Trump has been testing the limits of presidential power — often coming out on top

Donald Trump set the Fourth of July as his deadline for the passage of his “Big Beautiful Bill”, which provides for tax cuts and a slew of other measures. With the odds seemingly stacked against him at the start of the week, Trump nonetheless met his goal with hours to spare.

- MARY DEJEVSKY

The bill was passed by the Senate thanks to the vice-president’s casting vote after a Republican revolt faded away. It then cleared the House of Representatives late on Thursday by four votes, after a Democrat attempt to talk the bill out failed. Expect a ceremonial signing on Independence Day, in another act of Trumpian political theatre.

Assuming no last-minute hitches, the “Big Beautiful Bill" will set the seal on six months that have left Trump with considerably more policy wins than losses - a tally that may not be fully appreciated on the European side of the Atlantic, where missteps loom larger than they do on the home front. There has been no end to the Ukraine war in the promised 24 hours, or indeed 24 weeks; no durable ceasefire in the Middle East; in place of a pledge to keep the US out of foreign wars, a military strike on Iran; an early exit from the G7 summit; and an ill-tempered split with his onetime guru Elon Musk.

Add the upending of the international trading order with an ever-changing set of tariffs, and some measures that seem very alien to many Europeans - such as seizing and summarily deporting undocumented migrants, with backup from the national guard and the marines - and the impression might well be of disorder, inconsistency, maladministration and failure.

That is not, for the most part, however, how it looks from the Trump side of the Atlantic, where I have just bucked the international tourism trend by venturing on holiday. And it would probably be wise for Europeans to accept the truth: Trump has been testing the limits of presidential power and, more often than not, coming out on top.