In filling out President Trump’s report card, it is important, first off, to say where it is that I am coming from, in terms of political economy and philosophy. If I were a Marxist like my high school buddy Bernie Sanders, I would award the Donald an F+. He must have done something right, don’t ask me what.
As it happens, I am an anarcho-capitalist, the most famous adherents of this view are Javier Milei and Murray Rothbard. Here, that government is best which governs not at all. Or, to turn things around a bit, we should have some eight billion governments, one for each of us, so that we would all be sovereign. In this case, Mr. Trump would get at least a B, since, overall, he is reducing the size and scope of government, a virtue.
But I will not approach this grading business from that perspective. Rather, as a libertarian, I wear a second hat. It is a combination of minarchism, or minimal government libertarianism, a la such folk as Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick and Ron Paul, as well as classical liberalism, the most famous advocates of which are Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. Here, government exists, but is extremely limited. Yes to armies which protect us from foreign invaders, police who quell domestic marauders, courts to determine just who is who in terms of justice and adherence to the Constitution, and maybe, especially in the second of these two moderate categories, just a little bit of government responsibility for contagious diseases and other so-called public goods.
With this introduction, I am now ready to assign grades to President Trump. According to that childhood nursery rhyme, “when he was good, he was very, very good, when he was bad, he was awful.” That pretty much sums up President Trump’s first six months in office from this perspective. What are the specifics?
I. Education:
1. Harvard and my old alma mater Columbia (of which I am duly ashamed) must head the list in this regard. What he has done with them, and to virtually all institutions of so-called higher learning is nothing less than superb. As they stand, these universities are totally owned subsidiaries of the Democratic Party, the far left thereof, where Bernie and AOC and the rest of the “squad” roam.
Donald is not trying to violate their rights of free speech or academic freedom. He is only insisting that if they want to continue to have a professoriate that promotes Marxism, feminism, queerism, black studies racists, anti-Semites, they should do so with their own dime, of which they have quite a few. And ditto for tax exemptions which under our present laws are reserved for organizations promoting the public, and the all but total freezing out of conservative and libertarian professors certainly does not apply. [A]
2. Eviscerating the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health
The argument against this is that without such subsidies, scientific and medical research would grind to a halt. Nonsense.The money saved, thereby could be diverted to more deserving scientists. Further, the actual scientific contributions of such recipients as Harvard have fallen under serious question. Grade: A
3. NPR, PBS, Voice of America
Sayonara to all three. The first estate is the Executive. The second, Legislative. The third, the Judiciary. What is the fourth estate? The media. According to the ethos of the democratic system, the latter is supposed to keep out an eagle eye out on the first three in behalf of the rest of us. But how can it do so if it isin the hands of the government? It is as if the referee picked up a hockey stick and tried to score a goal. Most totalitarian countries have an official news source. Even the more civilized country to the north of us has the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Any slight good they accomplish can better be done privately. Grade B: The president only clipped their wings, he did not totally cancel them.
4. Education Department
This barnacle was started in 1979. We got along just fine before that time, and we will do exceedingly well without it not. I award a [B] for at least starting in this direction.
II. Foreign Policy
1. Ukraine – Russia. They say give an A for effort, but I am only awarding Trump a B here. He tried to make peace, he is still trying, he has not yet succeeded.
2. Israel
He moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; he set up the Abraham Accords, he has been a staunch friend to the Hebrew state, one of the best allies the US has ever had. [A]
3. Iran
A nuclear armed Persia is that last thing that the “Big Satan” needs. The president is supposed to protect our country from external enemies. He did so here. However, Iran has not yet surrendered; their threat thus still remains. Hence, a grade of B.
4. Foreign aid
Peter Bauer would be spinning in his grave at this appellation. He insisted, instead, upon “government to government transfers” which is non-pejorative. These payments fall under the heading of the three M’s: what the recipient state do with this largesse, courtesy of the long-suffering American taxpayer. Monuments to the dictator; sometimes a statue of him, often a steel millswhich creates this product at a multiple of the world price. Mercedes: Swiss bank accounts. And Machine guns. We all know about their use. But, don’t these payments do any good at all in feeding starving children, etc. Yes, perhaps, to the tune of 1% of the total of these expenditures. However, with resulting lower taxes, there is now more ability for private donations to feed the poor. This is not a proper function of government. Grade: A
5. Peace
Trump has also orchestrated peace between India and Pakistan; Rwanda and Congo. He richly deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Obama got one before he even found out where the men’s room was at the White House. Grade: A
III. Immigration
1. The southern border is no longer almost totally porous. A sovereign nation must have borders. Grade: A
2. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Do we live in country under law or based upon whim? Illegal immigrants broke the law. They are criminals, whether born here or not. A grade of A for Trump for upholding law and order. If you don’tlike this law, change it. Do not shoot at ICE officers.
