President Donald Trump left Washington four years ago a beaten man.
He lost a bitter election battle. Faced recriminations over the Capitol riot. That’s to say nothing of a host of criminal charges.
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously pronounced ‘there are no second acts in American lives.’
But he may not have been writing about sports or politics. In athletics, Rocky Bleier, Tommy John and even Michael Jordan come to mind.
Politics is replete with comebacks – Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill and Vladimir Lenin make the cut.
And so does President Donald Trump.
He’s now only the second American President to return to office. President Grover Cleveland served his first term from 1885 to 1889. But Cleveland lost the presidency in 1888. Cleveland won the popular vote – but lost the Electoral College to President Benjamin Harrison. However, Cleveland rallied to vanquish Harrison in 1892, returning to the White House.
So this is a second act for Mr. Trump. At least in the presidency.
For him, the president enjoys unprecedented public support. He commanded 77 million votes – but failed to reach 50 percent. But, the president did score a robust 312 electoral votes.
And so, Mr. Trump, like Cleveland, is into his second act. What’s ahead?
The expectations are astronomical.
‘America issued a verdict on November 5th. They spoke loud and clear,’ said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Fox.
Republicans promised a makeover.
‘When I see peace starting to break out again around the world. They’re going to be like, ‘this is the stability that we were asking for,’’ said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Fox. ‘Daddy’s back.’
Crackdowns are coming.
‘When you have a wide open border, you don’t have safety, security or even sovereignty,’ said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on NBC.
The president returns to power with more GOP unity than he had in 2016. Congressional Republicans were far from standing foursquare behind him. House Republicans had 241 seats then. His most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill were people who no longer serve. Former Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Duncan Hunter Jr., R-Calif., were his first supporters in the House. Both were convicted on unrelated criminal matters and left Congress. Mr. Trump then pardoned them. His biggest advocate in the Senate was former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Sessions left the Senate to serve as Mr. Trump’s first Attorney General. He lasted less than two years, stepping down at the president’s request.
Congressional Republicans were skeptical of Trump back then. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., led the charge to unwind Obamacare. After the GOP had to pull the bill in the House, Republicans finally cobbled together the votes to kill it a month later. The bill stumbled in the Senate after the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted no. But the House failure on the first try told you everything you need to know about where the party stood and how much influence Mr. Trump wielded.
But lawmakers did muscle through the vaunted Trump tax cuts later in the year.
The unity is different among Republicans this time around. And the administration and lawmakers start with an agenda of slashing taxes and cleaving the deficit.
‘Right now there’s a discussion about whether we’ll have one bill or two bills up here. The process doesn’t matter to us. We just know that we’ve got to accomplish this for the American people,’ said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on Fox. ‘He’s way ahead of where he was eight years ago.’
But one GOP senator has a warning for his colleagues.
‘I think the number one priority for the Republican party should be to secure that border,’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on CBS. ‘Get the tax cuts and spending reductions put together later.’
It will be about the math. Despite their ambitious legislative ambitions to approve tranches of money for the border – but simultaneously slash spending and cut taxes. And Republicans have a miniscule majority in the House. With the resignation of former Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to become National Security Advisor, House Republicans will be down to 218 votes. That majority dwindles to 217 when Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., resigns to become Ambassador to the United Nations – presuming she receives Senate confirmation.
So, advancing anything through the House is going to be challenging despite the goals.
Frankly, they may need help from Democrats on some issues – like avoiding a government shutdown or lifting the debt ceiling.
‘Even though my colleagues have been talking about that the president got a mandate and he did electorally, that mandate does not exist in the House,’ said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., on Fox. ‘They barely have a majority. And so if they want to work with us, I think they’re going to find a willing partner.’
Confirmation votes are coming soon on Trump cabinet picks.
‘He needs a team that can be disruptive,’ said Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., on Fox. ‘They want disrupters. They want outside the box thinking.’
But some picks could be too disruptive.
Think Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and the selection of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for Health and Human Services Secretary. Senate committees have not yet scheduled hearings for either of them. Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth likely has the votes for confirmation. But the Senate may need to take a procedural vote to break a Democratic filibuster to muscle through Hegseth to confirmation.
Still, Democrats are recalibrating their approach for Trump 2.0.
‘I think Democrats last time around just resisted the president on everything. It was just constant outrage. And I think this time they need to shift to a different strategy of selective resistance,’ said Moskowitz.
So Trump’s second act is on. The issues that Grover Cleveland grappled with? Tariffs and silver policy. Mr. Trump won’t need to wrestle with the latter subject (we presume). But you know about the pending battle about tariffs and issues with China, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.
The new president has about two years to implement his policies and get his legislative agenda through Congress. But people are expecting results.
And that’s the thing about second acts. In sports. And in politics. Only in the theatre is there a third.