As President Donald Trump nears his one-year anniversary in his second administration, he is closer than ever in making good on many of his top campaign promises and further away on his pledge to unite the nation.
Three days before Inauguration Day, he pledged “a message of unity,” adding that “success brings unity.”
It hasn’t. But it’s not his fault. The country has been politically divided since the Vietnam War, and it gets worse with every new administration.
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He has, however, made good on key campaign promises in record time, closing the border to illegal immigrants, restoring American strength, reviving the military, and reducing inflation.
On others, notably the war in Ukraine, he failed at but has not given up. This weekend, for example, he is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-A-Lago.
For his long list of accomplishments, sheer energy, and 2024 comeback victory, he is one of the most important presidents in American history.
But his antics and ego and the left’s Trump Derangement Syndrome have fed disunity, and the graders in our Weekly White House Report Card have captured that in their year-end review.
Conservative analyst Jed Babbin cited the good and the bad in year one and concluded that it was a good year deserving of an “A-minus.” Democratic pollster John Zogby, however, called Trump a nightmare in dishing out an “F.”
TRUMP WARNS OF JANUARY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN OVER OBAMACARE DURING NORTH CAROLINA SPEECH
Jed Babbin
Grade: A-
President Donald Trump has done a great deal this year, and he has accomplished it at a frenetic pace. It’s his second “first year” in the presidency, and he has made the most of it.
Trump has restored pride in America. You can see that in the military recruitment numbers, which hit an awful low under former President Joe Biden. Young men and women didn’t want to join in the Biden era because of the woke nonsense he imposed, and because of the lack of pride it induced. With Trump back, the military recruitment numbers are higher than they have been in 15 years. And that’s just for starters.
Trump has used the military to strike at civilization’s enemies. In March through May, he joined the Israelis and struck at the Houthis, which had only a temporary effect. The Houthis are now supporting Somali pirates to again raid ships in the Indian Ocean. Trump hit the Iranians in June, which apparently has delayed their nuclear program for years. And on Christmas Day, he bombed ISIS in Nigeria, which has killed tens of thousands of Christians in the last few years.
Trump took us out of the ridiculous Paris climate change accords for the second time after Biden rejoined them. He also scrapped government programs for wind energy and such. He also ended the subsidies for electric cars and pickup trucks. Which, of course, blew away the market for them because even the eco-whackos really don’t want them unless the government pays a large chunk of the price.
Trump essentially stopped illegal immigration, reducing the number of illegal immigrants coming in to just about zero. He also deployed ICE to major cities, where they have made thousands of arrests. The deportation numbers are over 2.5 million and climbing, which is all to the good. About one million have self-deported.
Trump stopped government DEI programs in their tracks and declared that there were only two genders.
Trump reduced inflation to about 2.7%, down tremendously from the Biden high of 9%. The economy grew at a good and higher rate than the “experts” rate of 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025. The stock market seems comfortable with the Dow Jones average over 48,000. The Democrats still whine about “affordability,” but that seems to have faded in light of the overall great economic news.
There was more good economic news with Trump’s $1,776 “warrior” bonus for military members. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have been underpaid for too long. The Trump bonus helps a bit.
Trump has been thwarted, mostly on political grounds, by several lower-court judges. Despite the fact that they have been slapped down by the Supreme Court, they continue to interfere with the president’s doings. He lost a few cases at the Supreme Court, but he has generally prevailed there.
Peacemaking is Trump’s chosen way to get into the history books, and he has had some successes. But the two biggest wars — the war Hamas started against Israel and the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine have eluded him. The peace deal in Gaza has dissolved over Hamas’s refusal to disarm. There will be no peace in Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t want it. Putin’s resolve to conquer Ukraine remains undiminished.
Trump also sent National Guard troops into several cities, including Washington, D.C., with good results. Everywhere they go, crime is reduced.
OK, renaming the Kennedy Center after himself, starting a new class of “battleships” named the “Trump Class,” and his comments on Rob Reiner’s death were over the top. His anti-NATO diplomacy leaves a lot of Europe questioning whether there will be a NATO in a few years.
But the Democrats have nothing to say other than “Orange Man Bad.” That’s getting awfully stale, but it may be enough for 2026. But not 2028, when Trump is no longer on the ballot.
All in all, Trump deserves an excellent grade for 2025.
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John Zogby
Grade: F
Almost a full year into Trump ’47, and I keep hoping that I will wake up and find that it was all a nightmare.
President Donald Trump has managed to change the conversation on so many topics. The right has moved even beyond the high keys on the piano and includes conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, antisemites, and a collection of just plain misfits. Folks who had previously been on the fringes now operate in the mainstream. The more traditional right appears to be falling apart at the seams in large part over its distaste with the radical right.
His war on immigration breaks the law and is inhumane.
Republican elected officials are fearful of losing their grants, donations, and public support; thus, they dare not challenge the White House.
Trump has issued executive orders, defied Congress and the courts, waged a war in the Caribbean that no one wants nor knows much about. As of this writing, the U.S. has engaged in a massive air campaign against ISIS in Nigeria. The cause may be just, but do we always have to find out about these things after the fact? Warning: Nigeria is one of largest countries in the world, and the U.S. has not been doing well in extricating itself from its overseas adventures.
He has issued tariffs that have made prices for everyone go up. He has pardoned the guilty, trashed his opponents in ways that used to get kids thrown out of school, and insulted people in a time of tragedy. He has touted his ability to make peace, except there is no peace in any of those places. He has threatened the press and used the services of billionaires to actually change ownership and personnel.
He has allowed a Medicaid lifeline to run out and threaten the Obamacare insurance coverage of over 20 million people. He has managed to end any conversation on climate change and knocked down sacred walls in the White House. He has killed ticket sales and future performances at the Kennedy Center and managed to persuade soccer’s FIFA, known for overseeing post-game riots and brawls, to give him the first (and perhaps last) FIFA Peace Award.
There is so much more, and I am not dreaming. Historians will judge, but unless Hannibal Lecter comes riding into the White House on a hand truck towed by “Chief of Staff” Annie Wilkes (Cathy Bates in Misery), this year alone qualifies Trump for the worst-ever president.
Congratulations to the families of James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and Millard Fillmore, whose presidencies have all received one-notch upgrades. These men were, for the most part, passive failures in moments of crisis. Trump, for his part, created new crises as he went along.
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Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.