The first 11 days

Republican members of Congress met in Philadelphia last weekend for what was called a retreat. It might have been more accurately labeled an advance.

Perhaps not since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first term has so much been done by so few that will potentially impact so many (to paraphrase Winston Churchill in a completely different context).

Writing on CNN’s politics page, Stephen Collinson commented, “Forget the first 100 days. It’s only been a week and Donald Trump is reinventing the presidency.”

Given what conservatives consider CNN’s hostility toward Trump, Collinson may not have meant it as a compliment.

So far we’ve seen Mike Pence become the first sitting vice president to speak at the March for Life and reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, which forbids the United States from funding any group that provides or promotes abortion overseas. We’ve seen President Trump begin the process of building the border wall, while increasing the number of border agents, and the ordering the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

He signed executive orders reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines, instituted a government hiring freeze, and placed a stop order on new regulations until they can be evaluated. The president took initial steps to repeal Obamacare, withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership, met with British Prime Minister Theresa May, and placed a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With the mayors of so many sanctuary cities vowing not to turn over illegal immigrants to federal law enforcement, it is worth noting that the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, has reversed a 2013 resolution by the county commission, which refused to indefinitely detain illegal immigrants without reimbursement. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the Obama administration subsequently designated Miami-Dade a “sanctuary city,” even though the county challenged the label. Mayor Gimenez has now ordered county jails to comply with federal requests to hold immigrants, citing President Trump’s executive order. It is a small victory for the president, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with the law, something some mayors swear to do when they take their oaths of office.

Perhaps not since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first term has so much been done by so few that will potentially impact so many.

While Republicans were “advancing” in Philadelphia, Senate Democrats were retreating in Shepherdstown, W.Va., where they assembled to figure out how they lost to Trump and what they need to do to win over his voters. If Democrats continue their hard leftward drift, they can count on further defeat.

Tonight, President Trump will nominate someone to the Supreme Court. He told David Brody of CBN News that it is a person evangelical Christians “will love.”

In his first 11 days in the White House, Donald Trump has been running at a dizzying pace. Love him or hate him, one thing is certain: He is not retreating.

Listen to Cal Thomas’ commentary on the Jan. 31 edition of The World and Everything in It.