Commentary

Both of President Trump’s two weekend speeches, one a commencement address at West Point, the next his Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery, had a national security flavor.

At West Point, he touted his proposed Golden Dome missile defense system and $1 trillion military budget while telling the cadets “You are, as of right now, respected more than any army anywhere in the world.” 

While advising them to “never give up” – who better to demand that? – he urged them to have the “courage to take risks and to do things differently,” to “do what you love” and “always think big.”

“‘This is the Golden Age,” and he vowed, you are “going to lead the Army to summits of greatness.”

During his Memorial Day speech, he paid tribute to Gold Star families, thanking them for giving the country the “brightest light in your lives.”

But the audience gave him the loudest and longest applause for his remark that he is “fixing” the country after a long and hard four years.

“That was a hard four years we went through.  Who would let that happen? People pouring through our borders, unchecked.”

Of course, the opposition on the left never recognized the Biden administration’s open borders policy as a national security issue, nor did they view the millions of illegals crossing the border an “invasion.”

On May 23, 2025, Rasmussen Reports revealed that 48 percent of likely voters believe that Trump’s handling of national security issues is “good” or “excellent.”  Sixty-five percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of unaffiliated votes think America’s national security situation is “getting better.”

The next day, Rasmussen Reports showed that President Trump ended the polling week with a daily job approval of 50 percent.

Then, on May 26, 2025, The New York Times reported “a slight uptick” in President Trump’s approval rating in their review of polling done by dozens of organizations, giving him a 45 percent approval rating.

“It is typical for new presidents to experience a meaningful decline in support in the first few months of their presidencies,” commented Irineo Cabreros, the Times staff editor for statistical modeling.  “Trump’s approval rating has been dropping slightly faster than his recent predecessors, but the pace of the decline is not unprecedented.”

During the presidential campaign, I cautioned you not to put too much faith in the polls.  They are conducted by a number of firms, all with different sampling sizes and methods.

Personally, I believe the American public, many of whom we know get their news from the social media, are generally uninformed on the issues and how they are being addressed by the president or Congress.

Regular readers may recall my astonishment over the 29 percent who thought, at one point, that the Biden administration was on the right track.

While I am satisfied with the president’s current approval rating, I expect it will climb once the big beautiful bill is passed and signed, and the tariff negotiations are behind us.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.