Trump’s First Year Was A Triumph, But Republicans Aren’t Acting Like It

American Thinker 

Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House has been a parade of bold, daring accomplishments. Few presidents would dare to dream of matching it.

Elected with a resounding mandate in 2024, Trump wasted no time implementing a transformative agenda that reshaped the nation in tangible, measurable ways. He secured the Mexican border with unprecedented rigor. He is revitalizing the economy through deregulation and tax relief. From brokering international peace deals to dismantling bureaucratic waste, Trump’s administration compiled 365 wins in 365 days.

On immigration, Trump achieved negative net migration for the first time in fifty years, removing over 2.6 million illegal aliens, including 400,000 convicted or charged criminals. Meanwhile, fentanyl trafficking was reduced across the southern border by 56 percent. Border wall construction resumed in critical sectors like El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.

The Remain in Mexico policy was reinstated, and catch-and-release ended nationwide, resulting in zero interior releases for eight consecutive months. ICE enforcement capacity doubled through aggressive recruitment, the largest surge in agency history. Temporary protected status for over 500,000 migrants was revoked, and refugee resettlement was dramatically curtailed to protect American security.

Crime rates plummeted under Trump’s first-year initiatives.

Homicides fell by the largest margin in U.S. history, overdoses dropped 21 percent, and task forces in Washington D.C., Memphis, Chicago, and New Orleans brought murders to decades-long lows. The Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs were dismantled, while nationwide federal law enforcement operations restored deterrence to urban centers and curtailed violent criminal networks.

The Trump administration’s Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office resumed delivering direct support to victims, and 62,000 missing migrant children were rescued from trafficking and exploitation.

Economic recovery under Trump was equally dramatic.

Gas prices fell below $3 per gallon in 43 states and below $2 in 19, while 654,000 private-sector jobs were created, all directed to native-born Americans through strict immigration enforcement. Real GDP grew 4.3 percent in the third quarter. Blue-collar wages saw their largest increase in nearly six decades. Private-sector real earnings rose by $1,100 annually, partially restoring purchasing power lost under the Biden-Harris administration.

Inflation stabilized at 2.4 percent, mortgage rates hit three-year lows, and existing home sales reached the strongest pace in three years. The Working Families Tax Cut saved 5.9 million jobs, eliminated taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits for seniors. Deregulation efforts produced $5 trillion in savings while attracting $10 trillion in domestic investment.

Trump’s foreign policy achievements were equally sweeping.

The Israel-Hamas conflict ended with the Gaza Peace Plan. Ceasefires were brokered between Israel and Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan, India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, and Egypt and Ethiopia. Groundwork was laid to hopefully resolve Ukraine-Russia tensions. Iran’s nuclear program was neutralized through military and intelligence action. Narcoterrorist Nicolás Maduro was captured, crippling illicit revenue streams for the Venezuelan regime.

U.S. military readiness surged through the largest investment in decades, artificial intelligence was integrated into defense planning, VA backlogs were cut 60 percent, and more than 51,000 homeless veterans were housed.

Yet, despite these unprecedented accomplishments and so many more, public perception remains strikingly disconnected from reality.

The January New York Times/Siena College poll found that only 32 percent of registered voters believed the country was better off than when Trump returned to office. 49 percent said it was worse. Trump’s approval rating stood at 40 percent, disapproval at 56 percent, and a majority of respondents, 55-42 percent, described his first year as unsuccessful.

These figures were released just days after the White House’s “365 Wins in 365 Days” announcement. They reveal a populace largely unmoved by achievements that objectively transformed policy, economy, and security.

Skepticism of this polling is not misplaced. The New York Times has long demonstrated a pattern of framing narratives through a left-leaning lens. It often underreports Republican accomplishments while amplifying Democratic perspectives. Trump condemned the poll as “fake” and “fraudulent,” denouncing it on Truth Social as a rigged effort to undermine his agenda. He promised to incorporate it into a multibillion-dollar defamation suit against the Times.

Yet even as the survey deserves profound suspicion, its existence reflects the reality of perception. These numbers shape voter attitudes and inform media-driven narratives that cannot be ignored. Republicans in this midterm year face a strategic imperative: they must seize Trump’s first-year successes as the centerpiece of their messaging.

From the 89-percent drop in wholesale egg prices to the $1,100 annual boost in real earnings, from the elimination of catch-and-release to the dismantling of transnational gangs, the facts are overwhelmingly positive and tangible. Every elected Republican—federal, state, and local—should internalize these victories and integrate them into debates, campaigns, and public engagements.

The GOP’s focus must be on energizing Trump supporters and persuadable voters through evidence-based celebration of his staggering accomplishments. Not attempting to convince lefty ideologues to give Trumpism a second look. The midterm outcome hinges on turnout, not conversion.

Paul Gottfried, in his January 20 essay Does America Want to Be Saved?, underscores the enduring polarization that shapes the electoral landscape. He recognizes Trump as “by far the most transformative” president he has observed since the Eisenhower era. Gottfried cites immigration law enforcement, tax relief, economic growth, anti-discrimination policies protecting white men, peace deals, and targeted law enforcement as unparalleled achievements.

Yet Gottfried cautions that these victories often fail to sway a leftist electorate whose base remains entrenched, ideologically committed, and resistant to persuasion. He notes that this opposition encompasses many government workers, certain racial minorities, and ideological constituencies such as unmarried college-educated women. These opponents of Trump mobilize efficiently in elections, maintaining turnout levels that are hard for Republicans to match.

The key insight is stark but actionable: the GOP cannot rely on swaying the ideologically rigid opposition but can, and must, motivate its own voters by highlighting Trump’s transformative wins.

In this hyper-polarized environment, Republicans should pivot to offense, showcasing clear, measurable improvements. There are record-low border crossings, historic reductions in crime, dramatic economic gains, and foreign policy breakthroughs. That approach does not promise universal approval. However, it ensures that the electorate sympathetic to Trump’s agenda understands the stakes and responds accordingly at the ballot box.

Ultimately, Trump’s first year stands as a case study in extraordinary achievement amid widespread misperception.

His administration delivered measurable benefits across immigration, crime, the economy, foreign policy, and government efficiency. Yet public recognition lags, distorted by media bias and partisan framing. Republicans’ success in November depends less on convincing the unreachable left than on rallying their own voters around the facts of a proven record.

Energizing the base through specific, demonstrable accomplishments, rather than general rhetoric, offers the clearest path to preserving congressional majorities and consolidating America First gains. This is the strategic lesson of 2026: objective success must be communicated relentlessly to counter a distorted public narrative.

Voter motivation, grounded in clear evidence of achievement, is the GOP’s most powerful tool.

Trump’s first year was not merely good; it was transformational. The disconnect between reality and perception is not a weakness of policy but a challenge in persuasion. Republicans must pivot, act decisively, and harness the power of undeniable facts to win hearts, votes, and, ultimately, the American future.