Discussion Topic #7 – Thinking About the Trump Presidency and Biden’s First Year

How should we understand the Trump Administration? The readings this week reflect different aspects of his administration and also connect back to different views on the presidency that we have been exploring.Feel free to be speculative in your analysis, since our understanding is still evolving (partly as we see what happens with Biden now in the White House). And while many of us have strong feelings about Trump, the aim here is to try to make sense of what has happened rather than simply expressing those feelings. Clearly these pieces raise critiques of Trump, but hopefully from different analytical angles that shed light on how to understand his presidency, whatever we think of any particular critique.4. Looking at the reading on Biden’s executive actions right after he took office, what does this reveal about presidential power? How does it contribute to our understanding of the Trump presidency?5. How should we understand Biden’s progress in promoting infrastructure legislation compared to Trump’s lack of success on this? (Not that Biden’s success is yet guaranteed, but the process so far is illuminating and raises interesting comparisons with Trump.)