A Reluctant but Unhesitating Vote for Donald Trump

If I don't say so myself, my #NeverTrump bona fides are pretty impressive.

Trump and Cruz: guess which one I worked for.

I watched in dismay as I helped the Ted Cruz presidential campaign, seeing Republican primary voters select Donald Trump out of a field of 16 viable candidates and make him president-elect. I signed an open letter committing to "working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted" to the presidency and wrote many articles lambasting Trump. I left the Republican party on his nomination and voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in the general election. After the election, I hoped for Trump's impeachment and President Mike Pence.

In 2016, two matters primarily worried me about Donald Trump: his character and his policies.

The character issue included unethical business practices (Trump University), egotism ("I'm really rich"), litigiousness (3,500 lawsuits, or one every four days), bigotry (against Judge Curiel), and vulgarity ("Grab 'em by the p**sy"). His policies worried me even more: I saw unbridled impulsiveness and worried about neo-fascist tendencies (thus my nickname for him, Trumpolini). His 2004 statement, "I probably identify more as Democrat" suggested he would triangulate between Democrats and Republicans, going off in his own populist direction.

Nearly four years later, Trump's character still troubles and repels me. If anything, his egotism, disloyalty, and bombast exceed those vices when he was a mere candidate.

Leonard Leo, judge whisperer.

But, to my unending surprise, he has governed as a resolute conservative. His policies in the areas of education, taxes, deregulation, and the environment have been bolder than Ronald Reagan's. His judicial appointments are the best of the past century (thank you, Leonard Leo). His unprecedented assault on the administrative state proceeds apace, ignoring predictable howls from the Washington establishment. Even his foreign policy has been conservative: demanding that allies contribute their fair share, confronting China and Iran, and singularly supporting Israel. Ironically, as David Harsanyi notes, a potential character flaw actually works to our advantage: "Trump's obstinacy seems to have made him less susceptible to the pressures that traditionally induce GOP presidents to capitulate."

(Economic performance drives many voters to support or oppose a sitting president, but not me. Partly, because the president has only limited control; partly, because it's a transient issue that matters much less than long-term policies.)

Of course, I also disagree with Trump: protectionism, an indifference to public debt, a hostility toward allies, a soft-spot for Turkish strongman Erdoğan, and those dangerous meetings with Kim Jong-un. His unrestrained behavior interferes with proper government functioning. The tweets are a protracted liability.

But we all disagree with some of what every president does; more surprisingly, I agree with about 80 percent of Trump's actions, a higher number than any of his predecessors', going back to Lyndon Johnson.

I have come to understand the wisdom in Salena Zito's September 2016 witticism about Trump that "the press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally." Or, as Daniel Larison notes, "We need to judge Trump by his actions and not his words." I also agree with James Woolsey that Trump would be a much better prime minister than president.

Slowly but inexorably over the past three years, my approval of the policies has outbalanced my distaste for the person. Finally, knowing that Joe Biden will represent the radicalized Democrats in November, I conclude that I will do my small part to help Trump get re-elected by writing, giving, and voting.

I reached this conclusion reluctantly but unhesitatingly. Emotionally, esthetically, and intellectually, I would prefer to keep my distance from Trump and inhabit a neutral space between the parties, as in 2016. But I will vote for him as the politician who represents my conservative views. I urge other reluctant conservatives to do the same.

Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) has worked for three Republican presidents. © 2020 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

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June 4, 2020 addenda: (1) Judging by the responses to this article, I should have made clear one point that I simply assumed: I once worried about Trump's "neo-fascist tendencies." Here is a paragraph I wrote in October 2016:

Expect him to treat the U.S. government as his personal property, as a grander version of the Trump Organization. He will disdain precedent and customs while challenging laws and authority. He will treat senators, justices, generals, and governors as personal staff who must fulfill his wishes – or else. He will challenge the separation of powers as never before.

But, in fact, Trump has taken no steps toward strongman rule nor transgressed the Constitution. I am especially impressed of late how, given the opportunity that COVID-19 offers for a power-grab, he has left the key decisions to the governors. He might fume about the limitations on his power but he has respected them as much as, say, Barack Obama did. Therefore, this concern has vanished.

(2) And another point I left out: One votes not just for president but for a vast team. While Trump has often been seriously deficient concerning personnel, I sure prefer his team to Biden's. Oct. 20, 2020 update: I fleshed out this idea today in "Why I'm Voting for Trump: We Elect a Team, Not a Person."

Aug. 10, 2020 update: Bernie Goldberg put it pungently: Trump "is a detestable man and I hope he wins."

Aug. 24, 2020 update: Peter Wehner has written as clear a counterpoint to my argument as one can hope for: "Any attempt to rescue conservatism from the ashes, then, has to begin with the defeat of Donald Trump in November."