Good Things Trump Has Done
Oh [heck], you're gonna make me [write this post]
Seriously, there have been good things that I’ve recognized, and will do so more formally here. As with all presidents when we are lauding their policies, we should stand ready to be gravely disappointed when they reverse gains.
Ushering in (again) a deregulatory environment — One of the high points of Trump’s first term was an overall better regulatory environment. That continues in the second term. Set aside political theater like the one-in, ten-out rule (despite some benefits here too) and especially the complete nonsense of DOGE. There is indeed a landscape that is less burdensome including items selected below for special recognition. True enough it isn’t all steps forward such as with health/medicine/food where in particular there is a lot more crank than cranium at work. Even there, though, some sensible pushback to long-standing bad policies is occurring. There are basically three ways to measure how our enormous government exerts its power: war, spending, and regulation. The first two are obvious while the third is a phantom menace hidden from plain view (except for those who run into the buzzsaw). I cover war further down. There is nothing good to be said of Trump on spending except vibes (see the next item). But with regulation he is relatively a hero.1
Taxes (somewhat) — The best thing Trump did regarding taxes was in his first term reducing corporate rates and improving corporate deductions along with simplifying the personal tax structure (with increasing the standard deduction and reducing the SALT deduction leading the way). Lowering taxes themselves is not necessarily a positive since our budget deficits are so massive. In the second term with OBBBA he reversed some of those gains but also made others permanent, which is great except for the deficit part. The political giveaways (no tax on tips/overtime, senior deduction, etc.) are bad full stop. And don’t forget tariffs, which are taxes on American consumers and American producers. Still, he is relatively much better than alternatives we’ve had and could have had. Admittedly, some of this is vibes (changing the policy rhetoric) but some is actual policy.
Moving the Overton window to allow for big reductions in government scope, and perhaps spending — DOGE was a fraud and a failure. But the idea of DOGE took hold as did the impetus to actually cut spending and programs. We still have the department of education, but at least we’re talking about a world without it.
Promoting work and reducing improper spending in medicaid — I took this title directly from Romina Boccia and Tyler Turman’s brief Cato report. As they write, “The reforms require able-bodied adults without dependents aged 19–64 to work or participate in other qualifying activities (e.g., educational programs, community service, or job training) for at least 80 hours per month.[i] These reforms aim to promote work and personal responsibility while refocusing taxpayer dollars toward low-income children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.” There is much need for reform here, and Trump reversed the damage grabbing this low-hanging fruit.
Trump Accounts — Alex Tabarrok says it best, “These accounts could radically change social welfare in the United States and be one important step on the way to a UBI or UBWealth . . . [T]he program could be quite expensive. On the other hand, it’s clear that the accounts could reduce reliance on social security if held for long periods of time.” This is a backdoor to a better tax regime whereby we don’t tax savings as much. It is also a backdoor to a way out of the Social Security nightmare we are quickly approaching. This is the way.2
Creating a positive environment for AI development — AI is the most important innovation in at least the last two decades, perhaps the last century, and possibly since the industrial revolution itself. And America leads the way. It is hard to see how this would be so much the case if Trump were not in office compared to the alternative. If you are an AI doomer, can’t you at least agree that when ASI kills us all it will be better that it was American ASI, lol?
Fostering a good environment for and even embracing cryptocurrency, et al. — This might be just because he figured out a way to personally, corruptly benefit from it. Still, the regulatory environment is much better than it was under Biden or that it was expected to be under Biden/Harris. This includes exposure and rollback of the Biden-era debanking of cryptocurrency companies (Operation Choke Point 2.0).
Killing DEI — He might’ve been just in the right place at the right time as this nonsense was coming to ahead. However, his administration deserves credit for all of the rollback done within the government and the associated changes throughout the rest of corporate and civil society.
Foreign war relations (in many cases) — As ugly and reckless as his behavior often is (in this area just as in so many others), his instincts tend to be on the right side. And the herky-jerky movements of his policy tend to be to the eventual, relative good. This does not excuse things like extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in boats and many other cases of unconstitutional if not simply awful actions. He’s been more right than wrong regarding Ukraine. Count as well to his credit a desire with some steps taken to force Europe to play a bigger role in its own defense. He took a firmer stance both with Israel and in support of Israel helping to advance a more peaceful situation in the Palestinian conflict. His actions in Iran, while not necessarily the best course of action, were contained and de-escalating. With his unconstitutional but likely upheld undertaking against Maduro in Venezuela, it remains to be seen if this will be a limited action with net positive results (a la Noriega in Panama) or the next quagmire (a la Hussein in Iraq). He is not the anti-war president much less the peace president, but he does deserve credit in this area.
Declassifying files and cases that while more for show needed to be declassified — Releasing JFK, MLK Jr., and RFK files, though redacted, demonstrated his ability to cut through elitism and undo secrecy. They also serve the purpose to undercut conspiracy theorist despite their predictable brushing aside of how it undermines their theories.
Ending the penny — Yes, we are getting down small items in this list. But again, this is one worth mentioning. There might not be a more emblematic government activity than continuing the penny for so long despite its cost > benefit for . . . reasons. Trump spews a lot of BS, but he also cuts through it, and this is an example.
His dethroning of the high status of the office — I’m a bit ambivalent on this one. While I continue to hold him accountable for behavior that is unbecoming the office, I’ve always held it is a positive that he would take the presidency down a (big) peg or two. I believe he has done this for the better overall but through a worse means than needed. It is unamerican to worship the president. This is ironic since he is a slave to hearing worship of himself. Yet there is no one better to show that the emperor has no clothes than an emperor who insists on prancing around naked before us.
Those who cannot or will not see the positives of the Trump era are as bad as the MAGA clan who have the same blind spots for the left. In both cases they undermine their own credibility and give reasons for dismissal of their well-placed criticisms.
[Updated 1/4/26 at 11:30 PM] I should have included his continuation of the rescheduling of marijuana that began under the Biden administration. Moving it from schedule I to schedule III is way overdue. Trump deserves credit for continuing this process. This is an important baby step in ending the drug war.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES, much can be said in criticism about his economic nationalism/fascism/socialism. This is regulation by other means. Fortunately?, it is mostly about corruption rather than totalitarian industrial policy. TACO is real.
I include this link mostly because it is funny, somewhat because many readers might not know the reference, and a little because it serves as an allegory for many of the good things listed—better in direction with destination not yet achieved.