officially. After all, he’s part of the club. Whatever good he seems to be doing in term 2 is it really him or is he taking orders? I bet the latter. And to what gain? On the surface it is positive (as you point out) but what is the other shoe that will eventually drop? We are setting up for WWIII? Or….?
Ukraine and Gaza: I maintain my position that these are clever redevelopment plans. Seems like the day Ukraine was “invaded” the news was full of how to rebuild it. Wouldn’t the first order of business be to stop the mad Russians? I bet the den of vipers is salivating at the opportunity to start construction of 15 minute cities once the demo work is complete. Similar game plan for Gaza.
1) REAL ID uses face biometrics. They have to use special photo equipment and software to get the proper image of your face. When people talk about biometrics they are generally referring to face tracking, retina or walk (gate) tracking.
2) No evidence that Trump was ever a customer of Epstein. In fact, when Epstein was first charged Trump kicked him out of his circle of associates and as far as anyone can tell he avoided Epstein completely. Epstein’s actual clients continued to meet with him regularly (Clinton, Bill Gates, etc.).
3) The Ukraine war was instigated to start WWIII. Full stop. Whether they succeed or not is another matter. Rebuilding is far from central to the globalist plans.
I recently got a government ID renewed and had to have both index fingers scanned. I was told it was for “my protection” so no one would steal my identity. Yeah, right. Feels like the beast system to me.
Great article Brandon. I’ve always wondered what the obsession is with Israel- they are threatening people for just criticizing Isreal and that can be a slippery slope really quickly. The DOJ not releasing those files a huge red flag to me- your point: “I suspect that the White House is stalling because the client list could destroy a large portion of the government.” — my response is to that is- that would probably be a good thing! It’s a good thing that these parasites pedos are removed and that government gets a little smaller as it should be. Kill two birds with one stone. It’s inexcusable that they are stalling on this and practically gone MIA on this matter. I see Pam Bondi on Fox news talking about arresting the small fries and posturing more than I see her at the DOJ to the point that I think she has a second job as a Fox anchor.
Finally, one last major “failures” I would add is the RFK’s MAHA movement. They are going after the small fry, trivial issues like trying to “remove red 40, etc” and not focusing on the big problems such as the Covid Jab injuries which are quietly amounting to MILLIONS of injured/deaths especially in young folks. ZERO talks about removing the mRNA jabs from the market, ZERO arrests/indictments of Fauci and the bad actors, and ZERO accountability of big pharma which are STILL ALLOWED TO PROVIDE THESE JABS to this very day. In fact, in Houston where I live- the Texas Medical Board Mafia is still going after the licenses of handful of doctors who spoke out against the jabs and treated with ivermectin and what not. Greg Abbot and Texas AG Paxton also ZERO response to this- even though the governor appoints the Medical Board.
Bottom line- as good as Trump is doing on SOME stuff as you noted- NOTHING will change unless these criminals are addressed and jailed. They will go in hiding and come out with a vengeance 4 years later.
Shay, I totally agree. MAHA is a great failure and seems to be only there to placate and make it seem like they’re doing something positive about Americans’ health. Besides what you already mentioned, I would say, they should make a big push to immediately ban state per state the spraying of chem trails, fluoride in the water, and fluoride in toothpastes.
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On that note, I found this link where hundreds of people are talking about the benefits of detoxing fluoride by using small amounts of borax:
https://crunchybetty.com/getting-to-the-bottom-of-borax-is-it-safe-or-not/
In terms of RFK, I think he is sincere and truly wants to change the health system for the better. However,as with DOGE, you’re talking about reforms that could take far longer than the four years we have. I worry that a civil war is inevitable and that change will be impossible without force. It’s hard to see any other way to remove the deep state for the long term.
“Whenever the people need a hero, we shall supply him.” Albert Pike 33rd Degree Freemason.
Time will tell but today I believe Donald is being used to play us. Of course, crumbs get thrown to the masses. This keeps the MAGA mantra flickering. Nonetheless, a well written and researched article.
A fine assessment Brandon. Most every perceivable concern was addressed. My hope is that the MSM is effectively kicked to the curb once and for all and exposed for the charlatans they are. I’d relish a come to Jesus moment for them but that comes under the “miracles” category. I suppose that’s OK, they are welcome as well to burn in Hell. Evangelicals in this country need to re-assess their blind allegiance to Israel and examine the the origins of some of the doctrines they espouse.
In the past few decades we’ve had everyone from Putin, Osama bin Laden, Sadaam Hussein et al being called the AntiChrist. Give it a rest folks. Hal Lindsay is dead already! Faith is fine but a blind faith is pathway to the Devil. It’s time for us to get lean and mean again. We’ve been too fat and too lazy for too long. Here we’ve been handed a victory, let’s use it for a launch pad and not a crash pad. We need to start thinking again!
Another potential failure to add to the list is not giving any of his EO’s sticking power by having them made into law. Of course, that depends on whether or not Congress will cooperate or just drag their feet.
Also, it’s getting a little tiresome hearing all the black-pilled naysayers complaining about Trump being an abject failure because he didn’t accomplish everything he said he wanted to. And what he DID accomplish just isn’t good enough for them, simply because it didn’t happen exactly 1,000% the way they wanted it to or not being done as quickly as they’d hoped.
These are non-serious people. The biggest problem is that Trump’s only been in office 5 months and the same people are arguing that every project should be accomplished already. I ignore them, it’s impossible to have a constructive conversation with them.
Well, this isn’t great. I did not post the link figuring one can easily look it up with the info provided.
Headline:
Fortune – DEI is emerging triumphant in shareholder battles across corporate America from Coca-Cola to Berkshire Hathaway
Lila MacLellan
Sat, May 10, 2025 at 3:00 AM PDT
I wouldn’t believe a single thing Fortune magazine has to say on DEI.
OK I had no idea but you are a much better filter than I in these matters. Sounds like the reporting from this source (and others I’m sure) is a mix of truths and wishful thinking to promote propaganda. So perhaps just take what is reported on Yahoo and invert it? Haha.
The level of infiltration, subversion, corruption and treason at all levels of government, banking and corporations in the U.S. and throughout the western world is so large that civil war is inevitable. And the outcome of this war is up in the air and longer the time to civil war, the less likely the ancestral patriotic forces will be triumphant. Trump is merely shuffling the chairs on the deck of US Titanic, slowing the rate of take over and perhaps buying a bit of time for patriots to prepare for major conflict. Like Civil War 1.0, Civil War 2.0 will involve external forces supporting both sides of this conflict.
Another big fail is doing anything to stop mRNA vaccines and expose all the harm they’ve done and hold people including Fauci and Gates accountable.
Not really his job. Bringing in RFK sends a clear message on vaccine safety and Congress is going after Fauci. Also, no one is taking the covid vaccines anymore.
The welcoming of the Afrikaner refugees into America is an undeniable win for Trump in my book. Not only because it was the right thing to do(they are legitimate refugees fleeing legitimate persecution) but it also demonstrates that we’re not the anti-migrant xenophobes the left try to paint us as. And at the same exposes their hypocrisy on the whole migrant/refugees issue, as well as their own blatant racism against whites, especially amongst black leftists.