TRIBUTE TO TRUMP – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  From former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, who appreciates the president's triumph in the Mideast, in the New York Daily News: 

Unlike the last eight years under the Obama administration, when the commander-in-chief’s hesitancy to lead the world hobbled American action on too many fronts, there’s no doubt we now have a President who wants to fight and win this war. This kind of clarity of purpose is critical especially in the wake of the horrific killings like those that just took place in Manchester, England.
Trump’s assertiveness in repairing U.S. foreign policy, shoring up international resolve against terrorism, can rally the world to take strong action against the enemy.

One sour note in assessing the President’s trip came from Richard Clarke, who, writing in this newspaper, said Trump had abandoned American values and then speculated, contrary to what the Arab leaders actually said about Trump’s address, that they found the President’s call to “drive out” terrorists “sophomoric.”

Clarke’s take on the speech was a lonely outlier. In fact, it was a courageous speech in Riyadh — just as, in sum, it was a courageous trip to the holiest places in the three Abrahamic faiths.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Woolsey gets it right.  The president's trip was a victory, and an announcement that America is back.  The leftist press may hate that, but I don't think most Americans do.

Mr. Trump's approval rating is still problematical.  It runs from the low to mid forties.  That isn't disastrous, but the addition of another five points will change the political mood in Washington.  He's got to work on that by delivering, in the face of unprecedented establishment hostility and his own frequent gaffes.

May 26, 2017