•  

No president in memory remotely matches Donald J. Trump’s capacity to inspire, discourage, uplift, depress, integrate and disintegrate. 

He is, at the same time, the guy who almost single-handedly jelled the Republican Party while blowing up – with their most able assistance – the Democrat Party. 

If he wasn’t a unique guy, we’d have an incompetent political actress as president instead of a bull in a China shop.

Yes, that pun was intended.

And so, for fun, let’s explore the good and the bad of the guy holding the reins to the most powerful job in the world. 

Allow me to apologize in advance for any harm I might do to this good publication’s reputation, advertising and circulation. 

Scratch that – the editor has the heart of a lion. No print media outlet in the WNC/UPSTATE region remotely demonstrates his courage in offering both sides. 

As for Trump, if I do this right, I should be able to anger just about everyone. 

Courage (good) — Say what you want, but who else do you know who has the cajónes to take on the liberal establishment media, liberal weaponized judicial system, and hyper-liberal Democrat Party – all at the same time – and win? You don’t do that without being a tough guy and more.Exaggeration (bad) —The president reminds me of one of those old school carnival barkers yelling, “A winner every time.” Would that it be so. His hyperbole is more distracting for us and entertaining for him that it is effective.

Right (good) — He’s dead on the money on far more things than he is not and he is willing to declare his views without pandering to the whimsies of others. I find that refreshing — like an old-time Hawaiian Punch commercial.

Wrong (bad) — Trump misses the mark a lot. Fortunately, his misses are usually reserved for things of secondary concern or impact. And most of those misses fall into the category of talking too much versus authentic errors.

Ukraine (good) — President Trump is absolutely right that the war in the Ukraine is a risky tragedy of epic proportions. The Soviet Union lost 25 million people during WWII. That’s a scar that will take forever to heal. NATO’s history of tweaking the nose and threatening someone with that kind of history is stupid.

Ukraine (bad) — Treating a despotic hitman like (Vladimir) Putin as one of the boys is silly. Even Putin knows that – and he’s taking full advantage of the pretense. The Ukranians merit support if for no other reason than their creative, inspired and brave effort to resist him.

Tariffs (good) — Trump is absolutely right about the unfair trade practices used against the U.S. for decades by essentially everyone. Even the World Bank agrees on the world’s lack of trade ethics with the U.S.

Tariffs (bad) — How you do something is as important as what you do. This tariff plan is being presented as the product of stealthy masterminds. It comes across as something out of the hands of Bart Simpson’s pop – Homer. 

Big Beautiful Bill (good) — Extending the tax cuts that have helped so many since the first Trump administration is just what he says — necessary and even crucial. It’s amazing that Republican leadership have come this close to making passage a doable reality in spite of total Democrat resistance. Forget what your daddy/grandaddy told you FDR did for the working man. These days, the Democrat Party is about supporting the crazy man.

Big Beautiful Bill (bad) — Elon Musk is right. This bill is stuffed with waste representing an insult to everything he voluntarily sacrificed to the DOGE effort. Any pretense this bill will get on top of federal spending is an obvious deception. Trump was right when he earlier suggested that we should be taxing independently wealthy taxpayers more. That’s one way to begin addressing the loss of balance between the haves and have nots. 

Illegal immigration (good, really really good) — What President Auto-Pen did with immigration was shameful. Trump’s startling success has proved the pretense that nothing could be done was a big lie by The Big Guy, his party, the media and his handlers. 

Elon (bad) — Mr. Musk is my main man. What Trump has been for politics, Musk has been for truth. What he has done with the social media platform X and the anti-waste platform DOGE is nothing short of extraordinary. Trump’s hostility over being called out by Musk on the disingenuousness of the BBB is out of proportion to the support and difference Musk has made. If anyone is being considered for a “Saved America” badge, Musk should be on the short-list.

In the end, President Trump, like all presidents, is a mixture of good and bad. From my view, the good far outweighs the bad.

Unlike his predecessors, that bad is illuminated at every turn vs. concealed with glowing enthusiasm by our dishonest, lost and hyper-biased media outlets. Apologies for holding back from how I really feel.

Trump’s favorability stats are a marvel in the face of the yellowjackets constantly stinging him.

Nobody I know or you know could have remotely done what this gentleman has accomplished in five months.

Press on, sir, with your brave, eccentric and eagle-like spirit. Let the chickens and  buzzards screech.

•

Conserve [v. kuhn-surv] To use or manage wisely; preserve, save...

•

Carl Mumpower is a practicing psychologist and former member of Asheville City Council. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .