President Donald J. Trump

A New Beginning
January 20th, 2017.  Inauguration Day. Today is a day to celebrate. Today is the day where the forgotten, American worker received the representation he so longed for.  Today is the day where power was returned to the people.  Today is the day when globalism died and American nationalism was reborn. 
 
The Day Everything Changed
In 2012, Barack Obama was well on his way to fundamentally transforming America. The world was on fire. The economy was in shambles and the middle class was being crushed to death. Thousands of working men and women had seen their hours  and wages cut, been laid off, and lost their homes. When Barack Obama easily defeated Mitt Romney, every conservative across America felt the sickening blow of a clear, crushing defeat. There was a finality to it. The Republican leadership and party became a party of non resistance, then disappeared from relevance. Conservatism was dead.

On June 16,2015 everything changed. 

Donald Trump, the New York billionaire businessman, entered the race. His announcement speech was electric and sent shock waves across the country. Trump thrashed the politicians ruining the country, expressed disgust at the state of the economy, made illegal immigration a prominent issue, and vowed to make America great again. 

From that first speech throughout his entire campaign Donald Trump has campaigned on an America first platform. America's border would be secure. America's military would be strong. America's economy would recover. His political ideology moved past traditional conservatism to American nationalism. 

Trump descended from his New York City penthouse on the top of Trump Tower to be a man of the people. He is the populist billionaire fighting for the common man. He is tough. He is brash. He doesn't hold back. He tells it exactly how he sees it. He is a scrapper. He is what Mitt Romney never could be. For years, Republicans have wanted real change and strong leadership; and that's exactly who they got in Donald Trump. He was the conservative's dream candidate. He was the candidate that we had been waiting so long for.

Immediately, the media attacked him with the standard playbook used against Republicans: Trump is a racist! Trump is a sexist! Trump is a bigot! But none of it stuck. The political establishment, both Democrat and Republican united against him. But the more they spoke, the higher he climbed. Americans were feeling nothing less than rage against the political class that was hurting them. Purist conservatives offended at Trump's character flaws and failure to pass their litmus tests for conservatism vowed to vote #NeverTrump. But they failed to understand that the drastic reforms required the bull dog, crass, steel-spine personality of a Donald Trump. Mitt Romney would never build a wall, eradicate ISIS, or even threaten tariffs. The #NeverTrump movement would prove to be as irrelevant as the GOP under Obama's term. The louder these groups shouted, spoke, and protested the higher Trump ascended. There would be no stopping him. 

One by one, Donald Trump knocked out the other 16 Republican contenders and secured the nomination. With Mike Pence by his side he entered the General Election against political elitist Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could not be any more opposed to each other. The 2016 General Election was a contention of contrast: globalism vs. nationalism, the status quo vs.  change, the continued empowerment of the political class vs. the welfare of the common man.

On election night, the man who had never held a governmental office, the political maverick, the billionaire populist astoundingly defeated Hillary Clinton. The world was stunned. No one gave him a chance, the polls showed Hillary with a commanding lead over Donald, and the pundits predicted an easy, dominating victory for her. But the agony of the American worker was unaccounted for. The factory worker, the coal miner, the roughneck in the oil field--all were forgotten. Politicians, Democrats particularly, promised to go to Washington to fight for these workers, the backbone of America. But these were lies, nothing more than empty campaign promises. Instead of fighting for the common man politicians passed crushing trade agreements like NAFTA which did unaccountable damage to the working class. Higher taxes and regulation stacked upon regulation knocked these people off their feet and they suffered greatly. On November 8th, 2016 there would be a reckoning.  As the blue strongholds of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania went to Trump, the reality of the anger and hardships that the common man felt was realized. The election of Donald Trump was nothing short of a whole sale retaliation against Washington. For the first time in a long time, a private citizen, non politician, man of the people was going lead the nation.

Real Hope and Change 
Barack Obama campaigned on hope and change. The nation was swept up in optimism. It was a new America. Once the fanfare ended, though, things got ugly. He failed miserably. All across the country the cumulative policies of Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama came crashing down on the heads of the common American worker.

