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Critics mistake his tactics, which are short-term and subject to change, for his strategy

In immigration he said he’d impose a travel ban; when he initially failed he tried again, and then again, until finally the Supreme Court sided with him. He said he wanted to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants and he initially did, and now that they have risen again he’s trying again. He said he’d build a wall on America’s southern border and, though he’s been mostly stymied to date, he’s trying and trying again there, too.

Trump’s predictability can best be seen by his formal record in keeping promises. By the end of his first year, according to the Heritage Foundation, he had kept a stunning 64 per cent of the 334 promises made in his Mandate for Leadership pledge. Criticize him for his policies or his personality or his hair — that would be defensible. Criticize him for being unhinged and unpredictable in executing his policies and you’re the one who needs a checkup.

In one sense, Trump truly is unpredictable: He thinks outside the box, making him unpredictable to those without imagination, and unsuccessful to those who lack the equanimity and magnanimity to step back and grant him his policy achievements. Calling North Korean leader Kim “Rocket Man” one day and lavishing him with praise another isn’t being unpredictable, it’s keeping your eye on the ball, which is to get Kim to the negotiating table to achieve denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.

Trump’s critics mistake his tactics, which are short-term and subject to change, for his strategy — getting to the long-term deals that he’s after. He’ll threaten a country with tariffs, then zig with an offer to negotiate, then zag by threatening it with doubled tariffs, all with the ultimate end in mind. Or he’ll publicly browbeat his military allies, threatening to end treaties, and using trade relations as leverage, to convince them to contribute more to their own defence, and to the common defence of the free world. These tactics may be diplomatic no-nos, but they succeeded, and in short order, in contrast to the decades of failure endured by Trump’s White House predecessors. If it’s unpresidential to keep America safe and return it to prosperity, America can use more unpresidents.

Trump isn’t all over the map and the sky isn’t falling. Trump is a steady hand, always down to earth, and for anyone who cares to compare his promises with his results, he’s highly predictable.

LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com