To measure success, one has to set a benchmark. In a few weeks, a new administration will take over. This is the current state of the nation. A year from now, we can compare and measure the difference.

No troops are engaged in combat for the first time in twenty-four years.

The murder rate is down and decreasing.

Illegal immigration is lower than when Mr. Trump left at the end of his previous administration.

The stock market has experienced the best two years in at least twenty-five years.

Wages are rising.

The economy has grown at or higher than any level under the first Trump administration.

Unemployment is as low as pre-covid and near historic lows.

Domestic energy production is at the highest level ever.

The number of manufacturing jobs is higher than for any president since Bush ‘41.

Overdose deaths are down and declining.

Inflation has returned to normal levels.

ISIS, which Trump claimed he defeated, is still inspiring home-grown terrorists.

On the downside, both Biden and Trump added to the national debt, which now has the largest share of the economy.

Gas prices are still higher than in 2021 by an average of $0.70 per gallon. Food prices in general are higher, but the real story is why. Food prices have risen more than inflation or wages and profits of food companies have soared.

Crime is decreasing. Despite the FBI’s initial claim of a decrease and then a revised showing of an increase, the FBI statistics are incomplete. A better source is https://realtimecrimeindex.com/, which uses UCR statistics directly from police departments. Many departments do not consistently report crime statistics to the FBI.

Don’t take my word for it. Each of these contentions can be researched and verified. And what you believe, feel, embrace, deny, or challenge doesn’t matter unless there are the numbers and evidence to back it up.

Now we know where we are, let’s see where we end up.