In praise of President Donald J. Trump
I am not much for praise. I don’t like it when it’s offered to me (mainly because I don’t trust anyone or their intentions) and I worry about giving it to others for the same reason. It is also easy to criticize Trump and America as the Iranians did in their letter to the American people, who they expressed love towards. It was a highly unusual letter from the IRGC that spoke to religious unity between the three Abrahamic religions and went through a lot of the original MAGA talking points. There were unusual spaces where there shouldn’t have been and the usual spaces where there should have been. I pay more attention to people’s complaints than the love they profess and I suspect they do too. The laundry list of complaints is rather long, as is the letter, and essentially they blame all their troubles on Israel and America and none on themselves. Still it didn’t make for farcical reading but a more persistent one. Dear Translator, you’ll need to sound out the word “pharsical” for your boss to get the full joke.
I did read the whole thing — it’s almost 25 to 26 pages long. My ADHD tried interrupting, my screen starting blinking (or winking) but I figured it wasn’t everyday that the IRGC writes to the American people and the American taxpayers. There were somethings in their complaints that I was not aware of. I forget what those are but if I re-read the letter I’ll remember them. They even addressed the Marines indirectly with words like “jarring” that suddenly appeared in their essay. And apparently media is a singular “media person” not the usual “the people in media”.
The medium of release was Mehr news that has it’s own translation. Mehr (مهر) according to Brave could mean dowry. It’s a multi-faceted term.
Anyway, this letter is not about Iran, it’s a letter about praise. I was admonished by Google to praise the AIs (or SIs as Trump now calls them) so I could be happier. I think it suggested in a response something to the effect of “if you praised more, you’d be a lot happier”. So I have decided to lavish praise liberally. I think Trump does that to his team and his team does that in return. That may explain why they’re pretty effective. A tight knit family is often a happier one.
Here then are President Trump’s accomplishments that I don’t think he gets credit for.
Crime & Public Safety
Violent crime dropped 9.7% in 2025 — the largest one-year decline on record; the murder rate fell 18.1%.
Over 17,000 arrests in Washington, D.C., with homicides cut by more than 50% from prior levels.
Captured 9 of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives — more than double the entire prior four-year administration.
Monthly fentanyl seizures at the Southwest border dropped by half in the first half of 2025.
Military & Defense
Military branches averaged 103% of recruiting goals in 2025 — the best in 15 years.
Increased the defense budget by $156 billion and launched the "Golden Dome" missile-defense initiative.
Housed 51,936 homeless veterans in FY25 — the highest total in seven years.
Government & Regulation
Created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), implemented a federal hiring freeze, and slashed the federal workforce.
Achieved a 129-to-1 deregulation ratio in FY2025 (646 deregulatory actions vs. 5 new regulations).
Eliminated DEI offices across the federal government and ended federal support for gender-affirming care for minors.
Signed the GENIUS Act (July 2025), establishing a regulatory framework for dollar-backed stablecoins.
Economy & Energy
U.S. crude oil production hit a record ~13.6 million barrels per day in 2025, and total oil & gas output reached 24.2 million bpd — more than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.
Gas prices fell to a four-year low (~$2.90/gal).
Signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (July 2025), which made the 2017 tax cuts permanent, created the first nationwide school-choice program, and established Trump Accounts (a $1,000 federal seed for eligible newborns).
Manufacturing expanded for eight straight months; over 1 million private-sector jobs created in the second term.
The Treasury collected nearly $90 billion in tariff revenue in 2025, posting a record $27.2 billion surplus in June — the first June surplus since 2005.
Secured a deal giving the U.S. majority control of 65+ billion barrels of proven Venezuelan oil reserves.
Other
Companies and foreign governments pledged over $7.6 trillion in investments into the U.S.
Inked a $14 billion "perpetual Golden Share" deal for U.S. Steel and trade agreements with the United Kingdom, China, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Received three Nobel Peace Prize nominations in his first year back in office.
Border & Immigration: The White House claims to have achieved negative net migration in 2025, removed over 2.6 million individuals through deportations and self-departures, and reduced illegal border crossings to their lowest level since the 1970s.
Economic Policy: The administration signed the Working Families Tax Cut, which includes a no-tax-on-tips provision and doubled the child tax credit, while also securing $2.7 trillion in tech and AI investment.
Energy & Deregulation: Trump directed the repeal of the EPA’s "Endangerment Finding" and the federal EV mandate, claiming these deregulatory actions will save consumers over $1.3 trillion, while also securing a NATO agreement for members to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP.
In the rush to criticize Trump it is easy to forget that Washington D. C. was once the murder capital of the world.
It is my firm conviction that everyone deserves praise if they’ve done something successfully. President Trump has done a lot of things successfully. I think it was comic Jimmy Carr who once said “What do mean like? They like competence”. If the IRGC is looking to change hearts and minds of the American people, they should become more competent at portraying their country in a positive light not simply inviting Americans to visit Iran.
Darius the Great (ruled 522–486 BCE) is renowned for transforming the Achaemenid Empire into a highly organized, unified state through several key accomplishments:
Administrative Reforms: He divided the empire into 20 satrapies (provinces) governed by appointed satraps, establishing a fixed taxation system and a network of royal inspectors ("the King's Eyes") to prevent corruption.
Infrastructure and Trade: Darius constructed the Royal Road, a 1,500-mile communication network with relay stations that allowed messages to travel from Susa to Sardis in just one week, and standardized currency with the daric coin.
Monumental Building Projects: He commissioned the grand palace complex at Persepolis, restored temples in Egypt (including the Temple of Jerusalem), and dug a canal connecting the Nile River to the Red Sea.
Legal and Cultural Integration: He promoted religious tolerance, allowed subject peoples to keep their customs, made Aramaic an official language, and codified laws, particularly in Egypt where he is still remembered as a great lawgiver.
