Trump's foes are crazier than he is

Mr. Trump’s penchant for personal attacks and undisciplined tweets drives even some of his supporters crazy. They wonder if he is his own worst enemy and hope he doesn’t sabotage his success. Yet many more supporters wanted a disruptive force and view his unorthodox behavior as a positive feature rather than an unfortunate price to pay for conservative judges and lower taxes. Both groups agree the craziness on the Republican side lies in the president’s personality and ego and not in his policies, which are working well in many cases.

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As president, Mr. Trump has taken fairly orthodox Republican positions on a variety of policy areas: supporting Israel, cutting corporate and individual taxes, reducing the burden of regulation, opposing federal funding for abortion, appointing originalists to the courts, increasing military spending, and trying to repeal ObamaCare. He has departed from his predecessors in these areas mainly by being more determined in implementing his policies. Democrats are angry that he hasn’t played the usual establishment game by betraying his voters after taking office.

When the president strays from the Republican playbook, such as in acting on his long-held isolationist and protectionist instincts, he often receives some support from across the aisle. His transactional approach to foreign policy, along with his emphasis on personal rapport with foreign leaders, is disconcerting to many traditionalists, but hardly the basis for most Democratic voters’ rage.

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