"So the Trump presidency begins Friday at noon, and though plenty of people have been happy to offer predictions, nobody really knows how it will go.
But Trump’s transition — his “pre-presidency” — is just about over now, so let’s see how that’s gone, and if that offers us any guidance on how things might go in the future.
And, actually, Trump has accomplished some stuff.
So far, in his pre-presidency, Trump has:
(1) Killed off dynastic politics, at least for now.
If Hillary had won, 4 of the last 5 presidents would have come from two families.
Before the election got underway, when everybody thought it would wind up as Clinton v. Bush, some of my friends from less developed countries were making fun of the United States trading the top slot between two connected families, as something less than an example of developed democracy. And they were right.
That’s not healthy.
(2) Kept Hillary out of the White House...
...(6) The press. As Politico’s Jack Shafer pretty much admits, the White House Press Corps has been asleep for eight years, serving more as lapdog than watchdog under Obama.
Now, just as I predicted, they’re starting to cover the presidency critically again.
That didn’t happen under Obama, and it probably wouldn’t have happened under Hillary.
But under Trump, the press will be making investigative journalism great again!
Whether Trump can match these accomplishments once he’s actually in office, I don’t know.
It may be that he’s peaked already.
But he’s already outperformed my (admittedly modest) expectations.
I hope he’ll keep doing that in the four (or eight) years to come."
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