* Washington Letter: Can Trump Prevail? – David Stringer, Publisher

The ‘Revolution’ has begun. The Trump Presidency is little more than a month old. But already changes in the culture and the future trajectory of our country are as transformative as they are undeniable. The Deep State has a long history of welcoming  new administrations with superficial accommodations. But this time is vastly different. There is nothing superficial about President Trump’s blitzkrieg of Executive Orders. This time the Deep State itself is under siege.

For the first time in our lives, the federal workforce is being downsized. Whole agencies are being  gutted(1).  DEI is out(2). It’s OK to be White again (Well, maybe not in big cities after dark. But you take my  point.). Open border policies have been reversed and federal troops are now helping ICE stem the flow of illegals(3). The two US funded wars Trump inherited are coming to an end.  Everything  promised seems to be coming true. Have we really entered Trump’s promised “Golden Era?”

As a long time MAGA Republican, I couldn’t be happier with the energy and reach of Trump’s Second Coming. The four year ordeal of legal abuses he endured in exile have not been wasted. Trump’s near death experience at the hands of  rogue prosecutors and biased judges have introduced the concept of ‘lawfare’ and exposed to the world our legal system’s vulnerability to abuse. We like to think of ourselves as the freest country on earth. In fact, we have more cops and prosecutors per capita than any nation in history. We have a little over 4% of the world’s population and 20% of the world’s prisoners(4). Donald Trump was almost one of them.

If anything, Trump  seems stronger and more focused today than in his first term. His policy initiatives on issues ranging from  immigration, DOGE, and using tariffs as leverage in foreign policy, have been well thought out. These initiatives are being implemented by people who know what they’re doing and have anticipated the opposition.  A lot of what is happening in Trump II was foreshadowed by Project 2025.

During the campaign, Trump distanced himself from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s 900 page playbook on conservative governance. In fact, there is no evidence Trump had any personal hand in developing the policy recommendations. But many members of the first Trump administration contributed to its detailed plans to provide policy coherence to a future conservative administration(5).

The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973, and is one of the most influential and best funded Conservative thinktanks. In 1980, they produced Mandate for Change, a policy playbook influential in the Reagan administration. Headquartered  in Washington DC, they have local Heritage Action chapters in many states, including Arizona(6).

There is nothing secret or sinister about Project 2025. Its all been published for the general public and available online. Project 2025 purports to be a detailed ‘road map’  for conservative policy makers. It was developed following the 2020 election by former Trump loyalists who believed that the first Trump administration was unprepared for Deep State sabotage and the savagery of Washington’s entrenched liberal elite.

Readers of this article will remember how Democrats in Congress kept Trump constantly on the defensive with investigations and impeachment hearings. The Trump administration was repeatedly undercut by disloyalty and defections among top officials,  particularly at the Department of Justice and State Department. In short, Project  2025 is a detailed set of policy initiatives  designed to avoid the mistakes of the first Trump  administration. Since the election President Trump has embraced many, but not all of the recommendations.

So far the policy blitzkrieg seems to be working. Thanks to a small Republican majority in the Senate, Trump is getting his top advisors confirmed. Recent polling shows Trump’s early success in pushing through policy changes is  meeting public approval.   According to the most recent CBS poll, Trump’s approval ratings are higher today than when he was elected three months ago(7).

So what could go wrong? In a word, everything. First, Trump’s tariff policies are likely to invite pushback that could unsettle the economy. However sound they may be as long term policy, the transitioning to America First trade policies may involve economic pain for some industries and workers. This could erode public support and embolden Trump’s enemies.

Second, the left  may be wounded but they’re not dead. Their most resistant strongholds are the judiciary, teachers’ unions and academia, the left leaning ‘legacy’ media, and ‘woke’ corporate America that is subsidized by Washington largesse. Already we are seeing District Court Judges issuing nationwide injunctions to delay Trump initiatives on policies ranging from ending birthright citizenship, to implementing DOGE recommendations, and  cutting back ‘woke’ policies in foreign aid. Teachers’ unions are denouncing Trump’s plan to reorganize the Department of Education. Many in academia are half stepping on ending DEI and Affirmative Action. The legacy media keeps up a constant drumbeat of negativity on Trump policies.

Third, ending the wars in Ukraine and Israel may be far more complicated than imagined. Contrary to the endless propaganda on Ukraine’s valiant resistance to Russian aggression, by any objective measure, Russia is slowly winning. The Ukraine has been under martial law for three years. Once a relatively prosperous country of 40 million,  under Zelensky a quarter of the population has fled or been killed(8). Twenty percent of the country, including the industrial heartland of the Donbas, is occupied by Russia.  This predominantly Russian speaking territory was bought with Russian blood. They aren’t giving it back.

US support for Israel also carries huge political risks. The humanitarian crises in Gaza has eroded traditional support for Israel  in many quarters. Israel has given their enemies a cause to rally around and rekindled levels of antisemitism not seen in our lifetimes. So far, the Trump  administration has been “all in”  for Israel.  But there is a demographic reality that the Trump administration must come to terms with.

The population of the United States is rapidly changing.  White Christian evangelicals who are the most fervently pro-Israel segment of the population are diminishing in numbers and as a political force. The growth of Hispanic and Asian populations do not bode well for Israel’s future American support. Latin America has no tradition of philosemitism. During WWII, no Spanish speaking country in Latin America or Europe fought against Germany.

According to the 2020 Census, the fastest growing racial group in the United States are Asians. From 2010 to 2020, they grew by 35%, increasing from 4.8% to 6% of the US population(9). If this rate of increase continues, by the 2030 census—a mere five years away—Asians will comprise nearly 8% of the total population. As a group, they are largely outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. Historically, the fate of Israel has not been a priority.

African Americans have benefited greatly from Jewish support for racial integration and civil rights. But this has not translated into political support for Jewish causes. Many prominent  African-Americans have been vocal in their opposition to  Israel and supportive of the Palestinians. These are broad generalizations with notable exceptions. But my point is that population trends  in the United States are not likely to strengthen US support for Israel and continued engagement in Mideast  conflicts.

Demography is destiny. The political reality for Republicans and Trump supporters is that the population of the United States is changing. The State of Israel has a narrow window to find safety in a Mideast neighborhood that has  proven resistant to peace.

What could go wrong for Trump? And for the US? In a word, everything. Right now Trump is on a roll. The opportunities are enormous. But so are the risks. With the 2026 midterms 18 months away, we won’t have to wait long to find out if the ‘Revolution’  is real.

Endnotes

(1) ABC News website, “Here Are All The Agencies That Elon Musk and DOGE Have Been Trying To Dismantle So Far”,  By Ivan Pereira & Emily Chang, February 27, 2025.

(2) CBS News, Money Watch,  “Trump Signs Executive Order Ending Diversity Programs, Federal DEI Staffers Being Placed On Leave”  By Megan Cerullo.  January 22, 2025.

(3) Military.com, “Here Are All The Units Now Deployed To The Border For Trump’s Immigration Crackdown”. By Steve Beynan, et al.  January 27, 2025

(4) Wikipedia. United States Incarceration Rate

(5) Project 2025 https://www.Project2025.org

(6) Heritage Action For America, https://heritageaction.com

(7) USA Today, “Majority of US Adults ‘Approve’ Of Trump’s First Month In Office”, February 27, 2025

(8).Le Monde, “Two Years Of War In Ukraine, A Catastrophic Effect on Demographics”,  February 26, 2024.

(9) US 2020 Census – Asian Population