On election night, after it became obvious that Donald Trump would win, many assumed his second term would mirror the first.
However, with Trump’s 100-day mark now firmly in the rearview, it’s become clear that there are marked differences between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0.
To that end, there are two unmistakable differences between the two terms.
First, there’s the absence of “guardrails” — administration officials who tempered some of Trump’s impulses in the first term.
The second difference is that this time, Trump came to Washington noticeably more familiar with the levers of government and more confident in ways he can maximize his power.
During the first term, officials such as former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Attorney General William Barr and economic advisor Gary Cohn all acted as guardrails at various times, talking Trump down from his more extreme positions.
Yet, in this current term, Trump has surrounded himself with officials who, aside from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, were largely appointed for their loyalty and willingness to facilitate Trump’s desires, rather than skill or abilities.
For example, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are two great examples. Both came from Fox News with minimal to no prior experience for their current roles, but scored highly on loyalty to Trump and were rewarded with high-profile roles.
As Ezra Klein pointed out, during Trump’s first term, he “governed with a staff that saw part of its role as curbing and containing the boss’s most destructive impulses.”
But, with a Cabinet stacked with loyalists, the second term administration is “a royal court” with “prized loyalists who will do what they’re told.”
Brett Stephens noted something similar, calling out the lack of “adult supervision” compared to the first term, and how that’s caused Trump 2.0 to be staffed by second-rate officials chosen only for loyalty, with competence seemingly a non-factor.
Congress is no exception.
In Trump 1.0, there were enough traditional Republicans to ensure that the most divisive parts of Trump’s agenda were either watered down or never made it to a vote.
This term, however, congressional Republicans are tripping over themselves to introduce bills clearing the way for a third Trump term, putting his face on the $100 bill or even onto Mount Rushmore.
Related to the lack of guardrails in this term compared to Trump’s first, is his increased confidence in exercising the power of his office.
During his first term, Trump was a true outsider and a stranger to Washington politics.
Now, however, he is intimately familiar with the levers he can pull, with excesses being encouraged by officials more concerned with appearing loyal than professional or even upholding the oath they took.
This is part of the reason he was able to move so quickly with a flurry of executive orders that have aimed to radically shake up the government, despite their questionable legality.
In that same vein, Trump’s unchecked power and his confidence to use it is already turning off voters.
A majority (54 percent) of voters — including 62 percent of independents — believe Trump is “exceeding his powers,” while nearly one-half (44 percent) of Trump voters say “chaotic” describes Trump’s second term either very well or somewhat well, per New York Times/Siena polling.
Taken together, the combination of surrounding himself with “yes men” too afraid to push back on one drastic measure or another has led to vast differences between Trump 1.0 and his current term.
Perhaps the best description of the difference between the two terms was given by the president himself.
Speaking to the Atlantic, he said, “The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive…And the second time, I run the country and the world.”
One could be justified in assuming Trump genuinely believes that, now surrounded by sycophants in the White House and on Capitol Hill.
If, during the first term, he railed against the “unfriendly media” and elite institutions, Trump now feels emboldened enough to act against them with the full weight of his office, with no dissent from administration officials.
Similarly, whether taking legal action against universities, the media, law firms, brazenly ignoring court rulings or boasting about accepting a $400 million plane from Qatar, Trump’s confidence — and willingness — to take real action against perceived enemies is unprecedented.
Of course, part of this confidence stems from Trump knowing — even if he won’t admit it — that this is his final term in office, whereas in the first term he craved positive coverage ahead of a reelection campaign.
Much of this can be seen in both the more extreme executive orders as well as the populist policies Trump is advancing, regardless of the damage they pose to vulnerable Republicans in Congress or how much they anger hardcore conservatives.
In just the past few weeks, Trump signed an order aimed at lowering drug prices — a longtime priority for Democrats — told the Department of Justice to ask courts to throw out GOP-led lawsuits trying to restrict access to abortion pills and is pushing a tax bill that hurts blue state Republicans.
Ultimately, an echo-chamber White House which feeds Trump’s impulses has given him the confidence to remake the country — and the world — as he sees fit, a stark difference from the first term.
Whether or not this leads to political consequences, such as Democrats taking back the House or Senate, remains to be seen.
But, at this point in Trump 2.0, there can be no denying that Trump has achieved total domination of Washington in a way he never came close to eight years ago.
Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman are pollsters and partners with the public opinion company Schoen Cooperman Research based in New York. They are co-authors of the book, “America: Unite or Die.”
