Trump versus the blob
President Trump has made a fighting start to his second term. Executive orders have flown thick and fast from the Oval Office. Meanwhile Elon Musk’s new Department, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has shown equal speed in tackling what it sees as wasteful or unnecessary federal activity.
Clement Attlee reportedly said one should “strike while your mandate is hot.” Meaning that it is better to have the controversial stuff launched soon after the election. Firstly, it carries the authority of the recent election victory, and secondly, people might have forgotten any unpopular measures by the time the next election comes.
Trump and Musk have deployed another tactic with their scatter-gun approach. The entrenched bureaucratic establishment, even though unelected, is very good at thwarting the will of revisionist politicians. As each proposal comes up, they find ways to blunt it, to dilute it, or to delay it interminably. This might work if the initiatives come one at a time, but Trump and Musk are firing them off at five or six a day, leaving the ‘blob’ unsure of which ones to concentrate in opposing.
The Admiral Nelson depicted by Thomas Cochrane is alleged to have urged, “Never mind manoeuvres: always go straight at them.” This certainly characterizes the opening salvoes of the new US Administration. The opposition establishment is left reeling, unable to respond to every one of them all at once. Their forces are divided. The media is in a similar quandary. They concentrate on attacking the lead story of the day, which is usually the first seemingly outrageous early morning proposal. As they attack it, the rest of the day’s initiatives slip by without the chorus of outrage that greeted the first one.
Trump and Musk have hit the ground running, and there are lessons that might be learned in other countries. Their let’s-get-it-done approach contrasts with the sluggish approach often seen elsewhere. Governments sometimes try to push reforms, only to be worn out by the slow process of attrition as forces muster against them.
Trump is charged with being undemocratic, but he is doing the things he campaigned upon and which people voted for. This is not undemocratic; it is democracy in action. Some politicized law officers will try to use lawfare to stop this happening, but the Administration’s longstop is the Supreme Court, which will probably validate Trump’s use of powers in many cases put in place by his political opponents. The worm has turned, and it might be a good start to recognize that and deal with it.