The old-guard GOP dropped the ball for decades. Trump delivered in 6 months.



On Sunday, the second Trump administration turned six months old.

President Trump’s first four years in the White House were already a big success, which is why I fought so hard to bring him back for a second go-round. Yet I think Trump’s second has already surpassed it in just one-eighth the time.

The administration hasn’t just said the right things. It has done the right things.

Completely and instantly securing the U.S.-Mexico border after the four-year Joe Biden invasion is one of the most important and impressive accomplishments in American presidential history. TV news said the president’s tough trade talk would crash the economy in days; instead, the stock market hit record highs this very week, and blue-collar wages are rising faster than they have in nearly 60 years.

Under any other recent president, I am convinced the June Iran crisis would have ballooned into a full regime-change war, with far more money spent and many American lives lost. But under President Trump’s measured hand, America managed to strike a crippling blow to Iran’s nuclear program while suffering zero casualties and even bringing a ceasefire between Iran and Israel as part of the bargain.

Celebrating wins, big and small

Yet when I think about the events of the past six months, it’s not the big wins I think about the most — it’s the small ones. They’re the triumphs that don’t necessarily grab the largest headlines, but they show that this administration really is committed to systematically throwing out the suffocating groupthink and stagnation that have ruled in D.C. for decades.

Time and time again, this administration has been doing things that past Republicans could and should have done, yet inexplicably never did. For instance, back in 1981, the outgoing Jimmy Carter administration engineered a court ruling that abolished the federal government’s hugely successful hiring aptitude test because it was (you already knew this was coming) racist. Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, or Bush 43 could have fought to restore merit-based hiring. Yet they never did. Subsequently, over 45 years, our government went rotten as diversity, equity, and inclusion replaced merit.

Now, this administration is finally acting to bring back merit in government. Imagine that! From Harvard to Hennepin County, this administration has begun toppling the race- and sex-based discrimination that had taken root all over America in flagrant defiance of both our Constitution and historic American values. It is purging DEI commissars from federal agencies, imposing uniform standards on the military, and sending out warnings to the private sector as well. This isn’t superficial — it’s the destruction in detail of a rotten, anti-American ideology.

It would have been easy for Donald Trump to make a few speeches and sign a couple symbolic orders about “protecting women’s sports” — past Republican administrations would have settled for exactly that. But this administration has genuinely done the work to protect American children from the transgender mania, one of the great evils of our time.

Actually delivering on promises

Across America, health care providers are ending their involvement in child mutilation and similar treatments because of the dramatic increase in regulatory hostility from this administration. Children’s National Hospital in D.C., Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Stanford Medicine, and others have stopped providing surgeries or puberty blockers to minors in the face of this administration.

Where it matters most, the Trump administration has stepped up to save children from predators calling themselves “doctors.”

For my entire life, Republicans loved to make a show of complaining about America sending billions in aid to foreign countries. But they never stopped it — until Trump. He actually delivered by cutting USAID down to size and keeping more of America’s money in America. The same goes for defunding NPR, PBS, and Planned Parenthood: long years of talk, until the Trump administration fought to make it actually happen.

RELATED: In 6 months, Donald Trump has done the impossible

  Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

It was obvious for almost 20 years that the TSA’s policy requiring passengers to remove their shoes before boarding a flight was a pointless bit of security theater, yet Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden all kept the policy in place anyway. This administration finally got rid of it.

While the Biden administration treated the cryptocurrency industry as a borderline criminal enterprise, Trump signed the GENIUS Act, which positions America to lead this innovative industry.

 

The administration hasn’t just said the right things. It has done the right things, in detail, to ensure its promises are delivered at the micro level. The administration even made showerheads great again. And it’s that commitment to the small things and common sense that will pay dividends over the next three and a half years. Because an administration that cares about the details of governing will make all of America great too.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on RealClearPolitics.

Trump celebrates 6 months with bold MAGA victory video featuring Charlie Kirk



Since President Trump took office on January 20, 2025, his administration has been working nonstop to fulfill his campaign promises. To celebrate the six-month milestone of his administration, the White House posted a video boasting the progress of the Make America Great Again movement.

The video showed Trump's work with world leaders, foreign policy, tariffs, spending, immigration, and border enforcement. In many ways, he has made headway in reversing the policies of previous administrations: "President Trump comes in and immediately begins taking action to fix each and every one of these fires that the Democrats started."

'This movement that President Trump has started for America is only getting bigger.'

The video, entitled "6 months of Power: President Trump's Comeback. America's Revival," showcases a laundry list of Trump's accomplishments. One voice on the video can be heard saying, "Promises made, promises kept."

