Failing up

There is a common phrase called failing up and a good example is the situation with the California unemployment scandal. California's pandemic unemployment fraud, costing tens of billions, was massive, involving organized crime, inmates, and identity theft, exploiting weak EDD oversight for huge payouts, leading to significant state losses and ongoing recovery efforts by task forces. An estimated 70% of the $40 billion in defrauded money left California, reaching transnational criminal groups in almost every country on the globe. During the massive COVID-era fraud at California's Employment Development Department (EDD), Julie Su was the Labor Secretary overseeing it, while Rita Saenz served as the EDD Director, both facing scrutiny for the multi-billion dollar losses, with Saenz resigning in early 2022 and Su later moving to a federal role. Acting Labor Secretary, the federal DOL under her watch seemed to excuse California's failures by allowing potential debt forgiveness for the state, sparking intense backlash and debates over accountability for the fraud while she served the Biden administration.

Common sense

Years before Trump ever entered politics, he used common sense to realize that the United States was being used by the rest of the world at the expense of the American taxpayer. The bureaucracy was so entrenched that it would require a new approach for the 21st century. The US was paying 20% of NATO plus supplying most of the troops to defend Europe from Russia while Europe was supporting Russia by buying their cheap natural gas. Meanwhile Europe was spending 1.5% of their GDP on national defense while relying on the US for protection as the US spent 3.75% of its GDP on defense. In real dollars the US was spending $900 billion while Europe was spending $300 billion. He recognized that other countries were using high tariffs to a maintain a favorable balance of trade while the US was running trade deficits. In addition, Japan relied on US protection as the US has 750 bases in 80 countries costing up to $100 billion per year. He understood that you could not have country that has a safety net and unsecure borders at the same time. He knew that the US could use its consumer purchasing power as a negotiating tool to achieve positive foreign policy with military power as a backup threat. He knew that wind and solar were not the answer and was opposed to closing nuclear plants. He continues these policies after he was elected.