The Unpersuasive President
“Presidential power is the power to persuade.” So wrote the famous student of presidential power, Richard Neustadt, in 1960.
This is one power that Donald Trump has never appreciated. President Trump uses words often and uses them spectacularly: to mobilize his core followership, to bully and belittle opponents, to tweet his hurts and grievances. What he does not do is argue a case to change minds and gain consent.
That gap in the presidential repertoire of power was on view in last night’s State of the Union address—and especially in its core policy argument, Trump’s case for his latest immigration-reform proposal.
Trump has moved far and fast on immigration. He is now proposing a path to citizenship for the DACA population, people who entered the until all the 4 million people who have already applied have entered the country, a process that critics warn could take as long as 17 years.
