Team Trump Is Touting Its Wins. As It Should.

I didn’t have to do a lot of work to produce today’s column. I was prepared to, and then something showed up in my email which covered the situation fairly thoroughly.

I had noticed that while the legacy corporate media and the political commentariat were howling about this poll or that midterm election race, or gas prices or whatever new Iranian intransigence could be offered as proof that we’ve “lost” the war over the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration had over the last couple of weeks racked up a fairly astonishing set of achievements.

Executive orders, wins over the Left in various courtrooms, various international developments.

I told myself I was going to plow through the research and catalogue a number of them. And just before I sat down to begin that process, the White House announced they’d done my work for me.

It’s a very good list, and so I’m going to republish it below. Here are the “that’s what I voted for” wins the Trump administration is crowing about…

⚖️ Trump scores major win as Supreme Court clears way for mail-in voting order ahead of 2026 midterms
“The Supreme Court ruled Monday that President Trump’s executive order tightening the rules around mail-in voting can be implemented ahead of the November midterm elections… In its ruling, the high court overturned a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing the March 31 mail-in voting order in response to a lawsuit filed by 23 Democratic-led states, who argued the directive unconstitutionally infringes on their authority to administer elections.” (New York Post)

You don’t even have to do a deep dive into this to see how big a deal it is. All you have to do is watch the meltdowns from the Democrats over that ruling, and you’ll know it’s a monster. (RELATED: Mail-In-Voting: Appeals Court Hands Trump Big Win)

I could give some examples. They’re easy to find. We have a lot of ground to cover here.

🛂 US set for largest mass visa revocation in history targeting up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say
“The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States… the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.” (AP)

They’re melting down about this as well, though 10 seconds of thought about this will make it clear how obviously correct this policy is. These are people who came here on tourist visas or to do business, and all of a sudden they’re asking for political asylum? That’s pretty brazen. The State Department has been doing what it can to weed people like this out — if you say on your B1 or B2 visa application that you fear harm or mistreatment upon your return from the U.S., you get denied, because they assume you’re going to seek asylum. Now they’re going back and weeding out the bootstrappers already here.

Doing so will have the effect of sending home a lot of people who are going to otherwise grace us with anchor babies, by the way. This is one of these presidential actions that you congratulate, and then you stop yourself and ask why in the hell Team Trump even had to do it. (RELATED: Birthright Citizenship and the Rule of Law)

🚨 ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, the highest monthly total of Trump’s second term
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50,000 people in July, the highest single monthly arrest total during the second Trump administration, according to new figures. The spike in immigration arrests shows that the administration has continued to advance its mass deportations agenda despite a shift in approach earlier this year… The July arrest tally of 49,571 marks a 15 percent jump from 43,021 arrests a month earlier and a 70 percent increase from 29,241 in February.” (AP)

The word is that the August numbers will be utterly breathtaking even in comparison to July. The mass deportations are probably coming too late to truly affect prices for housing, groceries, gas, and other things in advance of the midterms. Still, this is a “that’s what I voted for” item. It’s also evidence that the ginned-up leftist ICE hysteria turned out to be a failure.

🚀 US Business Activity Expands at the Fastest Pace Since 2022
“US business activity grew at its fastest pace in more than four years as stronger demand and a rosier outlook fueled a wave of hiring. The S&P Global flash US composite purchasing managers index climbed to 56 in August, according to data released Friday, the highest reading since April 2022… Activity at service providers rose to 56.8, matching the highest level since March 2022.” (Bloomberg)

Affordability is all you’re hearing about. I have sad news for you — those prices are not going to come down. The only way to deal with them is to make more money. The good news is that’s becoming easier. (RELATED: Natural Gas, AI, and the Industrial Boom Nobody Wants to Talk About)

📉 International student enrollment falls amid tighter U.S. visa policies, reports show
“Amid ongoing disputes over immigration policies and international student visas, fewer new students from overseas chose to attend U.S. colleges last year, and new data shows enrollment could drop even further in the year ahead. A report released Thursday by the Common App shows that although application volume for undergraduate admission in the upcoming 2026-27 academic year rose overall, the number of international applicants through March 1 fell 10%, the steepest decline on record. In the fall 2025 semester, the tally of new international students studying in the U.S. sank 17% compared with the previous year, according to a Fall 2025 Snapshot from the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education. IIE’s Spring 2026 Snapshot estimated another drop in overall international enrollment for the upcoming fall.” (CNBC)

They’re going to screech about this, particularly in tandem with a 20 percent uptick in trade school enrollment, but it’s a country healing and a bubble bursting that everybody not in higher education knows needs to happen. Interestingly, by the way, the big state schools in conferences like the SEC are bursting at the seams with applicants. (RELATED: Reclaiming America’s Graduate Pipeline)

Making American colleges American — and then perhaps actually teaching the students to be Americans — would go a long way toward fixing some of our more acute cultural issues.

⬇️ Fentanyl deaths plunge 22 percent as Trump White House touts crackdown on deadly drug crisis
“Fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22 percent in a single year as the Trump White House credits its border crackdown, campaign against drug cartels and arrests of convicted fentanyl traffickers for helping drive down the deadly toll. Synthetic opioid deaths, which include fentanyl, fell from 48,913 in 2024 to 38,084 in 2025, according to CDC figures cited by the White House — a decline of more than 10,000 deaths. Total drug overdose deaths fell 14 percent during the same period, from 81,313 to 69,973.” (Fox News)

This is an incandescently good sign. An America not killing itself with pills and needles is an America capable of reaching new heights. More of this, please.

