Act Two: President Trump makes a historic comeback

President Donald Trump left Washington four years ago a beaten man.

He lost a bitter election battle. He faced charges of sedition at the Capitol. Not to mention a bunch of criminal charges.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously stated that “there is no second act in American lives.”

But he may not have written about sports or politics. In athletics, Rocky Bleier, Tommy John and even Michael Jordan come to mind.

TRUMP WON THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Politics is full of comebacks – Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill and Vladimir Lenin make the cut.

And the president too Donald Trump.

Now he is only the second The American president is returning to office. President Grover Cleveland served his first term from 1885 to 1889. But Cleveland lost the presidency in 1888. Cleveland won the election – but lost the Electoral College to President Benjamin Harrison. However, Cleveland rallied to defeat Harrison in 1892, returning to the White House.

So this is Act Two for Mr. Trump. At least in the presidency.

For him, the president enjoys unprecedented public support. He won 77 million votes – but failed to reach 50 percent. However, the president achieved a solid 312 electoral votes.

And so, Mr. Trump, like Cleveland, enters the second act. What’s ahead?

Expectations are astronomical.

“America delivered a verdict on Nov. 5. They spoke loud and clear,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said on Fox.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIRST DAY OF THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP; WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MONDAY

Republicans have promised transformation.

“When I see peace starting to break out again around the world. They’re going to say, ‘this is the stability we’ve been looking for,'” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said on Fox. “Dad’s back.”

Repressions are coming.

“When you have a wide open border, you don’t have safety, security or even sovereignty,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on NBC.

The president returns to office with more GOP unity than he had in 2016. Congressional Republicans were far from behind him. Republicans in the House of Representatives then had 241 seats. His most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill were people who no longer serve. Former Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Duncan Hunter Jr., R-Calif., were his early supporters in the House. Both were convicted of unrelated crimes and left Congress. Mr. Trump then pardoned them. His biggest proponent in the Senate was former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Sessions left the Senate to serve as Mr. Trump’s first attorney general. He lasted less than two years, and resigned at the request of the president.

Republicans in Congress were skeptical of Trump at the time. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., led the push to repeal Obamacare. After the GOP had to withdraw the bill in the House, Republicans finally mustered the votes to kill it a month later. The bill failed in the Senate after the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted against it. But the failure of the House on the first try told you all you need to know about the party’s position and how much influence Mr. Trump had.

But lawmakers pushed through Trump’s touted tax cuts later in the year.

This time, the unity among Republicans is different. And the administration and lawmakers are starting a plan to cut taxes and reduce the deficit.

“Right now the debate is whether we’re going to have one or two bills here. We don’t care about the process. We just know we have to get this done for the American people,” Sen. Mike Runde, RS.D., said on Fox. “He’s way ahead of where he was eight years ago.”

But one Republican senator has a warning for his colleagues.

“I think the number one priority for the Republican party should be securing that border,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-C., said on CBS. “Combine tax cuts and spending cuts later.”

We will talk about mathematics. Despite their ambitious legislative ambitions to approve tranches of money for the border – but simultaneously cut spending and taxes. And Republicans have a tiny majority in the House. With the resignation of former Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to become national security adviser, House Republicans will be reduced to 218 votes. That majority shrinks to 217 when Rep. Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., resigns to become ambassador to the United Nations — assuming she gets Senate confirmation.

So advancing anything through the House will be challenging despite the goals.

Frankly, they may need Democrats’ help on some issues — like avoiding a government shutdown or raising the debt ceiling.

“Even though my colleagues have talked about the president getting a mandate and an election, that mandate doesn’t exist in the House,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said on Fox. “They hardly have a majority. And so if they want to work with us, I think they’ll find a willing partner.”

Confirmation votes for Trump’s cabinet picks are coming soon.

“He needs a team that can be disruptive,” Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., said on Fox. “They want disruptors. They want thinking outside the box.”

But some guys can be too distracting.

Consider Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and the selection of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Senate committees have not yet scheduled hearings for either of them. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth likely has the confirmation votes. But the Senate may need to hold a procedural vote to muscle the Democratic filibuster through Hegseth to confirmation.

Still, Democrats are recalibrating their approach for Trump 2.0.

“I think the Democrats last time just resisted the president on everything. It was just constant anger. And I think they need to switch to a different strategy of selective resistance this time,” Moskowitz said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

So Trump’s second act is at work. Problems that Grover Cleveland struggled with? Tariffs and silver policy. Mr. Trump won’t have to wrestle with the latter subject (we assume). But you know about the coming battle over tariffs and issues with China, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.

The new president has about two years to implement his policies and push his legislative agenda through Congress. But people expect results.

And that’s the thing with other acts. In sports. And in politics. Only in the theater there is a third.