Taylor’s Takes: Are you losing faith in President Trump?
Yesterday afternoon, before heading home from work, I stopped at one of my favorite shops to pick up a few items for this weekend’s GOP convention in Massachusetts.
The owner of the shop, with whom I’ve been friendly for over a decade, is the staunchest of Trump supporters. He was on the Trump train since then-candidate Trump rode down the golden escalator of Trump Tower in 2015.
He was with him throughout the fake news scandals that plagued him throughout his first term.
He was with him through the turmoil of the 2020 election and January 6.
He was with him in the 2024 election.
But during the course of our half-hour discussion that took place between us during my GOP shopping spree, I had to express my surprise at him after what I heard.
As always during our semi-annual catch-ups, we talked about current affairs. And he began to express his disappointment with President Trump’s second term thus far. My friend was very leery of Trump’s war in Iran. Many are, but to look at polls would suggest that a large majority of MAGA voters approve of the actions Trump has taken against the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.
But my friend, who, to his credit, acknowledged the potential danger Iran poses to the Free World and its allies, is skeptical as to the legitimacy of the reasons for the United States being militarily involved once again in the Middle East.
Though I was in middle school when George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq on the false pretense of a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, I can understand the skepticism and the shellshock many may have toward Trump’s reasons for war with Iran.
But the fact of the matter is that Iran has posed a threat to the entire world, mostly the US, for 47 years. For nearly five decades, the country has funded small and large-scale terror attacks against troops and civilians alike.
And if that weren’t reason enough to see an end to the tyrannical and extremely fanatical religious regime, ask the U.N. inspectors in charge of monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities. They’ll tell you that Iran had enough material almost enriched enough to manufacture nearly a dozen nuclear weapons.
My friend also expressed deep disappointment in the handling of the Epstein files by AG Pam Bondi. While I’m also disappointed in the slow roll of justice in the case, I also understand there are literally millions of documents and thousands upon thousands of hours of videos to sort through and corroborate. I think we have to be a bit more patient, as tough as that may be.
The last portion of our discussion that’s worth mentioning was what my friend described as a softening of Trump on his once-rigid anti-illegal immigration stance. Sending in a soft-spoken Tom Homan to Minnesota after two Americans were killed after dangerously interjecting themselves into police matters didn’t sit well with me, either. And the Department of Homeland Security seemed to soften the tone of deporting any and all illegal aliens to just “the worst of the worst.”
I agree with my friend; that’s not what I voted for. But I also understand that midterm elections are coming up. And, as brutal as the elections may be for Republicans, it may be wise for Trump to appeal to independents as much as possible. And that may mean a temporary softening of what some would view as controversial stances. I’m sure he’s heard from more than one candidate on this matter.
This is all to say that we need to be reminded that we’re not even halfway through President Trump’s final term in office. There’s still a long way to go with much more activity to take place. It took Joe Biden four years to not only undo Trump’s first-term progress, but to tear down our country to a worse condition than it was in pre-Trump. It’s going to take some time to undo Biden’s undoing. Let’s have some patience with President Trump and trust that he’ll do all he can to deliver on the promises he made.
