This week marked a series of changes put forth by the Commander in Chief, primarily on gun control. Trump broke with the Republican Party on camera, declaring that he intended to raise the age at which somebody can purchase a rifle from eighteen to twenty-one. In addition, Trump stated that he wanted to expand background checks and allow law enforcement officers to confiscate firearms from suspected disturbed individuals before such individuals are allowed to go through the court system. "Take the gun first, go through due process second," he said, to the shock of the National Rifle Association, the Republican Party, and huge swathes of his voter base. Trump even went so far as to mock Republicans for their deference to the National Rifle Association, saying to one Republican Senator, "You're afraid of the NRA, right?"
This is not the first time Trump has broken with his party, or changed positions on hot-button issues. He has backed abortion rights while promising to put "pro-life justices on the court," supported universal healthcare before calling for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and advocated for an assault rifle ban before running for president on a platform of Second Amendment rights. Many of Trump's constituents voted for him exactly because of this unpredictability as a form of protest against a Capitol Hill that appeared stagnant and unproductive.
Nevertheless, despite Trump's mercurial policy positions, he has largely deferred to conservative desires: cutting taxes, increasing military spending, and rolling back environmental regulations for the benefit of corporations. As a result his public statements in favor of gun control ricocheted through his party and its base, which overwhelmingly opposes what they perceive as government interference in their Second Amendment rights. The shock was tempered as Trump appeared to waffle on his position following a lunch with representatives of the National Rifle Association, tweeting, "Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!" Chris Cox of the NRA tweeted concurrently, "I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP. We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don't want gun control." It is currently unclear whether Trump will backtrack entirely on his earlier statements regarding gun control, especially in the wake of growing student movements across the country pushing for legislative reform. Many of these students will become old enough to vote in time for the midterm elections.
On economic policy, Trump threw yet another curveball. In January, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin assured international parties in Switzerland that the United States was, "not looking to get into trade wars." This Friday, after announcing steep new tariffs on aluminum and steel, Trump tweeted that "trade wars are good and easy to win." Republicans and Democratic lawmakers both responded to the tariff announcement with dismay. The Wall Street Journal called the tariff, "the biggest policy blunder of his presidency." Whether the President will pivot on this decision, as he has on other decisions in the past, remains to be seen.
