Like Howard “Our beef is beautiful, Europe’s is weak” Lutnick, Scott Bessent has Trump’s patter down cold. When he was asked about yesterday’s judicial decision on the tariffs, he noted in his reply that Donald Trump always wins. That’s the spirit!
But is it true? Is Trump’s record an unbroken series of wins since Inauguration Day? Let’s look at the record:
- Trump said he would end the Ukraine conflict on Day 1. His mediation and arbitration efforts have flopped. Now he’s threatening to just walk away.
- The Gaza war has continued in spite of his threats to Hamas.
- He attacked the Houthis, expended lots of ammunition, and then backed off when it became obvious that he wasn’t accomplishing anything.
- He has lost far more often than he has won on a variety of issues in court even though the odds, in the form of customary judicial deference, are stacked in his favor.
- He has only one sort-of agreement to show for all of his tariffs.
- He single-handedly lost the elections in Canada and Australia for the conservative parties.
Does that sound like a great record to you?