Some years ago, I sat at the end of a runway in an F-16, backseat, preparing for a mock dogfight over San Antonio. Never before – and off the runway, we went vertical. The sensation was riveting. Everything changes very fast. The experience came to mind watching Trump. He’s taking us vertically.
In effect, Trump is wasting no time. When you get right down to it – if you have a mission, why waste time? Get ‘er done. If you know what you want to accomplish, where to go, and how to do it, then do it.
That is, to the great satisfaction of many Americans, exactly what Trump is doing. The list in all of two weeks is impressive, actually more than that, never been done before.
In every area, reducing government, lowering costs, protecting the border, returning to defensive readiness, creating global predictability and deterrence, deporting illegals, resurrecting energy independence, demanding accountability, common sense, individual rights, values, faith, justice, and speech – Trump has gone vertical.
Three basic reflections, at this point, sweep over me. To borrow from the wisdom of others, Trump last summer came very close to death, twice. When you come close to death, life becomes very real, as it did for Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan when both were shot.
Suddenly, life is precious, time is precious, every minute, every second counts. After all, in both of the recent assassination attempts on Trump, his life was saved in seconds – by a merciful God.
What happens when you see and feel the presence of death up close is that you revalue, upvalue, and become grateful for every moment of life, each dawn, each family member, and your life mission. I think Trump is moving fast and has gone vertical with his decisions because he knows – life is short.
Second, the mandate Trump got was clear, powerful, and convincing. The woke world, political left, and new Democratic ideology were dealt a body blow, the kind that knocks you to the ground in hockey, the kind of hit in the sky that produces a winner and loser, one prevails, one is vaporized.
The mandate is broad, too, and Trump knows it. He knew it would come, as did many Americans, but it covered every demographic, poor and rich, urban and rural, old and young, men and women, black, white, Hispanic, you name it. That is the green light to go vertical, which creates the obligation.
Third, the alignment of the White House, Senate, and House is often temporary, fragile, and fleeting. It could be now. Republicans have 218 seats, Democrats 215. When a similar majority was held by Republicans in 1931, they lost it – in the same year, with three special elections.
Soberingly, Republicans did not regain the House for 63 years, excepting 1946 and 1952, when in 1994 Speaker Gingrich introduced the “Contract with America,” and Republicans flipped 52 seats.
In short, life is short, mandates are seldom as powerful, and institutions often shift in ways that prevent action, even when taking action is what most want. Like planets, alignment is rare.
Taken together, the hundred-plus actions President Trump has authorized, the degree to which he is plainly committed to restoring common sense, and the cascading effect, amount to another miracle.
One final reflection. Back to thinking about the fighter analogy, air-to-air combat, and how going vertical feels. Like being in the cockpit of an F-16, things move fast, especially accelerating vertically, rolling inverted at some elevation – planning out to prevent blacking out – there are G-forces.
Doing good things fast can be necessary for winning, wise, courageous. It can make sense in both physical and political combat, even spiritual combat, but there are G’s. As Trump keeps his vertical climb, and holds firm, there will be bumps. Then again, if you are winning, even the bumps are fun.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
