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Politico Global Editor in Chief John F. Harris argued in a new article that President Donald Trump’s second victory shows that he has dominated American politics so thoroughly that he will likely be counted among the country’s most important leaders.
Harris clarified that she was not describing Trump as a righteous or evil character, nor was she saying that Trump has been a successful president, but she reiterated that his impact is monumental either way.
“He is a force of history,” Harris declared in your column published on Tuesday.
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TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The editor-in-chief said that Trump second inauguration Monday puts the president in a “completely new light”: He now “occupies power in circumstances where reasonable people cannot deny a basic fact: He is the greatest American figure of his time.”
Harris explained that Trump’s assessment is “an objective description of the dimensions of his record,” noting how the president began “dominating” the Republican Party nearly a decade ago and now dominates “every discussion of American politics in general.”
He noted that Trump’s second victory shows that it is “not a fluke,” even though his opponents in the media criticized his shortcomings for almost ten years. “He is someone with an ability to perceive opportunities that most politicians do not and to forge powerful and sustained connections with large sections of people in ways that no contemporary can match,” said the editor-in-chief, adding that he himself has been “slow” to see this power.
Harris went so far as to say that Trump’s political opponents must end their strategy of portraying Trump as a political aberration. “They cannot push Trump to the sidelines, treating him as a momentary anomaly or simply denouncing him as lawless and illegitimate,” he said.
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“Opponents have no choice but to recognize that he and his movement represent a great historical argument, and then marshal equally great arguments to defeat him.”
Harris went on to compare Trump’s individual traits to those that characterize “the greatest presidents.”
“Like his influential predecessors, his arguments have changed the terms of debate in ways that resonate within both parties, in this case, in issues such as trade, China“And the role of large corporations,” he said, adding: “Like other great presidents, Trump has been an innovator in communications and has exploited technological changes more effectively than his rivals.”
The author also noted Trump’s “uncommon psychological toughness” as a “signature displayed by the greatest presidents.”
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President Donald Trump leaves an indoor presidential inauguration parade in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“Imagine running for president in the midst of huge civil lawsuits, criminal proceedings and even convictions for serious crimes – then emerging from this swamp a larger figure than before. “No one needs to admire the achievement to recognize that Trump possesses some rare traits of denial, combativeness and resilience.”
Harris noted that several of the great unifying presidents in American history were also seen as controversial and somewhat divisive in their time, suggesting that Trump could also be portrayed in this light in the years to come.
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Trump has yet to prove that he can be the unifier, he added, however, writing: “What he did not demonstrate in his first term, or in his unlikely path to a second, was the ability to resolve these conflicts, to unite.” a new level of understanding. “This would require Trump to reveal a new understanding about himself and how to spend the next four years.”