⏸️ Trump administration pauses immigrant visa applications
“The Trump administration has paused immigrant visa applications worldwide to accommodate ‘in-depth training’ for consular officers as it seeks to screen out individuals deemed likely to need US assistance.” (Financial Times)

For further explanation on this, it appears to be a retaliation against a leftist judge who had blocked the State Department from freezing visa applications from certain countries — there were 75 of them — that most Americans want to see fewer people from.

So now nobody gets to come in. Sorry.

🚨 OMG MARCO IS A GENIUS.

Days ago, leftist Judge Jeanette Vargas BLOCKED Sec. Marco Rubio from freezing foreigner visas in 75 counties

In response?

He just FROZE VISAS WORLDWIDE for “training” purposes — to ensure the soon-to-be limited number of visas won’t be leeching off… pic.twitter.com/ANPr1QS38W

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 26, 2026

🚓 ICE quietly arrests jaw dropping number of illegal immigrants in massive DC area operation
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly arrested more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in the Washington, D.C., region in what federal sources said was one of the agency’s most successful operations to date. Multiple ICE sources told Fox News that the agency arrested 1,328 illegal immigrants over 14 days in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. The arrests took place in Virginia and Maryland, both of which have sanctuary-type policies in place. Of those arrested, almost 400 illegal immigrants had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, including a Salvadoran national wanted in Richmond, Virginia, on a murder warrant. Other crimes included rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, DUI, robbery and attempted murder.” (Fox News)

And this happened right in the belly of the sanctuary beast, too. And it happened without rioting or the typical stupid Angry Lesbian freakouts. Like I said above, the Left’s anti-ICE campaign was a failure.

💰 Trump administration lays out new $103K fee proposal for H-1B visas
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new proposed rule for H-1B visas on Monday that would charge a $103,265 fee for all workers seeking to gain employment in the U.S. who are subject to the annual statutory cap. Notice of the proposed rule says the fee would be used for the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system, including activities carried out by the DHS and the departments of Justice, State and Labor.” (The Hill)

Another one of the “why wasn’t this done before?” actions. If somebody really is a talented engineer or scientist or something, they’re going to be worth the 103K it’ll cost to bring them in. But this program has been abused to such a ridiculous extent that H-1B visas were being given for night managers at Circle K. You should be utterly offended by that regardless of your political persuasion, so naturally doing something about it is a “partisan GOP move.” (RELATED: The New H-1B Tax: An Exercise in Crony Capitalism)

🚫 Trump admin axes refundable tax credits for illegal migrants, saving taxpayers $3B
“The Trump administration is cutting illegal immigrants off from getting kickbacks from four major refundable tax credit programs — in a move that could save taxpayers an estimated $3 billion. The Treasury Department and IRS unveiled new rules on Wednesday to tighten the requirements for the adoption, child, American opportunity, and earned income tax credits so that only US citizens, US nationals, and qualified aliens can get them.” (New York Post)

“Why wasn’t this done before?” certainly covers this as well.

🏭 Philadelphia Area Manufacturing Activity Continued to Expand in August
“Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area continued to expand past expectations this month, according to a survey from the Philly Fed. In the reserve bank’s manufacturing business outlook survey, the current-activity index rose to 47.4 in August from 41.4 in July. A reading above zero indicates an increase in business activity. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a reading of 25… The employment index rose 18 points to 27.9, its highest reading since April 2022.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Keep this up and maybe Pennsylvania turns red. Of course, Pennsylvania’s governor is a “moderate” Democrat who can’t politically monetize his state’s improving economic outlook into a presidential run for his party’s nomination because he’s… well… you know…. (RELATED: How Mike Rowe’s ‘Build Freedom’ Aims to Restore the Dignity of American Work)

✈️ The Illegal Immigrants Deported On First Flight To Haiti After Trump Ended TPS
“The first deportation flight to Haiti since the Trump administration terminated protections for Haitian illegal immigrants left on Aug. 20 loaded with gang members, child sex predators, and other violent criminals.” (The Daily Wire)

Nobody ever took a vote on whether we wanted a mass influx of Haitians. Now we’ll have a mass outflux. If the midterms were to turn on whether we want more Haitians here or less, it would probably be happy ground on which Team Trump would fight.

👷 Cleveland-Cliffs’ Middletown steel plant getting a $1B upgrade
“With considerable federal backing, Cleveland-Cliffs is planning a $1 billion overhaul of its Middletown steel plant… The project is expected to preserve 2,300 jobs and make one of Ohio’s largest steelmaking operations more competitive with international steel manufacturers, company officials say.” (Axios)

The economic development pipelines in red states are absolutely filling up. In Louisiana, for example, the total capital investment figure announced for the state is now over $250 billion and likely over $300 billion, especially after SpaceX’s announcement of a $100 billion capital investment to build Starbase Louisiana in the coastal marsh southwest of Lafayette. That came on Tuesday.

🤖 Amazon is bringing a multibillion-dollar robotics plant to Texas
“Amazon has selected Austin, Texas, as the site for a multibillion-dollar robotics manufacturing facility. The Seattle-based company announced through Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office on Aug. 19 that the new facility is expected to create 300 to 500 manufacturing and engineering jobs.” (USA Today)

Amazon is also part of Louisiana’s economic development pipeline, with plans for a data center complex in the Shreveport area carrying an $18 billion price tag. And these wins are coming in red states and particularly red areas for a reason. Arch Aplin III, the founder and CEO of Buc-ee’s, explained it quite succinctly: “Life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing versus a place like this, where people do appreciate what you’re building.”

That was at a ribbon-cutting for a new Buc-ee’s planned in Arkansas. California isn’t getting a Buc-ee’s.

The pattern you’re going to begin to see is blue states doing everything they can to retard economic development so they can build a narrative of economic woe they’ll blame on Trump. But it’s a cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face moment. We’ll see if Americans notice. It’ll be impossible not to notice by 2028.