Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York assessed the challenge that Donald Trump has to deal with on the economy, one of two major factors the president promised to address ahead of the 2024 election.
On the eve of Trump’s 100th day in office, York discussed the economy and border security being the top two issues that Trump voters wanted the president to focus on, with the latter having been addressed “in about 10 minutes.” The economy still remains “the most important thing” for the president to deal with, York said, noting that it is important for Trump to show his voters that he is working on it.
“Now the big question, one big question he’s going to have is how deferential to be to the Republican leaders in Congress,” York explained on Fox News’s America Report. “If he just sort of allows them to do it and they mess it up, he suffers the consequences of it all. If he pushes them and tries to micromanage everything they do, that could lead to ill feelings over there, so it’s a very delicate thing for him to do for the next few months.”
York also addressed the challenge that Trump faces in getting his “big bill” to his desk and enacting his agenda, which would include extending some provisions in his signature 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He assessed that Trump believes the myriad of tariffs he issued will help pay for continuing these tax cuts.
Beyond what Trump faces in his future, York also addressed recent comments from Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), who blamed “do-nothing Democrats” for failing to have “guts” to oppose the president. York said Democrats have yet to solidify on what the party’s messaging to voters is, but he did suggest that Pritzker has emerged as the most “pugilistic” of the possible 2028 presidential nominees within the Democratic Party.
“He really, really gives what they like to call ‘fiery speeches’ a lot, which means he usually accuses Trump of being a Nazi,” York said.
HOW TO MEASURE TRUMP’S 100 DAYS?
Pritzker’s rumblings of a 2028 run come after he was the headlining speaker at a Democratic fundraiser, the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner, in New Hampshire, an early primary state. Last year’s key speaker at the dinner was Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), who became 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s running mate.
During Sunday’s dinner, Pritzker called for “mass protests” and “disruption” against the Republican Party, suggesting members of his opposing party “cannot know a moment of peace.” His comments drew criticism online, including from Donald Trump Jr., who asked if the governor was “trying to inspire a 3rd assassination attempt on my dad.”