No one, we believe, knows what Donald Trump will be like as president – including Donald Trump. Will he be the Trump of his insult-ridden, blustering campaign – absurd declarations, vain promises and threats – or the person Trump decides to be after learning the grim realities of presidential responsibility, the state of the world and the limits of power.
Will he be the authoritarian strongman he clearly admires or decide, having attained the most powerful position in the world, that that’s not how, as president, he wants to be remembered?
He is not beholden to the powerful in his party, to the Koch brothers and other major campaign contributors, or the platform of the Republican Party he joined for his run. That thought offers hope.
At a time when bright spots are few, we belatedly learned of a promising conflict between the successful candidate and his party. Last summer, Republicans adopted a platform that calls for turning control of energy and mining resources on federal lands to the states and eventually ceding control of those lands to those states. That would constitute a massive transfer of ownership from all the American people to a relative few, lead to extraction and burning of coal that would defeat attempts to curb climate change, and enrich some at the expense of landscapes all Americans treasure – whether they see them in person or only in a Ken Burns documentary.
Early in his campaign, Trump was asked about the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon by armed militants who wanted state ownership of the property, which was originally occupied by Native Americans.
“You cannot let people take over federal property,” Trump told the New York Times. He went on to express sympathy for states whose development is constrained by federal land ownership and suggested that as president, he would work with them to ease rules to allow their use for schools and other purposes. Trump has also called for lifting restrictions that limit the return of the coal industry and oil and gas producers.
The federal government owns 47 percent of 11 Western states, with members of Congress eager to claim the land, and the revenue it produces, for their constituents. The Trump who spoke to CBS that day said, “No.”
“I don’t like the idea because I want to keep the lands great, and you don’t know what the state is going to do,” Trump told editors of the magazine Field and Stream. ” I don’t think it’s something that should be sold. We have to be great stewards of this land. This is magnificent land. . . . I am for energy exploration, as long as we don’t do anything to damage the land.”
The fate of America’s public lands, including its parks, won’t be near the top of the new president’s agenda, but it has become a big part of President Obama’s legacy – and we believe he will stress its importance to his successor. If not, however, we hope that Republican members of Congress in the eastern and central states will join in a bipartisan effort to stop the massive proposed land grab.