The caption underneath the video reads: "Six months in, President Trump took command — launched an all-out offensive to crush the left’s mess and bring American power roaring back. The border is fortified. The economy is unleashed. The One Big Beautiful Bill is law. This is unapologetic, America-first leadership."

RELATED: Read it and weep: Tariffs work, and the numbers prove it

  

 

The president recently celebrated the signing of his historic legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Independence Day earlier this month. This is just one of his major accomplishments. "Donald Trump immediately getting to work with a remarkable show of the use of executive power," one voice on the video says.

Charlie Kirk can be heard saying, "This movement that President Trump has started for America is only getting bigger. [It] has more energy, more enthusiasm."

"The days of ripping off America and Americans are officially over," says Sean Hannity of Fox News.

"Trump could resign tomorrow and still point to an enduring legacy," adds another voice.

"You're watching history. So buckle up, because the next three and a half years will probably be just as busy."

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Conservatives rally to Trump’s defense



On Thursday the Wall Street Journal released a story which purports to show that Donald Trump wrote Jeffrey Epstein a raunchy 50th birthday greeting for a book Ghislaine Maxwell put together. Trump has strongly denied the reporting and has threatened to sue the outlet.

Conservatives are rallying to Trump’s defense, calling the reporting into question. Vice President JD Vance laid into the Journal, saying, “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bulls**t. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” in a post on X.

'This is not how Trump talks at all. I don’t believe it.'

— (@)  
 

Vance further called on the Journal to provide the actual proof: “Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk also called the report into question. In a post on X, Kirk said, “This is not how Trump talks at all. I don’t believe it.”

— (@)  
 

After the Journal’s report was published, Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec cast doubt on any link between Trump and Epstein’s sordid schemes. Posobiec said in a post on X, “If Trump was in the Epstein files it would have been released a decade ago and there wouldn't have been any need to make up a fake Russian hooker dossier.”

In a different X post Posobiec also questioned the Journal’s reporting: “Trump doesn’t talk like this at all. And this was several years before Epstein was originally arrested.”

— (@)  
 

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly also doubted the voracity of the reporting, stating on X, “This is the dumbest attempted hit piece I’ve ever read.”

While mainstream media outlets are continuing to find ways to try and tie Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, conservatives are not buying it. After the Russia collusion hoax, baseless impeachments, and more from Trump’s initial run for president, conservatives are openly calling “bulls**t” on the media’s reporting as they rally to Trump's defense.

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Investigating deadly Texas floods: Is DEI to blame?



Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk is in hot water after suggesting that the Austin fire chief was a DEI hire whose decisions may have led to more deaths during the incident — but after investigating his claims, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales believes he might be right.

“The Democrats are not lifting a finger to remember the well over 100 people that have died in Texas Hill Country. What you are not being told by the media anywhere is that the death toll likely would not have been as high if it wasn’t for DEI,” Kirk said on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”

“This Texas tragedy is just the latest example. It's not just incompetence. This is DEI working to undermine meritocratic institutions, and more people likely died than otherwise would have because of DEI,” he added.

“Anytime Charlie is in trouble, usually you can pretty much know that something that he has said has been taken out of context,” Gonzales says on “Come and Take It,” noting that it was “obviously a very bold statement.”

While Kirk is being called “racist” by the left-wing media, Gonzales says it's because they’re taking what he said at face value rather than investigating it.

“This particular fire chief has gone on record saying that he has diversity goals. Not like put-fires-out-in-record-time goals. Diversity goals. Are you kidding me?” Gonzales says.



Not only does the Austin fire chief have “diversity goals,” but he was himself celebrated as a diversity hire when a news outlet reported in 2020, “The City of Austin made history when it hired its first African American fire chief a little over a year ago.”

“I don’t try to dwell on me being the first African American fire chief, because that’s not important. What’s important is that I’m not the last African American fire chief,” Chief Joel Baker was reported saying in the same article.

“I don’t know sir, I think what’s important is that you guys save as many lives as possible and put out as many fires as possible. That’s a good start. I think what’s important is emergency response time. I think what’s important is making sure that you guys have the supplies that you need to put fires out and help people,” Gonzales says.

The article also reported that Baker boasted that one of his goals “is really to increase the diversity at Austin Fire Department,” including African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and people in the LGBTQ community in order to inspire the youth to become firefighters, as well.

“Those are his goals. And I do think that that is relevant to the conversation about what happened in the Texas Hill Country, especially in light of what just happened with the Austin Firefighters Association,” she adds.

The Austin Fire Department had deployment orders on July 2, and the Austin Firefighters Association president Bob Nicks claims they had boat crews ready to go help — before the flooding even began.

