Washington’s New Status Quo
A dispatch from the nation’s capital
I spent last week in Washington, D.C., and my impressions deepened an intuition. Though it contains many of the same leaders and managers, the second Trump administration is a radical departure from the first. The left-wing media has spent the past decade attempting to paint President Trump as an anomaly, aberration, or interloper. But the reality in Washington suggests that the president is now cementing a new status quo, one that will define, for better or for worse, the current era.
For the Right, this signals opportunity. I visited the White House in October 2020: it was the height of the Covid pandemic, the George Floyd hysteria, and the Trump/Biden presidential campaign. The White House felt besieged. Staffers had a sense of what they might want to do in a second term, but their plans seemed almost impossible, given the radical social and political pressures working against the president. Of course, they did not get the opportunity to pursue those plans—not for another four years.
This week, I met with some of the same leaders. With the benefit of their time in exile, they now exuded a sense of calm, confidence, and strategic focus.
The context has shifted, too. Americans have moved beyond the era of Black Lives Matter, and the culture has shifted rightward, allowing the administration more latitude in pursuing aggressive policies. My contacts were now focused on advancing an anti-woke agenda, extirpating DEI from America’s institutions, and defunding the left-wing “blob” of universities, contractors, and NGOs.
Within the Cabinet agencies, there was a clear sense of mission, and speed and efficiency in pursuing it. There was no more guessing about what the Trump agenda meant; everyone was focused on implementation.
In the intellectual domain, a greater sense of openness is evident. During my trip, I participated in an Intercollegiate Studies Institute conversation with Patrick Deneen, Curtis Yarvin, and Christopher Caldwell, each of whom represents factions—Catholic post-liberalism, tech-fueled neo-reaction, and critics of the civil rights revolution, respectively—attempting to position themselves as successors to the old conservative consensus.
A number of years ago, commentators might have dismissed all three of these men as radical. But some of their ideas are now increasingly mainstream. Several of Deneen’s former students now serve in high positions (including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth). Yarvin has caught the ear of some influential tech leaders, including Elon Musk. And Caldwell, whose book, The Age of Entitlement, offers a compelling critique of the civil rights regime, is one of the intellectuals who helped set the groundwork for major Trump administration successes: abolishing the DEI bureaucracy, eliminating disparate impact provisions, and repealing Lyndon Johnson’s executive order establishing affirmative action.
This conversation took place not in an artist’s loft or dissident bookstore, but at the Heritage Foundation, a key part of the conservative intellectual establishment. The Trump presidency has definitively ruptured the old Reaganite consensus, a reality that many conservatives resisted during Trump’s first term but seem to have accepted now. The interns and assistants buzzing through Heritage’s corridors are curious about new ideas and new horizons.
These developments are salutary. While I am not a Catholic integralist or techno-reactionary, having an open debate provides a mechanism for sorting through competing ideas—even bad or impractical ones—and arriving at a new consensus.
One possibility is a simple return to normalcy. When I left the White House, the city seemed as if it had snapped back to the pre-Trump normal. Tourists milled around, the stores were open normal hours, and only a small number of left-wing protesters were out, holding a vigil for Gaza. It’s still early, but it might be worth reflecting on how the second Trump administration can formalize its early victories and pave the way for a new era of stability—one that makes the disruptions of 2020 seem increasingly distant and unfamiliar. The prospect, at least, seems possible.
During the Biden administration there was tremendous stress and anxiety as the "team" went further and further to the "left," and as we saw him failing as man. The endless lies from the MSM added to the burden. Dylan Mulvaney has come to typify the era.
Today, the country's mood has relaxed. The new democrats are obviously more Marxist than ever and are marginalizing themselves. The Trump team has been as absolutely transparent as it has been practical. Trump, although old, is obviously vigorous. The constant barrage from the MSM is taken for granted and, largely, ignored. They cannot get their footing not even with the "Epstein Files." Gavin Newsom, Walz, Pritzker and Schumer are beclowning themselves daily; it is rather amusing to watch. The declassification of documents that never should have been classified making evident the conspiracy that was the Russia hoax, invented by Hillary Clinton's team, is a relief. We all knew intuitively what had happened, now we know it factually. It would be good to see indictments, prosecutions and punishments, but no one is counting on it. The tariffs have not broken our economy; they are a good negotiating tool, and the working class are seeing their wages increase. The nuclear sites in Iran were bombed, which is comforting. X, thanks to Elon Musk, remains free and is a source of uncurated information. Western Europe appear to be on a downhill slide, but I don't live there. All-in-all, if a genie popped out of a lamp today and asked me for my wish, I'd probably just ask for a cold Pepsi Zero and let it go with that.
I view the next level of impact to move beyond polls, policies and schools, to the home. While much of the turmoil has centered around Trump’s victory, his aggressive policies and shifting schools from liberal brain-washing to fundamental education, the foundation of these efforts falls back to the hardest work; parenting. Whether it is the issue of parents’ responsibility for their children’s actions, or the onus of structure critical to sound development, parents have to bear the weight of our youth’s success. The elephant in the family room, is us. Many have parsed parental responsibility to teachers, to coaches or completely relinquished ownership to unnamed, on-line players. Abdicating ownership of our children, is at the base of many societal problems - be they educational, behavioral or broadly societal. Leading by example is hard. Demonstrating habits in working, practicing a religion, valuing family, requiring academic focus, emphasizing exercise and appreciating our country, are all fundamental to raising healthy, functional children, who feel confident in their path and capable of success. Imparting confidence takes many steps, beginning early with structure, diet and attention. Investing in their education, requires more than dropping kids off at school; we are their best teachers. Prioritizing analog interaction is challenging; the screens are ubiquitous and call loudly for attention. We are seeing the pernicious effects of on-line time, social media and video games, already. The deleterious impact of digital focus is most grotesquely amplified, in the spike in teen depression and sadly, instances of suicides. We limit screen time on school nights - not the coolest move, I know - as well as TV. While this may appear draconian, the kids adapted to it and, as a result, were able to focus their attention on school work, exercise and reading books. Yes, the actual things with pages in them. I am happy to report that, as a result of these efforts, both children are solid kids, excellent students and good athletes. Social media is peripheral, not a driver of their lives. Raising good kids is hard, but necessary. We all have to sacrifice some of our time, energy and effort to provide the basis for their lives. If we don’t, all the elected officials, policy changes and karate instructors in the world will not make the difference. We have to invest heavily in our children. Shy of that investment, I fear that future elections will be held by unhappy, insecure and poorly educated citizens and they are likely to fall prey to blaming others, wanting more government support and all of the negative consequences that come with these false gods. One man’s opinion. Back to working on mine; good luck with yours.