What I Tell My Friends Who Hate Trump

It feels like there is no middle ground with President Trump. You either love him or hate him. And I have a fair number of people in my life who fall into the latter category.

A Personal Conversation That Revealed a Nation's Struggle
Recently, I spent some time in Riverside, California, at a friend’s home, where his daughter (who I’ll call Paula) is a professor at a well-known state university. She despises Trump, and given that I love interacting with people who see the world differently than I do, we had a great discussion.

During our exchange, she mentioned some of the typical reasons that I’ve heard countless others list for hating Trump. He’s divisive, he’s egotistical, and he has no compassion for others. But after several minutes of hearing her MSNBC talking points, I paused and said, “Paula, I get that you don’t like Trump. But be honest with me. Do you think it’s OK to kill people?”

Taken aback and unsure where I was going next, she shook her head no.

“I don’t like killing either,” I replied. “But that’s exactly what the previous administration’s policies led to time and time again.”

I recapped the Afghanistan debacle, where thirteen US service members were needlessly killed after a reckless pullout. I then pointed out it was this display of weakness that empowered Vladimir Putin to think he could invade Ukraine. As a result,

NBC news reports there are roughly 1.4 million causalities -- including in that number 60-100K dead Ukrainians and 250,000 dead Russians. To put this in perspective, Michigan Stadium is the largest capacity stadium in the United States with a capacity 107,601 people; imagine that size of crowd multiplied by three - dead. It’s unfathomable.

But that’s just one example. Take the Israel-Gaza conflict, where around 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7th, and roughly 55,000 “people have been killed in Gaza since then.” This is nothing to say of the ten million migrants that entered the US during the Biden administration, some of whom have turned out to be very bad actors.

These conflicts started under the Biden administration. And as books like Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson indicate, it was an administration run by a leader who was clearly not up to the job.

How One Presidency Redefined Global Power and Domestic Politics
To be clear, it’s not as if President Trump waved a magic wand and all conflict ceased the moment he was inaugurated. The killing in Ukraine and Gaza continues. But therehasbeen a noticeable shift in how nations have responded, and I am much more optimistic that we will live in more peaceful times under his leadership. Foreign nations respect that America will not bend to their every demand, and we are gradually returning to the Reagan policy of “Peace through strength.” 

Beyond Ukraine and Gaza, Trump has signaled that he will press for quick settlements elsewhere. In the Red Sea and Yemen, for example, his administration brokered a major truce with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. On May 6, 2025, Trump announced that the U.S. would halt its bombing campaign against the Houthis because they agreed to stop attacking international shipping lanes.

Gulf states like Qatar and Kuwait quickly praised the agreement as “definitely a good thing,” noting it ended a “vicious bombing campaign that was harming Yemeni civilians.” Trump’s approach here was clear: he declared the Yemen conflict unwinnable and forced a negotiated pause in violence. The ceasefire has largely held in the Red Sea, reducing immediate threats to shipping, although the Houthi threat to Israel endures.

Trump has also tried to revive nuclear talks with Iran under his terms. During his May 2025 Gulf trip, he reported sending Tehran a new agreement proposal on the Iranian nuclear program. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, engaged in multiple rounds of indirect talks in Oman. Don’t forget his change to US Diplomacy focusing on peace and prosperity with US international policy, while forging trillion-dollar deals during his trip to the Middle East.

At home, under Trump's leadership, global investment in the United States surged significantly, with major foreign corporations committing substantial resources to U.S. industry. For example, Nippon Steel announced a $14 billion investment in U.S. Steel, Hyundai pledged $21 billion for automotive manufacturing expansion, and IBM committed $150 billion over five years toward enhancing American manufacturing and advanced computing capabilities.

These investments were driven by Trump’s pro-domestic industry policies (notably higher tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles) incentivizing companies to establish operations within the United States. Additionally, Trump's economic policies led to notable stability and growth, with consistently low inflation averaging around 2% during his first term and reaching about 2.4% recently.

Challenging the Critics Who Miss the Bigger Picture
By the end of our conversation, I’m pretty sure I didn’t turn Paula into a Trump supporter, but I think she at least valued my perspective and realized that I support President Trump because I believe his policies have and will result in a stronger and safer America.

If you’re someone who considers yourself a Never-Trumper, I can partially understand your perspective. There are certainly some qualities of Trump that you don’t admire. But all I can say is that he is far better than his predecessor and almost every major Democratic challenger. He’s willing to take on the tough challenges others avoid.  

It’s easy to pass the buck. This is something Democrats, like California Governor Gavin Newsom, often do. Take, for example, his recent response to California’s homeless crisis.

He stated that “the goal is to help municipalities set ‘rules around encampments and establish effective enforcement procedures’ prioritizing shelter and services.” In other words, “It’s notmyproblem. It’s a local government problem.”

Trump doesn’t do this. He’s willing to get down in the mud and tackle the toughest issues of our day—even as many sit on the sidelines and cast stones. He is what Theodore Roosevelt calls “the man in the arena.” As he famously said,

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

No person represents this better than Donald Trump. As he proved nearly one year ago in Butler, PA, he is a fighter. He’s not a pastor or Sunday school teacher, but he’s someone who goes to war every day for many of those ideals people like you and I cherish most.

So, if you’re someone who isn’t sold on Trump, here is my challenge to you. Instead of always nitpicking his process, take a step back and recognize that many of his policies areworking. The world is becoming safer. Waste, fraud, and abuse are being cut. DEI insanity and LGBTQ+ ideology are being replaced with normalcy – merit-based qualifications, not by the color of your skin, pronoun, or partner.

Look beyond the noise and consider the results. You might not appreciate Trump’s style or even agree with all his methods, but it's undeniable that the results speak volumes. Rather than dismissing Trump outright, I encourage you to thoughtfully weigh the tangible benefits of his policies against personal distaste. After all, a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America is a goal we can all support, regardless of political allegiance.

May God continue to bless you and the United States of America.