However, they were told by the Austin chief to stand down.

“It is absolutely outrageous that the Austin Fire Chief, Joel G. Baker, would not allow highly trained firefighters from Austin to respond to Kerrville. Because of this egregious dereliction of duty, LIVES WERE VERY LIKELY LOST BECAUSE OF CHIEF BAKER’S DECISION,” the Austin Firefighter’s Association wrote in a Facebook post.

“That is not something that this firefighter’s association just decides to just flippantly make the decision to go write something like that on Facebook,” Gonzales says, adding, “These are men who are trained to save people, and these men are pissed that they weren’t allowed to do that.”

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Charlie Kirk explains Trump's frustration, MAGA backlash: 'People are talking about Epstein because they LOVE Trump'



Recognizing that both parties remain fundamentally aligned but are presently speaking at cross-purposes, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has endeavored to "translate" the concerns of both President Donald Trump, with whom he has recently been in contact, and the MAGA base about the Epstein controversy.

The Justice Department and the FBI prompted significant backlash from the MAGA base by concluding earlier this month that agents had no evidence that child sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein kept a client list, blackmailed powerful elites, or was murdered.

Trump — justifiably sensitive to leftist efforts to undermine his agenda after multiple witch hunts and imprisonment efforts, two bogus impeachments, numerous betrayals, and two known assassination attempts — has criticized supporters' persistent demands for answers about the matter, suggesting in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that Democrats' "new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bulls**t,' hook, line, and sinker."

"They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years," continued the president. "I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country's history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats [sic] work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!"

The president told reporters hours later in the Oval Office that "instead of talking about the things we've achieved — we've had tremendous achievement — they're wasting their time with a guy who obviously had some very serious problems who died three, four years ago. I'd rather talk about the success we have with the economy, the best we've ever had, and all of the things we've done."

Trump noted further that those raising concerns about the Epstein list are "stupid people" unwittingly aiding the Democrats.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk outlines '10 immediate credible action items' Pam Bondi can take on Epstein case

 Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

On Wednesday, Charlie Kirk — whom Trump reportedly called over the weekend to express support for Attorney General Pam Bondi — worked to unpack the president's anger regarding the renewed push for DOJ disclosures about Epstein, noting that Trump is, in part, "venting" because the public appears fixated on "a guy who has been dead for six years" instead of his incredible accomplishments over the past six months.

Kirk said:

Energy prices are going down. The border is hermetically sealed. He passed the big, beautiful bill despite a three-seat majority in the House of Representatives. He's embarking on mass deportations. He ended a war between Israel and Iran. He took out the Iranian nuclear facilities. He ended the India-Pakistan war. He ended the Congo-Rwandan war just in his spare time. He is going after DEI. He is reducing the federal workforce. He has the biggest welfare reform in American history.

Kirk further suggested that Trump's frustration, manifest in the Wednesday post on Truth Social, should not be taken personally.

The TPUSA founder speculated that Trump was largely "pushing back on what he thinks is a misaligned press narrative from what he wants to see as celebration of all the victories over the past six months."

RELATED: Why MAGA wants the Epstein list — and won’t settle for less

 Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images

Kirk suggested that Trump's response is also informed by experiences in his first term — of losing Cabinet members, of distracting witch hunts, and turncoats — as well as his understanding that much of the documentation concerning Epstein was produced under former FBI Director James Comey and other antipathetic characters.

'We're worried the deep state will derail Trump.'

"He saw that his presidency in 2017 was largely taken from him in Trump 1.0 because a lot of people jumped aboard the [Robert] Mueller bandwagon," said Kirk, "and with that, he kind of saw so much of his momentum that he had from the election thwarted. When people demand that he fires Pam Bondi, he hears people demanding that he explode his admin, just like what happened in the first term."

— (@)  
 

While appreciative of Trump's suspicion, Kirk stressed that the MAGA base does "not care about the story as a way to hurt Donald Trump. In fact, it's the opposite. We love President Trump. We love what he's doing."

More importantly, MAGA wants answers about Epstein because a failure to take action now might leave the greatest threats to the president in play.

"We are caring about the Epstein story because we are afraid that if we do not lance the intelligence community bull that tried to murder him on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania; that tried to take him out with Russia, Russia, Russia; and that very same deep-state actor that spied on him and leaked the phone call of him between Zelenskyy that resulted in his first impeachment — we're worried the deep state will derail Trump," said Kirk. "We look at the Epstein story as a skeleton key to be able to look under the hood, dismantle and deconstruct the administrative state to protect Donald Trump from his adversaries."

"The base cares about this because they have [Trump's] best interests at heart," added Kirk.

