Donald Trump, Jr.

The news was dominated this past week by the release of emails that showed Donald Trump, Jr. participated in at least one meeting with people alleging to represent the Russian government and who represented themselves as supporters of Trump’s campaign for President. The news does not help the credibility of the Administration that has denied repeated allegations of collusion with the Russians. With the exception of his most ardent supporters, this extraordinary revelation is further damaging to the President’s standing however, there is debate on whether the actions by the younger Trump are technically illegal. I guess we will find out sometime in the future whether these issues will result in indictments, or worse. The seemingly endless drama coming from the White House will make it substantially more difficult for the President to move his agenda forward, especially if members of congress from his own party start to question whether their individual electability is negatively impacted. While I adamantly disagreed with the President’s agenda with respect to immigration, a border wall, climate change and a number of social and economic issues, I must admit that the change in Washington he promised had appeal, and it could have been interesting to have a President that utilized some intelligent business principles in our federal government. I also support a thorough review of our trade agreements and the impact they’ve had on our working class, as well as some of our tax policies and business regulations. That said, even though the President has been in office for less than six months, I feel the window is starting to close on what he can actually accomplish. Perhaps the President and the country would be better served if his legislative agenda fixated less on political theater and instead became laser focused on serving America’s working class, the voter population who actually won him the election.