Loyalty seems to be a one-way street in Washington these days. Supporters vow to serve at the pleasure of the president, to march behind, or stand beside, a man that demands loyalty.
The advisers operate within what theologians call the dispensationalist tradition - a strain of evangelical theology that reads global events as markers on a prophetic timeline.
In response to his sentencing following his conviction on 34 felonies in May 2024, President Trump stated that he had "won the election in a massive landslide, and the people of this country understand what's gone on. This has been a weaponization of government." Despite his conviction, Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge with no consequences like prison, probation, or even fines.
But if you view the year through the lens of the president's powers, all of that action comes to seem more circumscribed. By neglecting some of the most significant formal and informal tools at his disposal, Trump has largely failed to advance durable policy change, at least on domestic matters. He has dominated a lot of news cycles, but at the expense of shaping the future-for good or ill.
