Ross Douthat gives us three theories of the Trump cabinet: a group of disrupters; a coalition of different ideologies; and a pack of talking heads. Is there merit to any of them?
Yes, but I would put it somewhat differently. Here is my take:
- GOOD COP, BAD COP: Trump’s new foreign policy and Treasury teams come from the establishment, as they did last time. That doesn’t mean he’s giving up America First or the tariff and deportation scheme; it means he wants to disarm his critics, while keeping his options open. The essential functions of government will continue on two tracks–one traditional and bureaucratic, and one personal and idiosyncratic–just as they did during the first term.
- RETRIBUTION: The jobs that involve inflicting pain on his enemies and the deep state went to complete loyalists.
- COALITION OF DISRUPTERS: The jobs that aren’t important to Trump were allocated to supporters representing a wide range of views, most of them inconsistent with expert opinion.
It would appear that being good on TV was a consideration, too, but that was just a tiebreaker. The bottom line here is that Trump himself will be the disrupter on foreign policy and economic issues, and that the coalition of differing ideologies exists only in areas that don’t interest Trump much.