The Framers were specific in outlining the qualities needed for the republic’s leader.
On the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s second term, the president spoke to the White House press corps about his accomplishments in the last year, focusing on the 10,000 criminal illegal aliens that his administration has taken off the streets in Minnesota alone. He has pulled out all the stops to realize his goal of making America great again – but how do his actions compare to the vision put for the nation by the Founding Fathers?
The President as Strong Executive
In his course on The Presidency and the Constitution, Larry Arn, president of Hillsdale College, says our founding fathers wanted a strong executive. George Washington was a “big man, revered, and the most trusted man of his age,” Arn says, and the first president earned that trust with two qualities that are essential to executive leadership: aggressiveness and restraint. Washington showed aggressiveness in crossing the Delaware River to attack the German Hessian soldiers on Dec. 26, 1776, but he also exhibited restraint by leaving office after two terms and returning home to Virginia — a move that impressed King George III.
Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers, No. 70:
“Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy. Every man the least conversant in Roman story, knows how often that republic was obliged to take refuge in the absolute power of a single man, under the formidable title of Dictator, as well against the intrigues of ambitious individuals who aspired to the tyranny, and the seditions of whole classes of the community whose conduct threatened the existence of all government, as against the invasions of external enemies who menaced the conquest and destruction of Rome.”
Trump has used his executive powers — 23 presidential actions — and a whole-of-government approach to repel foreign invaders. He expanded detention and enforcement; enhanced vetting and screening of aliens across agencies; invoked the Aliens Enemies Act; reinstated and expanded travel restrictions on nationals from countries with inadequate screening and vetting; designated cartels and gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and specially designated global terrorists; and designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
The Trump administration has struck at least 35 boats suspected of carrying drugs to the United States in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean over the last three months of 2025. The president also ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and removed self-appointed dictator Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, who is accused of transporting thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States, among other crimes.
Exemplifying the “Energy” Hamilton wrote about, in a rapid-fire succession of policies, Trump ended taxpayer-funded benefits going to unqualified aliens; cut federal funding to sanctuary cities; and tightened requirements for H-1B non-immigrant worker visa petitions. The president suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program; ended humanitarian parole programs for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV); and revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several countries, including, most recently, Somalia.
Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the largest-ever one-time investment in border security, which will have implications for future presidencies. The Trump administration has deported more than 2.5 million illegal aliens. ICE has removed tens of thousands criminal illegal aliens from sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles, Nashville, Washington, DC, Chicago, Memphis, Boston, and Minneapolis.
In securing the “liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy,” the Trump administration has also rescued more than 62,000 migrant children from sex and labor trafficking, just a portion of the more than 300,000 migrant children who were lost after crossing the border during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The mass deportations appear to be improving the quality of life for Americans, as the United States experienced the largest single-year drop in murders on record in 2025. Last year reportedly saw dramatic declines in rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, shooting deaths, on-duty law enforcement officer deaths, fatal overdoses, and traffic fatalities, as well. More dramatic declines were reported in Democrat-run jurisdictions where the Trump administration conducted mass deportations and enhanced law enforcement operations, especially in DC, Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans. Will history show President Trump fulfilled the intentions of the Founding Fathers? If not, it certainly won’t be for lack of energy and effort.
Dig Deeper Into the Themes Discussed in This Article!
Liberty Vault: Federalist Papers No. 70
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