Liberals call Trump a clown. But he's winning where it matters most.

USA Today

19 hours ago

I have a hunch that history will show that the first months of Donald Trump's second term as president were the beginning of an American resurgence.
Picture this: It's 2045 in America. Stock markets are setting record highs, the economy is adding jobs, workers' salaries are increasing and tax rates are falling. Americans feel safer because our nation's borders are secure, the president has taken decisive action to reduce the threat of a nuclear war and warring factions in the Middle East are finally ready to discuss peace.
What would you call such an encouraging set of indicators? To me, that sounds a lot like the America I want to live in. You might even call it a golden age of American strength.
Here's great news: We don't have to wait 20 years. All of this and more is happening now, only five months after the start of Donald Trump's second term as president.
Not bad for a guy who progressives have dismissed as a clown.
Since June 22, Trump has set back Iran's development of nuclear weapons, forged a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, cajoled NATO allies into increasing spending on their own defense and pushed Canada to drop a digital services tax that hurt U.S. companies.
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Trump tax cuts, Big Beautiful Bill will help American workers
Trump also has racked up significant wins on the domestic front. The Senate is on the verge of passing the president's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and if the House concurs, the legislation could be on Trump's desk by July 4, Friday.
I wish that the bill cut more spending, but the White House Council of Economic Advisers projects that the tax provisions in the legislation would raise take-home pay by as much as $13,300 for a family of four and boost wages by as much as $11,600 per worker. Both would be tremendous wins for ordinary Americans.
Trump's critics claimed that federal job cuts orchestrated by the Department of Government Efficiency would lead to a spike in unemployment, but the economy added a higher than expected 139,000 jobs in May and unemployment remained at a historically low 4.2%.
Many of those critics also screamed that Trump's tariffs would blow up inflation and crash the economy. But inflation this year is on track for its lowest rate of increase in five years, and the fears of recession appear to be fading.
Investors have noticed all of this good news. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are at record highs. And the running of the bulls appears to be just getting started.
'The wall of worry is crumbling as stocks reach all-time highs,' Terry Sandven of U.S. Bank Wealth Management told CNBC. 'Inflation is stable, interest rates are range-bound and earnings are trending higher. That's a favorable backdrop for stocks to continue to forge higher as we begin the second half.'
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Trump secures the border and slows illegal immigration
In only five months, Trump has regained control of our southern border.
Customs and Border Protection recently reported that the agency released zero illegal immigrants into the United States in May. A year ago, more than 62,000 people who entered our country illegally were allowed to stay.
I don't think Trump is directly responsible for all of this winning. The stock markets, after all, have been on a rapid climb upward for years.
At the same time, I know that if Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had won in 2024 and accomplished half of these milestones, progressives, Democrats and the news media would be talking about where to build her monument on the National Mall. But because Trump is a Republican, they can't allow themselves to acknowledge his win streak.
Still, I have a hunch that history will show that the first months of Trump's second term were the beginning of an American resurgence.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.