***First Quarter Grades for President Trump’s Team

[Byrd]

Grades for President Trump’s Team: JD Vance: A
Tom Homan: A+
Marco Rubio: B+
Scott Bessent: A
Pete Hegseth: B+
Dan Bongino: C-
Tulsi Gabbard: B+
Robert Kennedy Jr: B
Kash Patel: D
Pam Bondi: F
Susie Wiles: C-
Elon Musk: A+
Doug Burgum: B+
Sean Duffy: B
Lee Zeldin: B+
Kristi Noem: C
Mike Waltz: F
Lori Chavez-DeRemer: C

What are your grades?

So...basically grading them on their loyalty to Trump instead of on their actual performance.

If that's the way you want to rank them, then there's probably nobody who would quibble about ranking them this way in respect to Trump Loyalty Rating.  I think a lot of people would differ about job performance, however.

[putnam6]

Can't I just rate Trump instead? I don't see a cabinet brimming with independent thought. They are all on Team 47 and they listen to their CEO, so his administration as whole gets this rating.

And I'll try to even can the feels because I've jumped on enough progressive knee-jerk bandwagons lately.

Trump Administration at 100 days: D (66%)

Areas of "What in the hell are you doing?" note:
National defense (NSA/Pentagon)
Interior (National Parks)
Education (everything)
Foreign policy (public trolling)
Style of leadership (very Caligula)
Healthcare (It's not funny anymore)

His administration is very hard to watch and littered with so many conspiracy driven crusades Its difficult to keep up.

That said, he gets so close to a C, because while it's like watching a gruesome 18th century root canal, I still only just have to watch it so far.

The health secretary hasn't banned hygiene or recommended trepanation for mental disease in place of Celexa, so it's just the appearance that he is completely batshit insane.

Thank you for commenting. 

Let's just say I turn off Trump, a lot more than I  watch him myself. The day-to-day procedures of our government were never supposed to be viewed and judged in real-time, it's boring AF, and it's why I have incomplete on some and probably should have more. Sure, it's 100 days in, but how long have the heads been officially at work? 

66% overall is a little hard, but I could easily say 70% because the incomplete and needs improvements, and I could have been more "liberal" in grading the individuals 

For example, as much as I like Vance, he could be a B to C- depending on how one rates things, I can give him an F on handling trophies if that makes people feel better. 

Otherwise, I appreciate how he has become a lightning rod and handles the bolts with aplomb. 

Hegseth has had a shaky start for sure, not sure it qualifies as worrisome for our National Defense, just 100 days in

MY Revised Grades for President Trump’s Team: with F's and incomplete = 0 (zero), my overall grade is 1.9, which is fair as hell, it's high D  FFS 

And it's too early to judge deeply, but yeah, Im not a fan of the blanket trolling tariffs, but let's see where this ends, not begins. If we get significantly better terms with China, this is such a good thing that it overshadows some of the procedural mistakes.


  
Trump B-
JD Vance: B-
Tom Homan: A+
Marco Rubio: A
Scott Bessent: A
Pete Hegseth: C-
Dan Bongino: C-
Tulsi Gabbard: A
Robert Kennedy Jr: A
Kash Patel: D
Pam Bondi: F
Susie Wiles:  incomplete
Elon Musk: B-
Doug Burgum: incomplete
Sean Duffy: incomplete
Lee Zeldin: incomplete
Kristi Noem: C- a little too public without substance
Mike Waltz: D-
Lori Chavez-DeRemer: Incomplete



Areas of "What in the hell are you doing?" note:

National defense (NSA/Pentagon)       needs clarification, we need the wars to stop SOON

Interior (National Parks).                    needs clarification

Education (everything).                      Too early to tell, our Education is the pits

Foreign policy (public trolling).             Mostly agree, but this is the front end; foreign policy is about the results in 6 months to a year

Style of leadership (very Caligula).       Kind of harsh, Stormy said he mostly danced around in his underwear, political leadership point                                                              taken, I'd suggest the Roman Senate was less behind Caligula  

Healthcare (It's not funny anymore).     Im broke, no insurance, still not too concerned about healthcare BUT
                                                         Completely understand YMMV


What's funny is that while the opposition is all over the place, and again declares pain and despair, deep dark depression, excessive misery, 

I find it impossible for Trump and his administration to be wrong about everything, yet one poll suggests 30% of the Democrats polled don't like anything that Trump has done.

I'd suggest 30% of DJT's base is solid as ever; it all depends on the happiness of the other 22% Republicans and Independents

He isn't doing as well as I expected, but I never expected there would be so many oars in the water

[putnam6]

So...basically grading them on their loyalty to Trump instead of on their actual performance.

