Trump The Better...

From the Desk of: Steve Elliott, Grassfire

Did you notice the difference in President Trump last night?

To understand what I'm calling "Trump The Better," I suggest you first watch Tucker Carlson's speech. Tucker puts in words very well what seems to be happening to President Trump in the aftermath of the near-death experience:

Then, watch the Trump speech in its entirety. It's worth it.

+ + Greater, yes! But now something else....

I think we are seeing in the aftermath of the shooting what I'm calling Trump The Better. It definitely was not Trump The Greater, even though "greater" has been the currency of his campaign since the day he came down that escalator. He made Reagan's "Make America Great Again" slogan his own. That slogan (and its four-letter abbreviation) has proven to be one of the most effective and accurate branding efforts in history.

"MAGA" means everything to his supporters while endlessly triggering his opponents -- each and every word...

  • "Make": the idea that we can actually DO something to change our circumstances is anathema to the victimhood Left;
  • "America": Right in the slogan, front and center, is a pre-eminent focus on our own nation. On America. This very idea causes liberal heads to explode;
  • "Great": this implies dominance and hegemony; and that there are "lesser" nations. The woke mob can't stand even the idea of America being "greater";
  • "Again"; here, Trump triggers the historical revisionists who tell us that everything in America's past is at best morally tainted and at worst evil. Trump says with one word, '"NO! America was great and will be great again."

But "Trump post July 13" is taking a different tact. He is sensing the Wind has shifted. And by "Wind," I mean God's hand in his life. He repeatedly acknowledged that he shouldn't be alive, and is here today only by "God's grace."

What does one of the most brazenly brash political figures do with such knowledge? Well, Trump isn't going to fundamentally change. But perhaps he will see life through a different lens. Perhaps he will begin to act a bit more in his public life as he does in his private life. Thus, all the stories leading up to Trump's speech. His children. Grandchildren. Famous friends. They each said essentially the same thing -- let me show you the man I know.

So last night's speech was not about Trump The Greater. We've known that Donald Trump for decades. The great real estate developer. The great showman. The great TV star. The greatest (and only) non-political/non-military person ever to win the White House.

This was different. This was Trump the Better.

+ + Trump the Better...

"Better" is an entirely different perspective than "greater." Even more than being greater, we need to be better. Better fathers and mothers. Better neighbors. Better political opponents. 

There's a quote that has for years been wrongly attributed to Alexis de Toqueville: "America is great because America is good. If America ever stops being good, it will stop being great."

It's a wonderful quote. But listen to what de Toqueville did say, as it relates to the inseparable link between liberty and faith in God:

Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. Religion is much more necessary in the republic which they [Americans] set forth in glowing colors than in the monarchy which they attack; and it is more needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie be not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people which is its own master, if it be not submissive to the Divinity?

de Toqueville was saying that the greater the liberties, the greater the need for a higher authority that the people submit to. Freedom without faith is a fool's errand. Ultimately, totalitarian rule will be needed if people aren't governed by God. Greatness without goodness ends in the same empty place.

So we have Trump the Better. Not even Trump the Good. Just better.

Did you hear Trump openly grappling with Franklin Graham's request that Trump not cuss during his rallies? Trump the Better was trying, and admittedly struggling with the trying. If you felt a tension during his speech, that's because Trump definitely toned down his rhetoric, and he was trying to get comfortable in his new skin.

Trump The Better spoke more like a father or grandfather to a nation than an antagonist trying to fight against the establishment. I'll get you your jobs back. I'll secure the border to save your families. I'll end these wars so they don't kill your children. I feel your pain when you go to the grocery store or try to buy a house.

And Trump the Better is listening, and learning. He meets with Gold Star families. He takes political advice from a waitress in Nevada. And he's trying not to cuss because he respects Franklin Graham.

Trump the Better. If he stays this course, he could lead America not only on a greater trajectory, but also on a better trajectory.

We need both.

God bless America,

Steve Elliott, Grassfire

P.S. I know some of our team members still haven't ordered my book 21 Years Of Trump. I'm not taking it personally, but I do think you would benefit in understanding President Trump's lasting legacy. We'll send a copy (free shipping) for ANY AMOUNT (even $5 or $10). Go here: