Politico Global Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris argues in a new article that President Donald Trump's second victory proves that he has taken control of American politics so completely that he is likely to be counted among the country's most important leaders.
Harris clarified that he was not describing Trump as a good or evil person, nor was he saying that Trump was a successful president, but he reiterated that his influence was enormous in both cases.
“He is the power of history,” Harris declared. His column Published Tuesday.
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Topshot – US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Editor-in-Chief Trump said Second opening Monday puts the president in a “whole new light” — he now “holds power under conditions where reasonable people cannot deny a fundamental truth: He is the greatest American figure of his time.”
Harris explained that Trump's assessment is “an objective description of the dimensions of his record,” noting how the president began “taking control” of the Republican Party nearly a decade ago, and now dominates “broadly every discussion of American policy.”
He noted that Trump's second victory proves “not a fluke” even though his opponents in the media have been attacking his shortcomings for nearly a decade. “He is someone with the ability to recognize opportunities that most politicians do not, and to forge strong, sustainable relationships with large groups of people in ways that no contemporary can match,” the editor-in-chief said, adding that he himself was “slow” to see this strength.
Harris went on to say that Trump's political opponents should abandon their strategy of portraying Trump as a political aberration. “They cannot push Trump to the sidelines, treating him as a temporary anomaly or simply condemning him as an outlaw and illegitimate,” he added.
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“Opponents have no choice but to acknowledge that he and his movement represent a great historical argument, and then muster equally great arguments to defeat it.”
Harris continued by comparing Trump's individual traits to those of “most important presidents.”
“Like his influential predecessors, his arguments changed the terms of debate in ways that resonated within both parties — in this case, on Issues such as trade and ChinaAnd the role of big business,” adding: “Like other great presidents, Trump was an innovator in communications and exploited technological shifts more effectively than his rivals.”
The author also noted Trump's “unusual psychological toughness” as “a signature exhibited by the most important presidents.”
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President Donald Trump leaves his indoor presidential inauguration in Washington, Monday, January 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“Imagine running for president amid massive civil lawsuits, criminal trials, and even… Criminal convictions – Then he emerges from this swamp as a bigger personality than before. “No one needs to admire this achievement to realize that Trump possesses some rare qualities such as denial, combativeness, and resilience.”
Harris noted that many of the great unifying presidents in American history were also seen as somewhat controversial and divisive in their day, suggesting that Trump could also be cast in this light in the years to come.
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He added that Trump has not yet proven that he can be a unifier, saying: “What he has not shown in his first term, or on his unlikely path to a second term, is the ability to resolve these conflicts and unify them.” The country is on a new level of understanding, and this requires Trump to reveal a new understanding of himself and how to exploit the next four years.
