What To Expect from the Trump–Ryan Relationship
Conservatives should hope for a synthesis of Trumpism and Ryanism that improves on both.
By Ramesh Ponnuru — November 23, 2016
Donald Trump’s first appointments as president-elect were a mixed bag for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Reince Priebus, a longtime Ryan ally from Wisconsin who headed the Republican National Committee, will be Trump’s White House chief of staff. Steve Bannon, a financial executive and publisher who has vowed to destroy Ryan, will be a top White House counselor to Trump.
Trump and Ryan will be, respectively, the most powerful and second-most powerful elected officials in the United States, and their relationship will do a lot to determine the future of the Trump administration, the Republican party, and the country.
As is well known, the two of them do not see eye to eye on several issues. Ryan made his name advocating reforms of Social Security and Medicare that would rein in their growth. Trump says he wants to protect those programs from any cuts. Ryan is a free trader. Trump says he favors free trade, but favors tearing up existing free-trade agreements and imposing tariffs to keep companies from moving jobs abroad: which is to say that he does not actually support free trade. Ryan favors higher levels of legal immigration and wants to give illegal immigrants “a chance to get right with the law.” Trump has sometimes talked about reducing immigration, says he wants to step up the pace of deportations, and never explicitly said during the presidential campaign that any illegal immigrants should be eligible for legal status.
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http://www.nationalreview.com/node/442415/print
