Trump Shifts His Own Vibe

National Review ^ | April 25, 2025 | Rich Lowry

[RoosterRedux]

If Trump had moved slowly—whether with tariffs or reforming the government—the system would have buried him.

He wasn't storming a neutral frontier; he was fighting a hostile establishment from the inside. Our trading partners, the U.S. bureaucracy, the media, academia, and the corporate world were all entrenched against him.

If Trump had waited, the system would have crushed him.

• Bureaucrats would have sabotaged executive orders and screamed to the public that tariffs would bring a depression (which they did anyway).
• Congress would have stalled appointments even more.
• The media would have framed "waiting" as "failure" and "weakness."
• His base would have started doubting him if change wasn’t immediate.

In his case, the only winning move was shock and awe: break the enemy’s rhythm before they could organize a counterattack.

You can’t slow-walk a revolution when the gatekeepers control the courts, the agencies, and the newsrooms. Waiting would have been suicide.

[RoosterRedux]

BTW, the Germans did not invent the idea of sudden, overwhelming attacks.

They may have popularized the term "Blitzkrieg," but the basic concept — striking quickly with concentrated force, overwhelming an opponent before they can organize — is ancient. It goes back at least to Alexander the Great, and in reality, all the way back to the beginning of warfare itself.

Sudden, concentrated assaults have been one of the oldest strategies in human conflict, seen in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and even tribal warfare long before formal armies existed. I’m happy to point you to general sources if you’re interested.