Rating Trump: 14 viewpoints on the right

Talk radio host James Edwards assembled a special panel of accomplished academics and activists to evaluate President Trump’s first year back in office. The panel included a diverse mix of both American and international respondents. Listed alphabetically, each participant was asked to assign a grade to Trump’s first year on a scale of 1-10 and provide a brief explanation for their rating. 

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Dr. Virginia Abernethy, professor emerita of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University (U.S.): 7/10. I would give a higher rating, but his uneven foreign policy has brought Trump down a bit. I think it was very bad to bomb Iran, and wrong to provide Zelensky with so much rope. By disfavoring Russia, we push Russia and China closer together than they would otherwise be, which is dangerous. China is our most dangerous, possibly impulsive, and aggressive adversary.

Recall that the US and our allies had been promising, for decades, that Ukraine would never join NATO. Then, suddenly, President Biden invited Ukraine to join NATO, and Ukraine appeared delighted to accept. One cannot blame Russia for feeling betrayed by the United States and our allies. In this light, Russia’s attack on Ukraine seems almost reasonable. Also, recall that Ukraine was part of Russia until Krushchev declared its independence sometime, I think, in the 1950s. Trump is trying to settle the mess, but he has not pushed Zelensky hard enough and has allowed too much money and military material to flow Zelensky’s way.

Peter Brimelow, former editor of Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and VDARE (U.S.): 10/10. He gets a 10 because he’s not Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. It really is that simple. The Biden administration was an absolutely catastrophic, incipient communist coup–communist in content but fascist in form because it often worked through private sector entities. It turns out, for example, that it was the federal government that was pressuring banks to force payment processors to drop Dissident Right content creators. (My wife, Lydia, and I mentioned we suspected this in our VDARE swan-song videos). A second Biden/Harris administration would have been worse. Appropriate symbol: the J6 martyrs would still be in jail.

Trump is infuriating in many ways, such as the rhetorical flip-flopping, Zionist whoring, and apparent inability to get Congressional Republicans to actually do anything. But from my immigration-obsessed perspective, he has already triggered a serious exodus — the foreign-born population has fallen by more than 2 million in 10 months. He seems to be hampering legal immigration through regulatory changes (which also occurred during his first term). And he’s surfacing issues that VDARE.com was writing about going back 25 years–Birthright Citizenship, the refugee racket, cultural incompatibility of Third World immigration, etc. It adds up.

Rev. Jim Dowson, pastor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Ireland): 7/10. Trump has revolutionized politics not only in the United States but has shocked Europe out of its slumber. His ICE initiative has given us Brits hope and ended the government’s mantra of “There is nothing we can do about illegals here.” He has also sparked a massive reawakening of British patriotism and the belief that “We ain’t done yet” among our people, which has manifested in the incredible rise of right-wing parties across many European nations.

I think he still has much to do to free America and his own administration from the steel grip of the Zionists and the Israel lobby, but given his position and their strength, I think he is doing as much as he possibly can at present without dodging another assassin’s bullet. It is my earnest prayer that Donald Trump avoids the next election by whatever means, i.e., national emergency powers or martial law, so he can have another four years to crush the woke and the left. May God guide him and defend him in the years ahead, and may God truly bless America. If you fall, we all fall. That’s a fact.

Andrew Fraser, professor emeritus of law at Macquarie University (Australia): 6/10. I live in a small town at the top of the Blue Mountains, about 50 miles from downtown Sydney. The people here are generally Anglo progressives in outlook. So, back in 2016, I received a lot of dirty looks as I walked around proudly wearing a MAGA hat. But Trump’s first term was a bitter disappointment. And, so far, his second term hasn’t been much better. He often talks big about immigration, for example. Unfortunately, he never follows through with a consistent program of legislative and executive action. For example, let’s see a serious campaign to repeal the demographically disastrous 1965 Hart-Celler Act. Or how about penalizing corporations employing illegal aliens in flagrant disobedience of laws already on the books?

Even in that department, it gets worse. Trump’s mind seems to wander all over the map, even on immigration. He criticizes European countries for their immigration policies. But then, he turns around and calls for an infinite H-1B Indians, apparently because there aren’t enough white Americans possessing the stellar skills displayed by folks such as Kash Patel and Vivek Ramaswamy. And what was the point of those up one day, down the next, tariff policies? Still, I give him 6 out of 10 for showmanship.

Paul Fromm, director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression (Canada): 8/10. President Trump has done more for White Americans than any American president since Calvin Coolidge, whose administration passed the strict Immigration Act of 1924, which sought to preserve the racial balance in America. Trump has banned the anti-White DEI in the federal government and its institutional funding. He has closed the border to illegals and has begun the Herculean task of deporting at least the worst of Biden’s invasion of illegals. He has announced at least a temporary end to immigration from utterly incompatible Third World countries. He is currently taking on the criminals, thieves, and grifters in the Somali community.