3. Dealing harshly with that judge who tried to shield an illegal immigrant from ICE. [A]
IV. Size of government
1. He froze federal hiring, and fired a bunch of bureaucrats [A]
2. He reduced taxes [A]
3. Deregulation. In his first term, his motto was for every new regulation, eliminate two. Nowadays, it is, instead, for every new regulation, eliminate ten of these pernicious regulations. [A]
4. Withholding congressionally appropriated funds
Do we want less government or do we want less government?Those are the only two reasonable questions. This policy moves us in that direction [A]
5. DOGE
The Department of Government Efficiency, reduces the size and scope of the overweening state. [A]
V. Miscellaneous
1. DEI, Affirmative Action, outright racism, whatever you want to call this scourge. Our president has done yeoman work here. [A]
2. Kept promises
Has he kept all of them, perfectly, no. But it is a rarity amongst politicians to have done as well as he has. Grade: B
3. Sports
Finally, there is an adult in the room. He has laid down the gauntlet: No more biological males taking part in female sports, nor in their locker rooms for goodness sakes! The Donald has done more for the distaff gender in this regard than tons of so-called feminists. [A]
4. Failed to enact any major legislation
We have way too much already. It is time to cut back, way back. [A]
5. The environment
The present administration has rolled back numerous rules supposedly protecting the environment. Thank goodness. Left wing environmentalism is like a watermelon: green on the outside, but red on the inside. [A]
So far, so good.
Now for the awful stuff.
I. Tariffs
Mr. Trump famously, or, rather, I should say, infamously, called this economic illiteracy the most beautiful word in the English language. If they are so great, why don’t we impose them internally? Canada pursues this policy, which is why they are so poor, even though highly educated and up to their armpits in valuable natural resources. The US is so wealthy because we have a gigantic free trade zone. Should we really stop Vermont from freely trading with Ohio? Texas with Oregon? If Donald wants to make not only the US “great again,” but do so for the entire world, he should act so as to reduce, nay, eliminate, all tariffs. They are a hindrance to free trade, and all commercial interactions are necessarily mutually beneficial, at least ex ante. If it were possible to award someone a grade lower than this one [F] I would do so.
A complication: I am here only talking about tariffs from an economic perspective. However, from a political point of view, all bets are off. That is, it is far better to impose a tariff on an enemy country than to bomb it, if this is justified in the first place. For example, yes, impose a tariff on China if it really has slave labor camps, but not in order to enrich us. It will have the diametric opposite effect.
There are two men in a rowboat. One of them shoots a hole in the bottom, and the water seeps in. Should the other man shoot a second hole in the vessel? Yes, if he wants to promote mutual suicide.
II. Expansionism:
Donald wants to take over Greenland, Canada, Gaza. This is problematic from several points of view. First, it moves us in the direction of fewer, bigger countries, rather than where we should be going, toward more smaller ones. We do want to avoidGeorge Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, do we not? Making the Great White North our fifty first state is a particularly horrid idea. That is a pinko nation. With that accomplished, no Republican will ever again become president. Secession should be encouraged, not amalgamation. [F]
III. Miscellaneous
Trump has not yet gotten rid of, let alone taken any steps to do so, the following programs:
1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare. This is socialized medicine, not the best way, by far, to safeguard the citizenry
2. He has used the government to target political opponents, news organizations, law firms. Not Kosher [F]
3. Secret Service protection has been pulled for President Biden’s children. Given that we have this program, it should be applied to all. [F].
4. New York City
The Big Apple instituted a system of peak load pricing to deal with congestion. Better had they privatized all roads and streets.But this was at least a step in the direction of free enterprise. Trump opposed this initiative. [F]
5. Don’t raise prices
He has threatened super markets for so doing. Do we really want another bout of wage and price controls?
6. Trump has made no efforts to privatize or eliminate Social Security. This renders people dependent on the government, and reduces family ties. If citizens are too stupid to save for their retirement, why allow them to vote? If we allow them the ballot box, we are saying they are rational. This system was imposed by FDR. Retirees did just fine before then. [F]
To summarize. This report card is a mixed bag. Some aspects very, very good, others, horrid.
How would this compare had Kamala Harris had been the subject of this report card. Pretty much straight F’s on everything. Except for giggling and word salad. A’s there.
Walter E. Block is the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and professor of Economics at Loyola University New Orleans.