Trump II could be one of America’s great presidents — if he curbs his bad side

I don’t know what Donald Trump would say has been his greatest-ever Thanksgiving holiday, but it’s hard to imagine any quite beating the one he just celebrated.

He’s just pulled off the greatest comeback in American political history.

He survived two assassination attempts.

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He saw off a disgracefully brazen and concerted campaign to politically weaponize the justice system against a US president.

And just when he thought things couldn’t get any better, his former opponent, President Biden, has revealed himself to be a shameful, lying hypocrite by pardoning his criminal son, Hunter.

No wonder Trump is looking and behaving like the cat who got the creamiest of cream.

The president-elect rang me last week.

It was the fourth time we’ve spoken since he was shot, and through the course of those calls, I’ve been increasingly struck by the realization that Donald Trump is a changed man.

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I don’t mean that he’s lost the combative, trash-talking, egotistical, hyperbolic character traits that have made him the world’s most unique, and uniquely polarizing, public figure.

Trump will never stop being Trump in that regard; it’s embedded in his pugilistic New York DNA.

But I can say this: In the 18 years I’ve known him, he’s never sounded happier, more relaxed, or so laser-focused on the incredible opportunity he now has, to become what he’d really like to be — and that’s one of America’s historically great presidents.

His chaotic first term, which delivered many good things, was marred by enraged mass protests at his shocking win, a prolonged war with mainstream media intent on nailing him for bogus “Russia collusion” bulls–t that never actually happened, and the horrendous scenes at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,

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For four years, Trump was forced to fight a relentless war of attrition on multiple fronts that often brought out the worst in him.

Then he lost the 2020 election — although he’ll never admit it — and by early 2022, he seemed a completely busted flush with nobody other than him believing he had any chance of becoming president again.

But that turned out to be a massive underestimation of the collective power of Trump’s other character traits: resilience, determination, the skin of a rhino and a ferocious, never-give-up worth ethic.

It also helped that the Democrats inexplicably decided to martyr him with their lawfare campaign, which reached a nadir of absurdity with the Stormy Daniels trial and conviction.

And that they inexplicably made Biden their 2024 nominee despite his increasingly zombie-like behavior, before dumping him for the woefully inept Kamala Harris.

And that they persisted in spewing their progressive far-left crap like supporting trans athletes in women’s sports.

Yet ultimately, I believe it was Trump himself who won the 2024 election through the sheer force of his personality.

From the way he turned his court appearances into raging mini-rallies, to the way he stood back up and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” seconds after he was struck by an assassin’s bullet, Trump showed an extraordinary mental strength and high level of personal courage that resonated powerfully with the electorate.

As Hollywood star Dennis Quaid told me in an “Uncensored” interview: “People might call him an a–hole, but he’s MY a–hole.”

When we spoke, Trump talked proudly of now having “a great mandate” to deliver on his Make America Great Again mantra and vowed: “I can become a great president.”

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I believe him.

I think his triumph over all the would-be assassins, lawyers, and obsessive “He’s the new Hitler!” political rivals who tried to take him down has mellowed him.

Hence his constant “YMCA” boogeying, which has sparked a nationwide craze of Americans doing the “Trump Dance.”

As Frank Sinatra said, “The best revenge is massive success.”

And I think Trump’s four years OUT of office was the best thing that could have happened to him, as it made him think long and hard about what worked — and didn’t work — in his first term.

Even his haters have been nullified.

The only protest there’s been this time is a bunch of 20 liberal lunatics huddling by Lake Michigan to literally howl into the wind.

Of course, Trump must now deliver on his promises to get America’s economy roaring again, to fix the illegal immigration crisis, to reduce violent crime and to resolve the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

But what’s clear from his cabinet nominations is that he’s learned his lesson from 2016 and is going to trust his gut, shun establishment types with their own agendas, and surround himself with intensely loyal people who’ve been successful in many different fields.

And he’s got super-sized brains like Elon Musk at his side to help him achieve what he wants to achieve.

At the end of our chat, Trump chuckled: “Piers, you’re a good guy, and you haven’t changed, though you do have your bad moments too…”

It was my turn to chuckle: “Don’t we all, Mr. President…”

He laughed. “True, very true!”

If he curbs the frequency of those bad moments and sticks to the big picture that he was elected on, Donald J. Trump has every chance of becoming one of America’s most transformative and greatest presidents.