Second, even as we hope for his personal effectiveness and success, we should all still argue for principles we believe in. In the American system, the vast majority of policy is to be made by the people’s legislative representatives — not by the executive branch or by unelected judges. And thus the Congress needs to hear from the people on the issues.

There will be disagreements — between neighbors, between the executive and legislative branches, between political parties. This is a good thing. This is an intentional feature of our system, not a bug.

The marketplace of ideas should be civil, but it should also be contested. We should disagree respectfully. Reflexive tribalism and reflexive partisanship are signs of a sick republic, not a healthy one. And so we should argue about Mr. Trump’s coming proposals.

Millions of Americans — many inspired by Trump, but also a great many who are skeptical of him yet still reluctantly voted for him — understandably want Washington disrupted. We’re demanding an end to self-dealing and the one-size-fits-all answers of that city’s elite. Frankly, that’s why I ran two years ago.