Donald Trump won the election because he managed to conjure up an image of America that frightened voters and enticed them with appealing promises. Now he needs to be judged by how well he keeps them.
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There is a lot of hand-wringing going on after Donald Trump won the presidency for a second time. Who or what is to blame for an outcome that, as those in the know understand, will be quite calamitous for the country?
The answer isn’t all that complicated.
In the reality that Trump created in the minds of Americans, he actually was the best candidate.
Of course, in many cases, that reality was either grossly distorted or downright made up.
In the America that Trump told his voters about, hordes of blood-thirsty migrants are roaming the streets looking for white women to rape and murder.
The country that the former president and his allies (looking at you, Fox News, and Elon Musk) portrayed is mired in a lengthy recession, and jobs are scarce and only go to illegal immigrants (at least to those who can’t find that lucrative work as slayers of sorority girls).
An economic crisis not seen since 1929 is about to befall the US, and this new Great Depression would coincide with the start of World War 3.
Criminals can be found everywhere… just not in Mar-a-Lago, where a persecuted Donald Trump is the victim of lawfare.
While some of this is backed up by a few examples of anecdotal evidence, reality and facts tell a completely different story.
Still, Americans believe him more than they believe well documented accounts of the truth.
Millions of them honestly seem to think that they were better off four years ago, i.e., when they were sitting at home during a global pandemic, than they are today… even though the US economy is once again the envy of the world, inflation is in check, stock markets have soared to record highs, and gross domestic product growth is robust.
Getting Americans to side with him and not verifiable facts is an impressive feat… and it ultimately earned Trump a second term.
Now, however, the gaslighter-in-chief faces a tougher challenge.
It’s one thing to paint conjured-up doomsday scenarios and make promises (even vague ones like vowing to “Make America Great Again”) on the campaign trail.
As Trump found out the first time around, it’s much tougher to keep them.
Therefore, now is the time to take stock of some of the things the former president claimed he would do so that, four years from today, he can be measured by his actual accomplishments and not brags and lies (not that he won’t try to perpetuate the alternate reality that he has been selling Americans from the first day of his political career).
So, without further ado, here are some of the things he promised:
According to Trump, he will make America wealthy and affordable again and “create the best jobs, the biggest paychecks, and the brightest economic future the world has ever seen.”
Even riding the coattails of an economy that is humming right now (the second time Trump inherited one of those), that seems a bit ambitious. Therefore, if you don’t think that the US economy is the greatest of all time in November 2028, keep in mind that you have been duped.
Trump’s promise to “end inflation” is a bit easier to achieve. After all, inflation has been plummeting in the past couple of years. Still, reaching a rate of “zero” for his term will be quite a feat — and that is the standard he should be held to.
Also, let’s keep in mind that the former president not only vowed to lower prices for Americans but also that he would put in place massive tariffs, which seem like contradictory policies. If he fails to achieve both of these goals, then it’s pretty clear again that he sold Americans a bill of goods.
In addition, Trump has promised various tax cuts for the middle class and for workers who rely on tips, overtime pay, etc. He should be measured by how many of these are actually implemented.
It remains to be seen whether he can achieve any of the above after deporting millions of undocumented workers, many of whom provide cheap labor. Will it be possible to keep prices down when these workers are replaced with Americans whose definition of “best jobs” and “biggest paychecks” probably doesn’t involve toiling in fields in sweltering heat for $12/hour?
While we are on the topic of jobs, the former president just said that adding 250,000 of them per month is “almost automatic,” so this is the bar he set for his own performance.
To be honest, we are a bit skeptical of all of these claims, but Trump said them, so they must be true.
Of course, if he fails to deport these millions of migrants, he will have broken his central campaign promise.
The former president has also said that he would reduce the deficit without cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Seeing how he ran up the debt twice as much as President Joe Biden, that would be quite a turnaround.
While it may take years to see if some of these promises come true, there are some things he said he would achieve on his first day in office.
Therefore, the Russian invasion of Ukraine should come to an end on January 21 of next year, which will certainly be good news for people there.
Of course, Trump will also achieve “lasting peace” in the Middle East, which is something that will be celebrated in a region that has seen centuries of conflict.
One way to achieve this feat: Making Gaza “better than Monaco,” the Mediterranean paradise for millionaires.
The former president seems to think this can be achieved because the Gaza strip has “the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything.”
So, if this doesn’t look like this in 2028, he will have failed.
Speaking of water, Trump promised California farmers “more water than you ever saw.” This will certainly help drought-stricken areas of the state employ all of those American citizens working the fields while they are earning record paychecks.
Or, if they don’t get more water than they ever saw, the former president will have told yet another lie.
In any case, it would be nice if Americans, for once, measured Trump and the GOP by their actual accomplishments and not the fantastical claims they make and the fake reality they attempt to create.
Cole Fox contributed to this article.
