Among the 64% of eligible voters who cast a presidential ballot in 2024, the vote was almost a tie (President Trump won 49.8% versus Vice President Harris’s 48.3%). The close call is not the most interesting part; the polarization is much more interesting. President Trump is not one to leave many voters or commentators indifferent. He is portrayed as satanic by his detractors and messianic by his supporters.

The scheduled spring performance of government shutdown theater didn’t go as planned this year. The performance was set up just before Christmas 2024, when lame duck President Joe Biden signed a short-term spending bill that would keep the U.S. government’s lights on for about another three months. The bill did that by increasing the U.S. government’s debt limit to $36.1 trillion.

Hardly a day goes by without a policy announcement or public statement by President Trump that betrays a nationalist instinct. The first problem with nationalism is semantics. People tend to confuse it with patriotism, a deeply felt emotion that a nationalist can easily stir with a discourse that equates love of country with hostility to the outside world and, domestically, to those presented as a threat to the nation. 

This month is the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdowns in California. In March 2020, I was studying abroad in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I had heard rumors about lockdowns in the West, but nothing had changed in Russia. People continued to move about without a mask, and people certainly were not locked down. Life was normal.

The Trump administration’s tariffs are a disaster for both the Canadian and U.S. economies. As of writing this, the administration has flipped-flopped on implementing them. However, the outcome is nearly as detrimental as imposing tariffs due to the uncertainty that has emerged in our long-standing alliance with America’s neighbor. Canadian businesses have pulled American products off their shelves en masse and American businesses are unable to plan for the long term if they don’t know which inputs they’re able to buy abroad. 

President Trump entered the Oval Office like a tornado, signing more executive orders in his first two weeks than any president has signed in his first 100 days since President Harry Truman. His America First agenda will reshape trade and foreign policy, ushering in a new protectionist era. His imposition of tariffs, and bluster in wanting to make Canada the 51st state, has not only increased Canada’s anxiety level but revived the political fortunes of the country’s left-leaning Liberal establishment. A recent Leger poll found that 75 percent of Canadians view President Trump negatively and 13 percent view him favorably. This has galvanized Canadians around the Liberal Party, stealing support from the socialist NDP and the Conservatives who have lost their big lead in the polls.

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge after Jocelyn Nungaray, a Houston girl whose tragic murder at the hands of two unauthorized Venezuelan immigrants, captured national attention. The decision, while framed as an honor to the young victim, raised eyebrows. It marked yet another instance in which Trump leveraged symbolic renaming as a political tool. Previously, in a move that defied geography, diplomacy, and common sense, President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming a section of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” 

Washington, D.C.’s empty federal office buildings rank high among the most visible examples of wasteful government spending. Where else can you find blocks of high-dollar real estate going virtually unused by the very bureaucrats for whom these buildings are supposed to be the nerve centers for their supposed vital functions?

After a little more than a month back in the White House in 2025, Donald Trump’s presidency has already left a profound mark on the U.S. economy, reigniting debates over tariffs, inflation, unemployment, and the broader economic trajectory. His return was heralded by promises of revitalizing American industry, curbing inflation, and restoring economic dominance. However, the reality of his first 40 days paints a more complex picture, shaped by inherited challenges, aggressive policy shifts, and a global economy less forgiving than in his previous term.

As Craig Eyermann notes, the scale of pandemic relief fraud is growing, with $400 billion processed by the Department of Labor and $200 billion through the federal Small Business Administration. As those hunting down waste and fraud should know, pandemic payouts are still going on in California.