
Reflecting my mixed views of President-Elect Trump’s recent actions:
I like his choice of James Mattis for Secretary of Defense:
“Why Our Allies Love James Mattis and Our Adversaries Fear Him”
“General Mattis is a Great Man — and a Good One”
But, although his supporters have been boasting about Mr. Trump’s saving of all those Carrier jobs, I dislike it:
“The Winners and Losers of the Carrier Deal”
“The Economic Stupidity of the Carrier Bailout”
My attitude reflects my politics: I regularly describe myself as a conservative with libertarian leanings. Libertarian foreign policy ideas are among my major reservations about going full-bore Libertarian Party. My economic views, however, are conservative, bordering on libertarian.
And my judgment on these two matters is consistent with my longstanding opinion of Donald Trump, that he’s a nationalist with some rightist ideas but not really a conservative.