Since President Trump came down the golden escalator in 2015, Democrats and too many Republicans have been utterly baffled by Trump. At first, they laughed him off as just an unqualified clown, but he won the Republican nomination. Then Democrats wrote him off as an opportunist and pretender, and told everyone he just wants to make himself richer, but he won the White House the first time. Since then, Democrats have variously characterized Trump as a con man, a dictator, a king, a NAZI, a racist, or just an old fool. All wrong, and that’s why they cannot grasp why they keep losing to him.

Democrats and “never-Trumpers” are perennially obsessed with ascribing only malicious and selfish intent to Trump, when really he is about the only person in Washington who simply wants to find solutions and fix problems. Most politicians are consumed with their reelection, so they just cannot understand anyone who is focused on working for the American people and is genuinely motivated to make the lives of average folks better.

In his first term, Trump created a thriving economy, and then COVID and dumb Biden policies tanked the economy and saddled Americans with crushing inflation. Upon Trump's return to the Oval Office, boosting and repairing a flagging economy was his most urgent priority. While Democrats screamed that Trump was only trying to steal our money and enrich his billionaire buddies, Trump just went to work. He expanded domestic energy production and reduced regulations, which decreased costs for working folks. He even substantially brought down egg prices. Average Americans pay little attention to Democrat attempts to incite class warfare, because they are enjoying falling costs and rising wages. Democrats overlook that.

When Trump introduced his plan for tariffs, the Democrat Media Complex had a meltdown. Leftist politicians and the press ran all over the air waves warning people that the economy was falling. They swore Trump would reignite inflation and thrust the nation into a debilitating recession. More than six months in, inflation is now down and stable and the GDP is growing by at least 3%, so there's no recession in sight. Again, Democrats were certain Trump was just trying to enrich himself, but he simply analyzed the economic landscape and determined that trade imbalances and closed markets were hurting American workers.

Trump is causing billionaires to invest hundreds of billions of dollars back here at home and returning good-paying manufacturing jobs to America. Democrats still overlook the benefits to the workers, because they are totally obsessed with taking swipes at Trump at any cost – they just can’t allow Trump to win, or let him take credit for anything. The common people don’t care about all that political wrangling; they just appreciate it when someone fights for them like Trump has done. Democrats can’t comprehend that because they pretty much only fight for themselves.

Crime is out of control in big blue cities, but Democrats just exploit the danger and misery to get and spend more money, and nothing improves. Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and other large Democrat cities just keep getting worse and the citizens just seem to keep reelecting the same losers. Trump sees the terrible crime in Washington and he acts; he brings more resources, tightens procedures, and directs that existing laws be strictly enforced.

By simply addressing the problems, Trump gets rapid results—streets are safer and citizens are appreciative. Democrats ignore the results because the outcomes reflect well on Trump, so they howl that Trump is a tyrant who is oppressing the people. They scream that the increased law enforcement must stop. They demand that the criminals be left alone. Democrats literally find themselves rooting against the safety of their constituents. Humorously, "Morning Joe" Scarborough and his sidekick, Mika, realized “it’s a trap”: Trump has cornered Democrats into cheering for criminals.

Illegal immigration is another shining example. Under Biden, the borders were wide open, and America was invaded by millions of illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of criminals. Biden swore we needed new laws to get illegal immigration under control, but Trump proved within weeks we just needed a new president. He beefed up ICE, closed the border, enforced the law, and started vigorously deporting criminal aliens. And what do ya know? Illegal immigration is under control for the first time in decades.

Again, Democrats argue with success. Illegal immigration was perhaps the leading issue why Democrats lost to Trump in 2024, and yet they find themselves demanding MS13 gang members be returned to the U.S. Despite federal immigration laws, Democrats are insisting they will retain their sanctuary laws. So who are they representing? Clearly not American citizens. They are standing up for illegal aliens like they used to stand up for working people. It’s truly amazing that Democrats will bankrupt their cities and states to care for illegal aliens and surrender the security of their citizens—all only in hopes those illegal aliens will be counted in the 2030 census to steal congressional seats and federal funds they do not deserve.

Trump is dominating the international stage like a boss, but Democrats are sniping at his every move, claiming he is weak and being played. However, the world sees it quite differently. He has already ended six wars and those nations (including 70,000 Cambodian monks) are clamoring for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Democrats are incensed but clueless about what Trump is doing because it’s simple commonsense.

The Democrat Media Complex moans that Trump is appeasing Russian President Valdimir Putin, but Europeans are in awe and crediting Trump with getting Putin to the table. Finland’s Prime Minister stated Trump has made the only movement toward peace since the war began. Democrats dismiss reality solely because again it reflects well on Trump, so now Democrats are the party of war advocating we go to war with a nuclear power. It’s insane, but it’s simply because commonsense eludes Democrats.

Democrats believe they are in a pitched ideological war to regain power, but they are flat wrong and have forgotten average Americans who just want good jobs and safe streets. The people just want results, and Trump is delivering results with common-sense policies. Trump is not an ideologue; he is a pragmatist (and a principled one, at that). He is simply doing what works for the people and the people see it. Hopelessly deluded by Trump Derangement Syndrome, Democrats will stay in the wilderness until they start serving Americans first, not illegal aliens and their own unprincipled self-interests.

“The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense” (Proverbs 10:21).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.