By 2019 the wall should have been done. This is what happens when you start three years in, something that could and should have been started in week one. What, was he afraid it would incite his critics? The fallout from acting unilaterally could not have possibly made things any worse for him. Tax cuts could’ve been passed by a monkey with an R next to his name, Trump was supposed to be different.
“What, was he afraid it would incite his critics?”
Unlike other presidents, Trump did not have key appointments vetted and ready to appoint the day after the election. Instead he spent the 2 1/2 months before inauguration doing speed interviews. Many of his key cabinet nominees (Tillerson, Mattis are most noteworthy) Trump decided on after a one hour get acquainted meeting. Instead of a team in place, ready to do battle, on inauguration day he was battling McConnell to get nominees through and also still trying to find people to fill positions. He ended up filling most with GOP political operatives who were invested in the DC Swamp, not Trump’s agenda.
Trump was also getting bad advice from Ryan and McConnell who were doing everything they could behind the scenes to sabotage his key initiatives like the wall. Likely the first year they told him they’d get the wall approved through the appropriations process and were warning him against unilateral action. By the time he realized they had no intention of enacting his programs, a year was essentially gone.
I admire Trump for what he was able to accomplish. However his biggest failure, once he decided to run, was to put together a high energy team of like minded people to fill the appointed positions in the bureaucracy to help him fight for the agenda. Trump was primarily a one man show against a bureaucracy of hundreds of thousands as well as a GOP Congress totally invested in the status quo. One man falling into a snake pit may kill a few snakes before they strike him but he will eventually be taken down by thousands of bites.