In his own telling, President-elect Donald J. Trump wields magical powers to shape world events in ways others never could. The other day, during his first broadcast television network interview since his re-election, he even claimed to have prevented wars that no one knew were about to break out.
“I have stopped wars with tariffs by saying, ‘You guys want to fight, it’s great. But both of you are going to pay tariffs to the United States at 100 percent,’” Mr. Trump said on “Meet the Press” on NBC.
What wars, between which countries, and when? He did not say. Nor did his office identify any when asked afterward. Hyperbole, or perhaps fantasy, has long characterized Mr. Trump’s public career, of course. But as he prepares to move back into the White House, his penchant for extravagant ungrounded claims will challenge his ability to translate bravado into reality.
Mr. Trump has made some of the most expansive, some would say outlandish, campaign promises that any president has ever made, promises that policymakers across the spectrum take seriously in their intent but not in their specifics. While he may make substantial progress on his priorities, few other than committed Trump allies think he will be able to meet his maximalist goals on immigration, federal spending and foreign policy.
He has vowed to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and to do so before his inauguration next month, without giving any indication of how. He has said he would deport all 11 million people living in the country illegally, which would be about 12 times the number of people he deported in his first term. He has assigned his multibillionaire patron Elon Musk to cut $2 trillion a year out of the $6.8 trillion federal budget, though past budget cutters struggled to trim a fraction of that.
“The laws of gravity just don’t apply to Trump the way they would to any conventional pol,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. “He has always been unburdened by the rituals and customs of the Beltway political and media culture. He’s always been rewarded when he confronts anything perceived to be establishment or status quo. So when the rule book says ‘manage expectations,’ he focuses on defying expectations.”
