I wrote for Politico today about Trump’s follow-through on some of his more controversial promises in light of the pull-out from the Iran deal:
His exit from the agreement is another instance of the Trump paradox: The president who says more outlandish and untrue things than anyone who has ever occupied the office of the presidency is also extraordinarily determined to deliver on his big promises.
Trump often doesn’t mean what he says, but when he says what he means — watch out. The combined forces of international pressure, polite opinion, outraged New York Times editorials, resistant advisers and sheer inertia aren’t an obstacle.
Many of Trump’s loose promises in the campaign weren’t remotely deliverable. He wasn’t really going to forswear vacations as president. He’s not going to give us 6 percent GDP growth. He was never going to bring back waterboarding or kill the relatives of terrorists, or for that matter, drop Bowe Bergdahl out of an airplane over Afghanistan with no parachute.
But on his signature pledges, he’s been committed, usually more than anyone around him. He’s been particularly stalwart on those promises that require blasting through entrenched conventional wisdom and elite resistance. In the areas run-of-the-mill politicians would shrink from — ditching or delaying their pledges indefinitely—he has gladly grasped the nettle.