Maxwell School News and Commentary

"If President Trump and his advisers can out-think and out-strategize [Putin] in order to get Russia to provide some useful assistance in changing North Korea’s nuclear program, then it could be a win for the president, but it’s high-risk to say the least," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, says Trump could attempt to contain the criticism from retiring Republicans by moderating his tone and laying off individual attacks on members.

"On the one hand, it takes him to a region, and to individual countries, that he's criticized, and with which he's already had tensions. So, a lot of things could go wrong," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "On the other hand, a diplomatic trip like this almost forces him to behave in a more conventional way, and that could help his image at home."

"He [Jeff Sessions] has set DACA in his sights and this is likely not the last anti-immigrant gesture he will make as Attorney General," says Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor of political science.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, says a primary challenge to Trump would be futile unless Republicans could "have an agreed-upon person that's going to represent that challenge."

 According to Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, the timing of Trump's plan to speak on Afghanistan "feels a little like a ‘wag the dog' type of effort at distraction."

According to Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, Trump's basic policy framework for energy—reducing regulation, producing and consuming more of America's own energy resources—has more obvious appeal and is easier to sell to voters.

"These are the folks who actually attempt to implement the policy changes that the administration is trying to push down from above," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about the importance of political appointees below the Cabinet level.

Grant Reeher is featured in the Washington Examiner article, where he analyzes the effect of Trump's political maneuvering " According to Reeher, "He [Trump] needs to both challenge the status quo and be able to work within it in order to succeed.

"There's no reason to think that once elected, he [President Trump] would turn on a dime and act like all previous president-elects, when he did not act like previous candidates," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.