2018年对川普总统来说将是在国内外既有挑战也有机会的一年。川普希望在去年年底取得的税改胜利基础上更进一步。但是川普总统和他在国会的共和党盟友在2018年11月国会中期选举前肯定会面临更大的政治阻力。
川普总统在展望他的第二年执政时，喜欢提醒所有人上个月税改法案的胜利。他最近对记者说：“将会很难比过去的一年做得更好，因为去年是十分特殊的一年，特别是年底庞大的减税和税收改革。”
川普总统的白宫新年伊始就受到沃尔夫撰写出版的《火与怒：川普白宫内幕》的冲击。这本书对川普总统提出尖锐的批评，引起一场政治风暴，并引起一些人、特别是民主党人质疑川普是否合适做总统。
川普和他的助手抨击这本书基本是杜撰。白宫新闻秘书桑德斯在白宫对记者说：“有若干错误，但是我不会浪费我自己以及国家的时间逐页讨论一本完全是臆想的书。“
包括众议院议长瑞安在内的国会共和党领导人更愿意谈论政策，而不是个人性格，尤其是在取得了减税的胜利之后。他说：”很多人找到我们，跟我们说：‘这个管用，我得到更多工资，还拿了奖金。’还有人说：‘我要扩大我的小公司，招募更多的员工。’这非常令人振奋。”
分析人士说，这本书引起的激烈争议再一次突出了围绕川普总统的政治对立。布鲁金斯学会的学者胡达克说：“我认为，这本书迎合了一些人原有的想法，认为总统的头脑不稳定，或者缺乏化解事端的能力。但是对总统的支持者来说，这本书将被视为杜撰，完全不值一提。”
最新的一个民调显示，川普总统的支持率为36%，59%的受访者认为他不称职。调查还显示，认为民主党明年控制国会的人为52%，认为这不会发生的人占35%。
纽约时报这个星期说，当一位总统的支持率低于50%时，在国会中期选举中平均丢失40个众议院席位。民主党需要多赢24个众议院席位和两个参议院席位就可以在两院占多数。
2018 promises to be a year of challenge and opportunity for President Donald Trump, both domestically and overseas. Trump hopes to build on his victory on tax cuts late last year. But the president and his Republican allies in Congress will likely face strong political headwinds this year leading up to the November midterm congressional elections.
Even as he looks ahead to his second year in office, Trump likes to remind everyone about victory last month on a tax bill. “It is going to be tough to beat the year we just left because what we had last year was something very special, especially to cap it off with the tremendous tax cuts and tax reform,” Trump recently told reporters.
Trump’s White House got off to a rocky start this year with publication of the controversial book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. The book’s highly critical assessment of the president set off a political firestorm and raised questions about his fitness for office, especially among Democrats.
Trump and his aides slammed the book as mostly fiction. “There are numerous mistakes, but I am not going to waste my time or the country’s time going page by page talking about a book that is complete fantasy,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during one exchange with reporters at the White House.
Republican congressional leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan would prefer to talk policy, not personality, especially in the wake of the tax cut win. “There are people who are just coming up to us and saying, ‘this is working, I’m getting bigger paychecks, I got a bonus,’ or ‘I’m expanding my small business and I’m going to hire more people.’ So that is exciting.”
Analysts say the furor over the book has once again sharpened the political divide over the president. “What I think the book will do is fit into pre-existing notions for some people that the president is mentally unstable or is having challenges with decline,” said Brookings Institution scholar John Hudak. “But for the president’s supporters this book is going to be seen as a fabrication and as something not to be taken seriously.”
A poll this week found President Trump’s approval rating at 36 percent while 59 percent disapprove of his presidency. The survey also found voters prefer Democrats to take over control of the Congress next year by a margin of 52 to 35 percent.
The New York Times noted this week that when a president’s approval is under 50 percent, the president’s party has an average loss of 40 House seats in the midterm. Democrats need a net gain of 24 House seats to retake control of that chamber, and two seats to take the majority in the Senate.