When Trump was running for office, and after he was elected, many conservatives said he could not be trusted to nominate textualists, was a liberal at the core, and would, to avoid fights, stack the bench with “pragmatists” ready to make the law up as they went along.

This idea has been turned, literally, into a joke by the administration, as Trump has also stocked lower courts with fine justices, appointing more appellate nominees in his first year than any president before him. These men and women are almost all superbly qualified, will do good work, and are filling a reservoir of talent for the next Supreme Court vacancy.

The president’s foremost role is as commander in chief of the armed forces. In this, Trump had promised to “kick the [tar] out of ISIS,” and he has generally delivered. By unleashing his commanders, the president accelerated the destruction of the terrorist organization’s control of territory.