1. Introduction: The Ordinary Presidency of the Extraordinary Donald J. Trump

Donald J. Trump is an extraordinary president but his presidency is ordinary. The president, in the character traits that he brings to the office and in the way that he approaches and executes this most difficult of jobs, is unquestionably extraordinary. But in terms of achievements, policy and promises kept, Trump’s presidency is far from extraordinary. Indeed, it is rather ordinary. Most notably, Trump policy outputs have been meager, but meager is the norm for US presidents. Trump, like most of those in the White House before him, is constrained by the separation of powers and checks and balances. But Trump is also constrained by himself. He is simply not very good at being president. The White House is in chaos, his communications strategy disjointed and misguided, and his legislative strategy muddled and ineffective. His approach to the job—his methodology of being president—constantly undermines his own efforts and the efforts of those around him to achieve policy “wins”, as Trump likes to call them. Trump’s presidency is also ordinary in the sense that the few policy achievements that he can genuinely lay claim to are largely mainstream Republican ones. The anti-establishment, disruptive populist of the campaign trail has turned into a rather ordinary Republican in office.