The Patriot Post® · The President of Almost Everything

Among the many short-lived rallying cries of Democrats in their endless (and so far fruitless) mission to convince the American public that they should actively resist our elected president is the cry “No More Kings!” — the warning that Donald Trump is wandering far beyond the constitutionally defined role of U.S. president, thus reinforcing their oft-expressed concern that he is, at heart, a wannabe dictator.

And in fairness, it’s certainly true that Trump has boundless energy and an insatiable appetite for new challenges. So, for a moment, let’s consider the myriad of things that have captured his attention, and with which we would not normally expect the person holding the toughest job in the world to dabble.

For example, Trump is now our White House decorator-in-chief.

First, he installed two 88-foot-high flag poles on the White House lawns, with the front pole now flying an enormous (about 20’ x 30’) Old Glory — a visual rebuke to the now-common instances of protesters burning U.S. flags (outlawed by executive order yesterday) and preening with Hamas, Mexican, or other flags.

That was just the start. He went on to have a large concrete patio installed in the Rose Garden to facilitate outdoor events. This past week, he kicked off a project to install a ballroom in the White House, which he tells us is long overdue.

Notably, Trump is doing these White House upgrade projects at his personal expense (along with his regular practice of donating his entire presidential salary to worthy causes).

No matter — the sputtering indignation was instantaneous. “Who does he think he is? It’s OUR house, not his!” And there is the inevitable “Aha! Just as we suspected. He doesn’t ever plan to leave! As soon as he proclaims himself president for life, he and his chosen successor (Don Jr.?) will ensconce themselves there permanently.”

And as another example, months ago, Trump declared himself the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and he has been actively engaged in re-centering Kennedy Center artistic and entertainment focus from high-brow to mainstream. Two weeks ago, he personally emceed the Kennedy Center annual awards ceremony.

The boo birds didn’t like that one either.

These and other Trump diversions may be trivial in the grand scheme of things, but they surely require time, energy, and attention from someone who is currently carrying the nation’s and the world’s problems on his back. But then, on the other hand, he’s demonstrated his nearly superhuman ability to multitask.

Frankly, it cracks me up that we have a president who picks up on little details like the fact that the Rose Garden grass can be tricky for ladies in heels to navigate (maybe a whisper from Melania), then leaps into action with a major, expensive corrective action — and never misses a beat on his day job!

In a much more serious vein was the president’s abrupt decision to mobilize the National Guard to the District of Columbia to enhance the capability of the Metropolitan and Capitol police to tamp down skyrocketing crime. While hardly a routine concern of POTUS, this one is closer to his constitutionally assigned scope of authority in that the District of Columbia, unlike all other American cities and states, is managed by the federal government.

This one really set Trump’s critics’ hair on fire, on the basis that it’s not clear that DC crime has reached a point that calls for National Guard involvement (crime statistics on that point are under debate), or that it’s appropriate for the president to inject federal forces not requested (or wanted) by DC leadership. The objections are loud and highly visible, with daily angry protests (organized and paid for by whom?), replete with tiresome comparisons to Hitler and his 1930s brown shirts.

Meanwhile, Trump is not only unperturbed by the high-decibel criticism but proudly trumpeting the good results so far, and he’s promising to do more to “help” cities, both DC and nationwide. He now intends to provide clean-up services in DC (park beautification, graffiti removal, etc.) and to mobilize the National Guard in other high-crime American cities. Chicago is next (notwithstanding the legal and political objections sure to follow).

The obvious question: Why? Wouldn’t Trump be better off leaving local matters to local leaders? The commonly repeated answer from the Trump haters is that he is obsessed with a desire to control every aspect of our lives. Never forget, they say — he is the ultimate, extreme authoritarian.

On that, I’d offer two thoughts for my Democrat friends:

If you want to convince the American electorate that Donald Trump is bad for America, you ought to focus on his policies and actions. A public that sees results that are obviously good for the nation (safer cities, for example) will not be swayed by your assertions of evil intent.

I can’t crawl into Donald Trump’s head (can anyone?), but I can offer a sensible, alternative explanation for his frenetic forays into every problem he sees: He has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as president, and he wants to make everything better. And for our 250th birthday, he wants our great and beautiful country to be the marvel and envy of the entire world.

In short, he’s doing what he thinks is right for the nation — and in most cases, it is. What’s wrong with that?