President Donald Trump was on the money when, while still a candidate, he predicted that the day would come when people would grow tired of winning under his administration.
Although he made the remark in jest, that day has arrived — for the liberals. One Democratic lawmaker even exploded on the House floor last week, “I resent the remark about making America great again!”
Trump’s most recent example of fulfilling a campaign promise occurred when he officially moved the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem on Monday, May 14 — 70 years to the day after then-President Harry S. Truman officially recognized Israel as an independent state.
Making good on that promise was a capper to last week, arguably Trump’s most successful to date.
It began by the president following through with another promise — to withdraw the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the Iran nuclear deal.
Weeks before, The New York Times editorial board predicted that terminating the agreement would be devastating, and ultimately destroy projected talks with North Korea.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed, stating that, “Pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal ... makes America less safe and less trusted.”
Ben Rhodes, a Barack Obama administration deputy national security advisor, predicted failure in North Korea as long as eight months ago.
“Every taunt back and forth between Trump and Kim Jong Un makes deescalation and diplomacy less possible,” he tweeted.
But then the exact opposite happened.
America’s allies in the Middle East — Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, countries that know Iran best — immediately backed America’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.
Fast on the heels of pulling out of the “disastrous” Iran deal, North Korea released the three American hostages it held, and its leader agreed to a June face-to-face meeting with the president with the understood goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
And as Trump builds his legacy, Obama’s is being chiseled away.
Consider this: Obama got American hostages held by Iran only after negotiating the JCPOA from January, 2011 to January 2014, and in exchange for a $1.7 billion ransom paid in cash.
Trump got North Korea to release the American hostages held there before negotiations even began, and it didn’t cost us a dime.
Obama negotiated the release of another American hostage: U.S. Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for five senior Taliban terrorists, a move some GOP lawmakers considered a first step in emptying out Gitmo.
In exchange for pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge, was reduced in rank from sergeant to private and ordered to pay $10,000. The charges he pled guilty to could have resulted in a life sentence.
Additional examples of America’s recent successes entail dismantling yet more Obama-era programs.
They include withdrawing the U.S. from both the Paris Climate Accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
On the energy front, Trump has taken the first steps to approve drilling in the Arctic Refuge (ANWR) and wants to open up nearly all U.S. offshore waters to drilling.
Other efforts to make the U.S. totally energy independent include saving the coal industry, and giving the green light to the Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline. Trump’s administration is battling with environmentalists on these endeavors.
The president’s massive tax cuts and repeal of both Obamacare’s individual mandate, as well as thousands of Obama-era regulations have all placed more money into the pockets of individual and business taxpayers.
The chipping away at Obama’s legacy wasn’t lost on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
After Trump renounced the JCPOA, the committee tweeted: “Trump and his Republicans will go down in history as the party that destroyed our country's credibility, ruined our global reputation, and made the world a more dangerous place — all to sabotage President Obama's legacy.”
The more America succeeds, the more liberals complain, because the anticipation of a Congressional takeover this November slips further out of their grasp. Democrats don’t hate the president because he’s failing; they hate him because he’s succeeding.
Trump was right: Some people just can’t handle winning.
And as for sabotaging Obama’s legacy, to paraphrase the 44th president himself: If you like your legacy, you can keep your legacy.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He’s also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.