Why did he nominate a bunch of SCOTUS who were moderates?
Not one Scalia or Bork in the whole lot.
“Why did he nominate a bunch of SCOTUS who were moderates?”
He did the best he could. He nominated them because McConnell would not advance a nominee not on his list. McConnell recessed for Obama, but for Trump he lept the Senate in session for the entire Trump Presidency to prevent recess appointments (And yes, a Supreme can and has been appointed at recess)
Between the Russia hoax, impeachments, mutiny in the military leadership, CIA placing spies inside his White House, and the fact that his AG and FBI leaders were cemented in place with McConnell and Graham impeachent threats...no, he did not have the freedom to nominate anyone he wanted.
Back of the envelope, I think first term Trump had about 33% of the power a President normally has.
“”Why did he nominate a bunch of SCOTUS who were moderates?
Not one Scalia or Bork in the whole lot.””
As I recall.... at the time.... we, on the right, also thought that his picks were good ones. There was no real pushback on any of Trump’s SCOTUS choices.
“Why did he nominate a bunch of SCOTUS who were moderates?”
McConnell was calling the shots re SCOTUS, and told him the ones who had a chance of being confirmed.
It seems that everyone in politics has more power than the POTUS.