Talk v. action

Watching how Trump aims to deliver on his promises.

I had a rare opportunity this week—talking to news sources, when normally my job is to listen. The Western Governors’ Association asked me to address their winter meeting in Las Vegas. The association includes nearly all the states west of the Mississippi, and various governors and their staffs came and went during a series of panel discussions.

My talk focused on my day job and my night job—which is to say, covering the news and writing history. (Given the hours, you can judge which of these is the night job.) The history centered on Differ We Must, my most recent book, which tells Lincoln’s life story through his meetings with people who disagreed with him.

My talk about the media started with some business realities: In a fragmented media landscape, it’s hard work to hold an audience and make a living.

Yet I suggested to the governors, and to anyone else, that for journalists, this can be our finest hour. We face a rapidly changing world and a dramatic presidential transition. People need reliable information.

The president-elect said all manner of things while campaigning—broad strokes of policy, mixed with often-contradictory details. For example, he talked of tariffs on every product entering the United States—but did he really mean to impose them, or just use them as a negotiating tactic with other nations? Trump suggested both.