Sadly, Trump remains a captive of the Israeli lobby. He has permitted Netanyahu to devastate and commit genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu’s assassins shamelessly storm into Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank — sovereign nations — to kill perceived enemies. National boundaries mean nothing to the Israelis, who recently broke the ceasefire in Gaza by killing more civilians.

Brad Griffin, editor of Occidental Dissent (U.S.): 7/10. The Big Beautiful Bill, which delivered tax cuts and border security, passed Congress through budget reconciliation in the summer. World War III with Iran, Russia, and China didn’t happen in 2025. Trump quickly brought the border under control. There have been multiple “Overton Window victories” that have made it easier to talk about racial realities.

Trump succeeded in stopping illegal immigration. The Supreme Court had a good ruling on anti-White discrimination, and major legal battles over the Voting Rights Act and birthright citizenship are pending. We avoided getting sucked into any new wars. These are all good things.

Trump’s second term has been far from perfect, though. He bungled the Epstein files, attacked Iran for Israel, purged Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress in a petty fight, and lacks a solution to economic anxiety and malaise. Mass deportations have also been underwhelming so far. My only regret is being too optimistic in the spring that Trump would break out of the pattern of thermostatic politics in his second term and build a durable governing majority.

Nick Griffin, former Member of the European Parliament (England): 8/10. This score is specifically from a British/European perspective. Big pluses: The significant shift in policy pertaining to Ukraine/Russia, slamming the European Union, protecting American industry, intervening on behalf of the Boers, and bringing humor (intentional and inadvertent) into international affairs.

Minus points: The dithering over Epstein, pushing to steal Venezuela’s oil, and signs of continued subservience to the Zionist lobby all pull the rating down, although he did slap down Netanyahu and block the attempt to exterminate or expel the whole of Gaza.

Ruuben Kaalep, former Member of Parliament (Estonia): 5/10. As a nationalist, I view Trump’s emphasis on the foundations of a strong nation-state: border security, cultural cohesion, and resistance to the dominance of globalist elites, positively. His election gave voice to those who understand that great nations fail not because of external enemies, but because of internal cultural and political decay. Trump challenged entrenched media power, questioned prevailing ideological dogmas, and reaffirmed the principle that the American people – not transnational structures or unaccountable bureaucracies – should decide the fate of their country. Yet a contradiction runs through his presidency: nationalism and imperial habits do not go easily together. Large, centralized power structures tend to weaken rooted, trust-based national communities and favor bureaucratic expansion. A consistent nationalist course would require greater respect for decentralization at home and genuine national self-determination abroad.

On the world stage, Trump entered office with a genuine desire to reduce conflict and pursue peace while limiting direct American military involvement. That instinct is understandable and, in many ways, healthy. However, lasting peace cannot exist without justice, and justice would require containing imperial aggression by great powers against their neighbors. Trump’s record here is mixed. Positively, he challenged European complacency and pressed the European Union to take greater responsibility for its own defense, aligning with a sober understanding of national sovereignty. His efforts in the Middle East also show potential, though it remains uncertain whether they can lead to a durable settlement that respects the national self-determination of both sides. Negatively, occasional rhetoric about territorial expansion or the use of force for adventurist purposes risks undermining his own nationalist logic. His first year has revealed strong instincts, but also strategic inconsistencies that limit their realization.

Jason Kessler, author of Charlottesville and the Death of Free Speech (U.S.): 8/10. Trump’s second term has had so many successes it impossible to list them all: pardoning the J6ers, ending the war in Gaza, reducing border crossings to the lowest levels since the 1970s, shrinking the foreign born population for the first time in generations, advocating for White South Africans, ending affirmative action, possibly ending birthright citizenship, and gutting state funding of leftist patronage networks like USAID.

The criticism boils down to “there aren’t enough deportations,” and Trump isn’t hostile enough to Israel. The first is totally unfair and belies the facts. Trump has about 120 nationwide injunctions against his policies, including immigration, more than every other modern president combined. The Israel issue is totally subjective. I think it is dangerous to attack the central person with power and will to fight the Great Replacement over Israel, when, if they just wait a generation, the support for Israel will collapse on its own.

On the bad side, the Trump administration has cooperated with the Gaza genocide, continued to give Israel weapons used in the genocide, and forced a ceasefire in Gaza that Israel routinely violates with impunity and continues to limit aid severely, cooperated with Israel in bombing Iran, and stands by as Israel continues its aggression and ethnic cleansing on the West Bank. A lot of his pressuring of universities has been motivated by preserving Jewish influence — essentially banning free speech and peaceful protests from pro-Palestinian protesters, those protesting the Gaza genocide, and deporting pro-Palestinian activists. I am also doubtful about Trump’s anti-Venezuelan adventure, apart from it being a naked expression of U.S. power that could easily backfire if the U.S. invades — another foreign war that Trump has often said he is against.

