President Trump has not had a good week, to say the least. After his and Speaker Paul Ryan’s awful Obamacare “repeal” failed before it could even be voted on, Trump blamed the conservatives in the Freedom Caucus and said he would work with Democrats. Trump deserves all the criticism he is getting for this debacle. It showed a lack of leadership and principle.
However, in recent days, Trump has been rolling up his sleeves and getting to work on other great things, with reports that healthcare will be revisited soon.
But with all his faults, Trump should be commended for his incredible work ethic and desire to stay out of the limelight as President. In the last month, he has declined to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and yesterday, Trump’s staff pulled out as well. This isn’t surprising, as the WH Correspondents’ Dinner is basically media figures and politicians gathering as the elites they see themselves to be. But Trump, knowing that Republicans are hated by the rest of the attendees, has bigger priorities in getting his job done, whether one likes his agenda or not.
Another example of Trump’s intention of staying out of the media culture is his declining to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ opening day. The tradition to throw out the first pitch in Washington is a tradition going back over a century, starting with President Taft in 1910, when the team in the city was the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins).
Many have speculated that the reason for this is because Trump may not want to embarrass himself as President Obama did in 2009, when he threw an awful pitch at the All-Star game. But according to Trump’s former high school baseball coach at New York Military Academy, Col. Ted Dobias, Trump was a great athlete. Dobias said that Trump was a good hitter and fielder, and there were scouts from the [Philadelphia] Phillies watching him. However, Trump wanted to go to college and “make real money.”
Nevertheless, Trump may not want to embarrass himself as Obama did, but for other reasons. Obama prided himself in hanging out with celebrities as often as possible. That’s not to say Obama didn’t work while he was president (although many wish he didn’t), but he was idolized by many as a celebrity president himself.
Trump clearly doesn’t want this. He may be well-known for his work in real estate and many other projects, but being the President of the United States is his priority now, and he doesn’t want anything to get in the way of that. And that’s something we can all admire.
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