If that's the way you want to rank them, then there's probably nobody who would quibble about ranking them this way in respect to Trump Loyalty Rating.  I think a lot of people would differ about job performance, however.

FWIW, those grades are just the people on X's voting; look at my last post, I went a little deeper, there are so many people to look into

Overall, I gave them a 1.9 on a 4.0, lots of incomplete, Cs, and Ds to go around. That seems fair, some of these guys haven't been on the job for anything much beyond first reactions. LOL, a catastrophic 3 months could be ahead, or we could see positive movement on some key fronts, knocking the 1.9 to 2.5 or higher.

[RazorV66]

This is a joke, right?  You're not serious about these 'grades', are you?  I've missed some sarcasm tags...?

Trump's group is light years ahead of Biden's gang of America hating goons at the same point in his presidency.

[NoOneButMeAgain]

Jeez, man, so defensive when somebody disagrees with you? 

Saw the post on X and thought it was interesting, and wanted to see what DI thought

If you disagree, then go through your picks, FFS, or don't IDGAF

LOL, then realize 25% of his base thinks they are doing better than that.

Ok, so..
Robert Kennedy Jr: F - the guy doesn't believe in vaccinations and look at the US right now - measles epidemic.
Pete Hegseth: F - uses a public app on his personal phone to share confidential US attack plans.  Oh, did it again.
Elon Musk: D - unelected by the American public to push hs agenda on them of what constitutes 'good work ethics'.  Laughable.
Captain Orange Himself, Dumpy Trump:  F - leading the US to catastrophy through lies, deceit and, from what the world can see, Alzheimer.  Has turned his allies into his enemies as he cozies up to the West's historically tyrannical dictator foes.

[quintessentone]

Jeez, man, so defensive when somebody disagrees with you? 

Saw the post on X and thought it was interesting, and wanted to see what DI thought

If you disagree, then go through your picks, FFS, or don't IDGAF

LOL, then realize 25% of his base thinks they are doing better than that.

Aren't his base MAGA? in a civil war now, so is that 25% of 50% total MAGA base still being conned, or 60/40 or 70/30?

Grading this moving target is pointless, but if we must then his approval rating now is 59% (error margin of 1.8%) - a 7 point decline with those 40% who approve. So there is no way anything near an A or B can happen with Trump or any of his team, because Trump calls all the shots.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/20...oll-finds/

[putnam6]

Ok, so..
Robert Kennedy Jr: F - the guy doesn't believe in vaccinations and look at the US right now - measles epidemic.
Pete Hegseth: F - uses a public app on his personal phone to share confidential US attack plans.  Oh, did it again.
Elon Musk: D - unelected by the American public to push hs agenda on them of what constitutes 'good work ethics'.  Laughable.
Captain Orange Himself, Dumpy Trump:  F - leading the US to catastrophy through lies, deceit and, from what the world can see, Alzheimer.  Has turned his allies into his enemies as he cozies up to the West's historically tyrannical dictator foes

Hey ! look we are having a discussion... 

I highly suggest visiting the Trump Neurosis thread  

So you blame the 2025 measles, I say outbreak, you say epidemic, in Texas on RFKjr?

It's an isolated area in Texas and New Mexico where many in the community DO NOT get vaccinated for measles EVER, regardless of who the head of Health and Human Services is. It's in a heavily Mennonite community they don't get vaccinated for religious reasons. The area has less than 95% of the community vaccinated, the threshold of an outbreak. Most communities in the US ARE WELL above the 95% vaccinated rate. For RFKjr getting those petroleum based dyes removed from our foods will improve our health drastically, that shit is poison and its being fed to our children now.

Pete Hegseth, I had him at a C- not a fan of the guy myself, he seems out of his depth, and Signal stuff is concerning some indications is it's been over blown. Regardless its a huge minus, time will tell if it overshadows some of his other moves. Supposedly the DoD will investigate these "leaks" FWIW Hegseth says there was no classified material exposed. Beyond "Signalgate" his apointment was popular with service personel. 

Elon Musk and his group did nothing but identify areas of potential waste and concern across many departments any actual actions will have to be approve by the heads of the particular Department. FFS For example Elon reccommended change in the State Department and Rubio said no and the changes weren't implemented. As for unelected officials pushing agendas on our governement it isn't the first time this has occured. Time will tell how much is actually saved but if it just 10-15% of whats been suggested as real waste so far the positives for the country as a whole outweigh the negatives.

As for Trump again I don't like some of his methods either, but time will tell. If we still have massive tariffs on China in 3 months he likely went to far, if we have a more balanced trade deal in 3 months the end results outshines what are essentially procedural concerns. Much like tarrifs on his role in the Ukraine/Russia war we can argue methods till the cows come home, but he wants peace, Ukraine has no shot in changing the established frontlines any time in the foreseaable future. 