Sheriff Richard Mack, founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (U.S.): 9/10. First and foremost, President Trump inherited a horrible mess left behind by a treasonous and corrupt Biden administration. Within the first few months, Trump and his team pulled off some real miracles; they had the border safe and secure with a complete cessation of illegal immigration. Of course, there is a great deal yet to be done, but the first year has been a huge step in the right direction.

Second, the worst thing any government can ever do is put innocent people in prison. Yes, I am referring to the J6 lies and distortions. Due to the lies and dishonesty of many DC corrupt politicians and their bed partners in the media, over 1200 people were arrested by the Federal Government. Some were given extreme sentences for simple trespass. President Trump stood firm and courageously pardoned all the J6 Biden/Pelosi victims.

Amazingly, on September 23, Trump stood before the United Nations and tore them a new one. It was about time that a leader of our country accused the UN of what it genuinely is, corrupt and worthless. Thank you, President Trump!

José Niño, journalist and political analyst (U.S.): 4/10. While his administration has not fully collapsed or descended into chaos, it has failed to deliver on its most consequential America First promises. There has been no immigration moratorium, no move to end birthright citizenship or chain migration, no nationwide E-Verify mandate, and no serious overhaul of the legal immigration system. It is true that border crossings are at historic lows, and the deployment of the National Guard to cities such as Memphis has restored a basic level of order. Yet even the border crackdown largely originated under the late Biden administration as a cynical election-year maneuver, not as part of a bold Trump-led reset.

On foreign policy, Trump has been equally disappointing. While he has avoided launching new prolonged wars, he remains firmly aligned with Israel, even to the point of bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities on its behalf. His promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours has gone unfulfilled. Although he has not authorized new aid packages, the United States continues to provide intelligence and targeting support, suggesting a concern with optics rather than a commitment to decisive disengagement. Trump appears unwilling to accept that the Ukraine project has failed, fearing an Afghan or Saigon-style collapse. Likewise, despite his skepticism toward NATO, he has taken no steps toward a complete U.S. withdrawal. Overall, Trump’s first year reflects a presidency that plays it safe, prioritizes image management, and increasingly resembles a conventional Republican administration rather than the transformative America First force voters were promised.

Sascha Roßmüller, journalist and board member of Die Heimat (Germany): 5/10. Given that I would rate the previous Biden presidency with a zero, Trump’s score here is relatively respectable. I appreciate his extraordinary dynamism immediately after taking office, his clear language when naming political opponents or grievances, and his courage to break new ground, for example, in tariff policy, thereby breaking with globalist doctrines. Most importantly, I believe that Trump has increasingly opened the door to discourse on topics that were previously more or less taboo, such as criticism of migration and Antifa crime. Furthermore, I hope that Trump’s involvement will bring an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

However, I am very concerned that the excessively Zionist character of the Trump administration is a sign that the Deep State is not being dried up, and that ultimately the key architects of the woke replacement of Western culture are still pulling the strings.

Dr. Tomislav Sunic, former diplomat (Croatia): 9/10. From my neck of the woods in Croatia, and from my childhood in what was once communist Yugoslavia, I am grateful to President Trump for discerning the pathology of the communist mindset and its postmodern, diverse, woke, hybrid, transgender avatars in America — such as non-European mass migrations and the failed multicultural experiment. Such utopian globalist DEI promiscuous dreams, once tested in communist multiethnic Yugoslavia, ended in chaos. President Trump deserves credit for realizing the nightmarish side of such modern-day proto-communist experiments.

Trump and his team — especially Tom Homan and ICE — are doing a fantastic job. Unlike any politician in the Western hemisphere, Trump has been able to reject the fraudulent name-calling used by the Western media and leftist academics; their arsenal of shut-up words like “fascists,” “Nazis,” and “white supremacists” no longer sounds credible.

In order not to sound too laudatory, I would advise him not to try to be less generous to the state of Israel. If MAGA means America First, billions of dollars sent to Israel (and other countries) should instead be spent on impoverished, jobless, and ailing Americans.

Recap: This panel consisted of 14 contributors: 7 from the United States and 7 living abroad. The American contributors rated Trump’s performance in 2025 at 7.4/10, while the European, Canadian, and Australian contributors rated his performance at 6.8/10. The overall combined average score for Trump’s first year back in office was thus assessed at 7.1/10.

This article was originally published by American Free Press – America’s last real newspaper! Click here to subscribe today or call 1-888-699-NEWS.

When not interviewing newsmakers, James Edwards has often found himself in the spotlight as a commentator, including many national television appearances. Over the past 20 years, his radio work has been featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. Media Matters has listed Edwards as a “right-wing media fixture” responsible for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton personally named him as an “extremist” who would shape our country.