Donald Trump: radical changes at a speed never seen before

More than a few media outlets are already openly acknowledging that they find it hard to keep up with President Donald Trump, because the Republican can, in a single day, sign dozens of executive orders or unexpectedly declare that the United States will take control of Gaza and hit Iran with sanctions, but this government is not only about speed, but above all about strength. Trump pushes through his ideas with such confidence and panache that he makes it seem easy to do things that for other politicians would be a nightmare in which they would not even want to be involved, even if in their conscience they know what the right decision is.

For any president, reducing the size of government, no matter how much he or she wants to, is a matter of great political cost, a lot of work, and the certainty that the establishment is going to be upset. We are barely two weeks into this Administration and already more than two million federal employees have received an offer to resign in exchange for receiving their pay through September without having to work. The administration is aiming for 10% of federal staff to leave on their own, which would save the government about $100 billion.

Democrats have made a fuss over this issue and several unions have already sued the Administration, but beyond what happens in Court and how this proposal plays out, in just one week more than 60,000 federal employees voluntarily decided to leave their jobs. While the mainstream media and Democratic leaders are barely reacting, already this Administration has made a breakthrough in its intention to shrink the size of several departments.

Trump this week also signed an executive order banning biological men from participating in women's sports. The transgender issue is for many politicians a nightmare, even if they believe it is logical that a man should not face a woman in a sports competition, the issue hurts the sensibilities of very powerful groups that have taken power in certain important environments such as academia and the press, so for years many have remained silent or have treated the issue with a softness that prevents stopping the madness around the issue.

Leaving supremely powerful images, Trump signed that executive order surrounded by dozens of girls and young athletes. He has presented it as a return to common sense and has made sure that the stories of these young women are known to Americans. What for many politicians is a difficult issue to deal with, Trump has brought it forward with a naturalness that makes it even look easy. We will see if he succeeds in advancing this policy in Congress to achieve protection for girl athletes that transcends his Administration and is shielded from a Democratic Administration.

The President also closed the offices of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in a surprise move. On Monday, the offices were closed with no more notice than an email informing staff that since February 3, management had made the decision to close and that new information would be forthcoming. Hours after this decision became known, the president's team began to reveal some of the agency's most scandalous expenditures.

The matter had great repercussions on X, with thousands of users outraged by the ridiculous expenses that this agency makes with the money of Americans. $1.5 million to promote "diversity, equity and inclusion" in the workplace in Serbia; $70,000 for the production of a musical about "diversity equity and inclusion" in Ireland; $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia; $2 million for sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala; and $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru are among the expenditures that resonated on social media.

The administration has said it expects to furlough fewer than 300 workers, out of the agency's roughly 10,000 employees globally. Trump also said that some of the agency's work was good but that unfortunately it has been managed by "radical lunatics." In less than two weeks the president froze almost all international aid to do an assessment of every single expenditure, and while this has sparked anger from Democrats, Americans' complaints about the waste of their tax dollars have even made Trump emerge stronger from a situation that could have resulted in a major crisis for any other administration.

Trump is pushing through radical changes, and not only is he really transforming Washington but he is doing it with such speed that he is not even giving the Democratic elite and the media who constantly criticize him time to react. The president is also moving all these initiatives forward with a naturalness and confidence that makes the job look easy.

It seems that the Republican learned many lessons from his first term in the White House. He now knows that the only way to have real change is to attack the root of the problem. He is also clear that the Democrats and the mainstream media will criticize him no matter what he does, so now he handles them even more skillfully, without getting angry and without paying so much attention to them. Surely the President also takes into account that the first two years are fundamental, usually the popularity drops in the second part of the period, and at this moment he also has a majority in both the House and the Senate, so he has decided to start his administration at a pace that surely not even his closest collaborators could have imagined.

Finally, in addition to Trump's character and speed, we must highlight the transparency and extensive communication he is having with Americans. To a large extent, all these profound changes that the president is advancing are being accepted by millions of people because Trump is speaking directly and showing figures and facts.