The TPUSA founder noted further that the base has an appetite for answers because Trump made the answers seem possible: "President Donald Trump taught us to drain the swamp. President Donald Trump taught us to want to go after the deep state. So I actually think we are all agreeing on this."

Kirk later summarized on X:

People are talking about Epstein because they LOVE Trump. We are fearful the same people who tried to kill Trump, impeach him, and throw him in prison were behind Epstein. Epstein represents a symbol of an out of control shadow government, and this is a chance to bring it to heel.

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Charlie Kirk: We’re replacing the RINOs with real leaders



Shallow, performative politicians are the norm, but there’s a new wave of conservative leadership — embodied best by Vice President JD Vance — that does it for the love of the country rather than the money or accolades associated with it.

“When we’re constantly trying to be held captive by ideology, it would be prudence, which would be practical judgment, and I think JD Vance embodies that incredibly well,” Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk tells BlazeTV host and Blaze Media editor in chief Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”

“When you’re in elected office, you have to be prisoner to the party dogma and the political expectations of the time. For example, when President Trump entered into the political space 10 years ago,” he continues, “you would never be able to talk about a border wall, let alone mass deportations.”

“So, a true statesman is able to identify the problems and then, with the proper amount of moral courage and with precision, rhetorically be able to address these things and then move the Overton window,” he adds.


This is what separates the likes of Trump and Vance from the rest of the Republican Party, as they are “unafraid to challenge their own political dogma if it’s actually benefiting the nation or the body politic.”

And while many RINO politicians only take action for the optics, statesmen like Vance do it out of real concern for the country and the people — and young people are among those making the difference.

“I feel as if a lot of these younger people are much more in tune with statesmanship in the sense that they actually want to make the country better, and they don’t care about the old prestige structure,” Peterson tells Kirk.

“If you’re young and you want to get involved in politics or being a statesmen, that means that you are likely forsaking making more money and more wealth in another field,” Kirk says. “The high-IQ, high-driven, virtuous people are now saying, ‘You know, okay, fine. I could go make $200 million at Goldman Sachs, but that’s not deep. That’s not fulfilling. Instead, I would rather go be a statesman.’”

“These are people that could go make a ton of money elsewhere, which means that just monetary gain is not the most important. It's not the driving factor or motivator of so many in this generation,” he continues.

“Imagine if all of a sudden the people that have a capacity and the wherewithal dedicated itself towards a national revival,” he adds.

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Bongino and Bondi clash over botched handling of Epstein files



Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files sparked outrage among conservatives, supporters of President Donald Trump, and even among FBI leadership.

The dramatic Epstein saga has caused a rift between FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Bondi in recent days, one source familiar with the matter confirmed to Blaze News. Other reports indicate that Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel are both threatening to leave the bureau altogether unless Bondi is removed from office.

'Fire Pam Bondi. Keep Dan Bongino.'

RELATED: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: 'Nobody is believing this'

  Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As tensions emerge between the FBI and DOJ leadership, the MAGA base has made clear where its support lies.

"There is no question that the base is behind Bongino," conservative commentator and reporter Julie Kelly said in a post on X. "I respect Pam Bondi and understand the immense challenge at taking the reins of such a systemically corrupt agency. But the self inflicted wounds and unforced errors are consuming attention away from other DOJ/FBI achievements. Time is ticking away and something drastic needs to change immediately."

"It would be a huge loss for the country if we lost Dan Bongino at the FBI," TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk wrote in a post on X.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck made a similar appeal to Trump, urging him to put Bongino over Bondi.

"America can't lose Dan Bongino," Beck said in a post on Instagram. "He has so much credibility. Everybody knows him, loves him. Pam Bondi has created so much doubt and chaos in this whole thing. There's no reason for all of this."

"Either it's a massive cover-up, or she's just fouled this up every single time," Beck added. "Please, let's not lose Dan Bongino. If there's a choice — I hope not — but please, fire Pam Bondi. Keep Dan Bongino."

RELATED: Is the FBI salvageable? Here's what bureau insiders have to say

  Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Following Bondi's now-infamous Epstein memo, which the DOJ leaked to the Beltway corporate outlet Axios, the administration has spent days doing damage control. Trump reiterated his support for Patel and Bongino in a Truth Social post on Monday, though he notably refrained from providing Bondi with the same praise.

"The FBI, under the direction of Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, is back to the basics: Locking up criminals, and cleaning up America’s streets." Trump said in the post. "We have the Greatest Law Enforcement professionals in the World, but 'Politics' and Corrupt Leadership often prevented them from doing their job. That is no longer the case, and now, they have been unleashed to do their jobs, and they are doing just that. Keep it up — MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!"

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