Writing at American Greatness, which as the name implies is normally 110% pro-Trump, Angelo Codevilla takes a nuanced look at Donald Trump, what he stood for, what he was able to actually accomplish, and his failings which were considerable.
Codevilla finds much to praise about Trump, much to criticize and it's likely you won't agree with everything he writes. And yet, as we think about who to support for the GOP nomination in 2024, we need to be looking for someone who supports the Trump-style program of populist nationalism, but will do a better job of actually running the government and make fewer unforced errors.
Why, for example, didn't Trump immediately fire every political appointee in government? Why didn't he spot Fauci as a four-flusher much earlier? Why did he make claims he couldn't prove about the 2020 election? But not go after Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Bezos, et al., when he still had time to make their lives miserable?
Codevilla doesn't say so but I wonder if Trump didn't view what he'd done in getting elected as being the same as a hostile takeover in business. In a hostile takeover, employees of the old firm are often willing to switch allegiance to the new firm or the "new-broom" CEO.
Note to Trump: the policy level in government doesn't work like that. Political appointees aren't indifferent to who runs their government. Allegiances are often based in ideologies to which people have long-term emotional commitments. Leaving appointees of the prior administration in place is an unforced error.