The effects of the economy's collapse have not been foreign to me. I've seen friends and family have their hour's cut, their salaries slashed, lose their jobs and their homes. The democratic policies have crippled the oil and gas industry. It's been hard to watch so many suffer so greatly.

For years, I've longed for a Trump presidency. In 2011, in the midst of non existent GOP, Donald Trump was figure of resistance against Barack Obama. He publicly flirted with the idea of running against Obama in the 2012 election. My hopes got high at the possibility of a successful businessman in the oval office.  Ultimately, however, he decided against a run and the Republican party nominated an abysmally weak Mitt Romney.  Trump continued to critique the president, and continued to be a figure of resistance.  During these four years he was slowly building a platform to stand on during the next election race.

It's hard to express the excitement I felt on June 16th, 2015 when Trump finally entered the race. Before and during his campaign I've been an enthusiastic, unapologetic supporter of him. Against many conservative friends of mine, I was not at all bothered by his less than traditional, strictly-conservative propositions. His populism and American nationalism was far more appealing to me than his meeting a litmus test for conservatism.  

In early October, I found myself in New York City. Being the enthusiastic supporter I was I visited Trump Tower and was blown away by its sheer grandeur. The success he had experienced is on full display in the elegance of Trump Tower. This successful leader is what America needed to be great again. Later in October I had the amazing experience of seeing him speak in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wearing my crimson Make America Great Again hat, I stood with thousands of other people inside an airplane hanger and eagerly awaited him. Here were gathered a diverse crowd--Whites, Mexicans, and Navajos. The media's narrative of Trump's supporters being made up of white supremacists was grossly exaggerated. The place went crazy when his plane literally pulled right up to the hanger and he came out to speak to us. He spoke about draining the swamp, strengthening our military, building a wall along the border, and he committed to us that he would not allow governmental regulations to continue to hurt the oil and gas industry. The Yuuuge crowd, and the enthusiasm they had communicated a tantalizing possibility--Donald Trump could possibly take New Mexico. This was a solid blue state, that Democrats didn't even have to campaign in to win. And while he ultimately failed to take New Mexico (thanks to Gary Johnson), the possibility was a foreshadow of a reality that would surface on election night where some traditionally blue states would go red.  The next week, in my hometown of Farmington, New Mexico, I had the honor of meeting his son, Donald Trump Jr.  I shook his hand and expressed my gratitude for the Trump family's willingness to face the venom of political exposure. 

On election night I was filled with glee as it became increasingly apparent he would win. I never doubted him for a second. I knew he would win. I was convinced for years that Donald Trump would win if he entered. When Pennsylvania was called and word broke that Hillary Clinton had conceded to him it became official. Donald J. Trump was elected to be the 45th President of the United States of America. It was exhilarating, gratifying, and vindicating to see him descend the steps to victory surrounded by his family to cheers of his supporters. My heart was filled with joy and I felt tears in my eyes as my years of wanting Donald Trump to be my president finally came to fruition. 

Donald Trump isn't perfect. Not even close. He is a very flawed man. I don't, for one second, believe he is a Christian. But he has had my support from before he even entered the race because I believe his populist, nationalist political philosophy wed to an alpha male personality is exactly what is needed to restore America to national, global and economic greatness. Donald Trump is the combination of populist, nationalist politics and the grizzly, courageous personality to implement those polices. He is the anti-Obama.

Donald Trump didn't need the salary, he's a billionaire. He didn't need the status, he's a celebrity. He didn't need the criticism, he's an accomplished businessman. Donald Trump fought to become president because he loves his country and wants to make her great again. Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th President of the United States has filled me with great hope for and has me expecting real change for our country. Donald Trump represents the post-ideological traditional politician.  He is a new breed altogether. He is not a liberal. He is not a conservative. He is a populist, American nationalist. He is going to restore our country to global respectability. He is going to build up our defense. He is going to use his power to protect the American worker by gutting crushing regulations, keeping American companies in America, and cutting taxes. 

It's a great day for America. The power has been taken away from the political elites and returned to the people.  For me, this journey to see Donald Trump being sworn into office has  been years in the making. I cannot wait to watch Donald J. Trump make America great again.

Image Credit: NBC News