Respectfully if after 70 plus years of financial and miltary NATO investment, including over 100 billion in aid to Ukraine military and the public's pension funds any former allies want to consider Uncle Sam the enemy because we disagree on the course of the Ukrainian/Russo war, can go whistle... Getting America untangled from this regional mess was a large part in his re-election. 

Thats my thoughts for the moment, they are subject to change. 

[NoOneButMeAgain]

> So you blame the 2025 measles, I say outbreak, you say epidemic, in Texas on RFKjr?

Not directly, not like he opened a can of it and released it.

But I dont think his rhetoric or talk is helpful.  His statements that vaccines cause autism, which is 100% false, doesn't help the ill-educated masses.  Same with his position on flouride.

When he's in the position he's in, saying the horsesh*t he is, doesnt help improve the health of communities around the country.

Hence my low grade.

[Good Bacteria]

It's approaching 5 months in for problems that were created over decades. I keep telling people who can't manage their instant gratification expectations to take a few deep breaths. I expect movement but I'm not so naive to think these things can be fixed within 4 years.

I think those grades are fair. I'm looking for improvements around law enforcement and why the 2A is taking a beating worse than the last illegitimate administration. It's the Bill of Rights that constrains government, not the people.

You're simply NOT going to see the results you want any faster UNLESS people get out there and get vocal and pissed about the dragging of ass on everything. THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU which makes it easier for them to shrug off the demands.

Conservatives need to do EXACTLY what the left does, and MORE!! Otherwise, these politicians will do what they can, you know, "we tried", instead of doing their job.

Ps - The clock is running out though. The midterms are going to be interesting to say the least. I expect quite a few people to lose their nerve, FOLD and bail on the plans they voted for. It's a given. How large that number will be and to what extent it will influence the results is anyone's guess.

[putnam6]

Not directly, not like he opened a can of it and released it.

But I dont think his rhetoric or talk is helpful.  His statements that vaccines cause autism, which is 100% false, doesn't help the ill-educated masses.  Same with his position on flouride.

When he's in the position he's in, saying the horsesh*t he is, doesnt help improve the health of communities around the country.

Hence my low grade.

Fair enough, thanks for the clarification... 



here's why the measles epidemic is blown out of proportion in my mind for the moment: according to Next Strain, we have had worse outbreaks between 2000-2020, and it was barely a blip in the news cycle. Now it's a catastrophe because of RFKjr

https://nextstrain.org/measles/N450
 

Additionally, Uncle Sam's measles rate currently seems much lower than both Europe and Asia, while traditionally under-vaccinated regions like Africa and South America are less impacted. 




Do you think those populations in western Texas and New Mexico aren't getting vaccinated for measles because of RFKjr? It's mostly due to religious exemptions and rural locale. These mitigating concerns in these areas aren't exactly prevalent elsewhere in the US 

For perspective, this is the 11th-worst outbreak in 40 years in the US 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/heal...429461007/

Gaines County ground zero in TexasThe epicenter of the outbreak, Gaines County, Texas, encapsulates 10 cities, towns and census-designated locations and had a population of about 22,523 in 2023, according to U.S. Census data. At the seat of the county is Seminole, a small city with a population of roughly 7,231. The same data shows that 31.4% of the population is under 18, the prime population most heavily impacted by measles.
Gaines, which has three school districts that are all public, has an abnormally high conscientious vaccine exemption rate of 13.6% in grades K-12, one of the highest in Texas, 2023-2024 state health data shows. This is more than five times the statewide average of 2.5%.
Two other counties, Crosby and Bell, had even higher rates in 2023-2024 at 23.7% and 18.8%, respectively.

 
Low vaccination rates among local Mennonite community played a role in outbreak, experts sayWhile Gaines and Texas at large have followed the nationwide trend of plummeting vaccination rates, the county has another, population-specific factor that contributes to its high exemption status.
The area has a large population of Mennonites, a Christian religious-cultural group established during the protestant reform. Sometimes erroneously mistaken for the Amish due to their cultural practices, the close-knit, under-vaccinated Mennonite community in the area often opts to homeschool children or send them to private schools.
According to the Texas State Historical Association, two groups of Mennonites purchased land in Gaines and Andrews counties near Seminole in the late 1970s, an area they picked partially thanks to the less dense population, large swathes of land and private schools that are not heavily regulated.
Lara Anton, a spokesperson for Texas' health department, previously told USA TODAY the outbreak was concentrated in this community thanks to "under vaccination." She likewise pointed to access issues, saying the highly rural nature of the region means people have to travel at least 30 to 40 miles to get preventative care, including vaccinations.
The outbreak, though centralized in Texas, has since spread to multiple other states, though no deaths have yet been reported elsewhere.