Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 29, 2026

“Do President Donald Trump’s policies have staying power? Conventional Beltway wisdom would suggest no. But we are not in conventional times. . . .

. . . .Trump has relied on executive orders. Last year, Trump signed 225 of them — the highest single-year total since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 — and quadruple the average of modern presidents. (Even President Obama with his infamous “pen and phone” never edged above 42 a year.)

Trump’s predilection for executive action over legislative dealmaking should concern supporters and bring some measure of comfort to his detractors. A Republican president of a different ilk — and certainly a Democratic one — could undo much of what’s been done, and if it’s unpopular, with gusto.

But. And an important “but.” There’s also more to the legacy of a presidency than policy. That’s the top of the pyramid, but beneath it are norms and institutions, many forged over a long time. Think of George Washington’s refusal of a third term. Or Abraham Lincoln’s mercy toward his Confederate opponents. Norms become a kind of bedrock that supports everything else, letting us build new laws and rules atop that foundation.

Not so in Trump 2.0.”