President Trump has racked up genuine policy victories this term, but he’s squandering them by trolling his opponents instead of hammering home the substance — at least that’s the argument from a new opinion piece that has Republicans quietly nodding.
Writing in American Thinker, attorney Frank Friday acknowledges the appeal of Trump’s zingers — like renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” as a jab at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. But Friday insists the joke undercuts a far more consequential narrative: that Carney has, in his words, “basically sold out our once strong ally to the Red Chinese,” turning Canada into a smuggling depot for Chinese steel, aluminum, and other goods to evade U.S. tariffs.
That, Friday argues, is the real reason Carney broke off tariff talks in a “temper tantrum” — and it’s the story Trump should be telling voters, not the punchlines.
The wins nobody hears about
Friday’s broader point is simple: Trump has had many great successes this term, but he needs to talk about them because the legacy media won’t. The piece catalogs a list of accomplishments that, if accurate, would be the envy of any modern president.
First on the list is the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Friday says cut taxes for everyone — starting with tips, overtime, and Social Security income. Then come the border numbers: “The nation’s borders are finally secure,” he writes, with millions of undocumented immigrants going home or being sent home. That, in turn, has produced the largest drop in crime in the nation’s history, along with tremendous job growth and low unemployment.
It’s a rosy picture, and Friday acknowledges many Americans don’t feel it. The reason, he says, is gas prices — roughly a dollar higher per gallon than a year ago.
War, sacrifice, and a careless phrase
Friday attributes the pump pain to Trump’s military campaign against the Iranian regime, which he frames as a bid to end tyranny and bring “permanent peace to the Middle East.” He compares the conflict’s lopsided nature to the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 — which lasted less than an hour — though he notes this one is taking longer, and gas prices will stay high for months.
Still, he argues the price is relatively small: a year of Biden-level fuel costs and some extended Navy deployments. The American people, he says, will back a president’s use of force if they believe in the cause and see that every precaution is taken to protect troops.
So far, only 18 American service members have been killed — a tiny number relative to past conflicts, but everything to the families who lost them. That’s why Friday takes specific issue with Trump’s reported characterization of those losses as “small potatoes.”
“He needs to learn to be much more respectful when discussing this topic,” Friday writes. “This is a tiny cost to our country, but it is everything to the families of those men lost.”
Where the trolling should actually go
Friday isn’t asking Trump to give up sarcasm entirely — just to aim it at the right target. That target, he argues, is the Democrats’ latest proposal: Medicare for All.
Even The Washington Post, he notes, concedes the plan would mean trillions in new taxes for health services the current system can’t begin to provide. Friday’s suggested strategy: run clips of President Obama promising that under the Affordable Care Act, Americans could keep their doctors and plans — and save $2,500 per family every year. “How did that turn out?” he asks.
Trump and Republican paid media should pose that question every day until the election, Friday urges.
A familiar tension
The piece reflects a persistent tension within Trump’s own base: supporters love the show, but some worry the spectacle is drowning out the substance. It’s a critique that has followed Trump for years — that his instinct to counterpunch, rename landmarks, and mock adversaries can overshadow the policy achievements his administration actually delivers.
Whether that critique lands is another matter. Trump’s trolling has long been a feature, not a bug, for his most loyal supporters — many of whom view it as evidence he’s fighting for them, not just governing. But Friday’s plea suggests that even among friendly voices, there’s a growing desire to see the president spend less time on zings and more on message discipline.
For now, the question on the right isn’t whether Trump will win in November — it’s whether he’ll let himself be seen as the successful president his allies insist he is.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/09/trump-needs-less-trolling-more-focus/