When Will He Take a Vitality/Vanity Stop?

Comparison:

A vitality gap has opened up. The Trump administration is like a supercar with 1,000 horsepower, and its opponents have been coasting around on mopeds.

David Brooks uses a tried and true automotive/race stealth metaphor to capture his understanding of the first months of Trump's second presidential administration. He better stay with the "firing on all cylinders" cliché.

Context:

I’ve detested at least three-quarters of what the Trump administration has done so far, but it possesses one quality I can’t help admiring: energy. I don’t know which cliché to throw at you, but it is flooding the zone, firing on all cylinders, moving rapidly on all fronts at once. It is operating at a tremendous tempo, taking the initiative in one sphere after another.

A vitality gap has opened up. The Trump administration is like a supercar with 1,000 horsepower, and its opponents have been coasting around on mopeds. You’d have to go back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in 1933 to find a presidency that has operated with such verve during its first 100 days.

Citation:

Brooks, Davis. “Trump’s Single Stroke of Brilliance?” New York Times, 24 April 2025. Web.

(Image design by Lee Aigue; base image courtesy of Bing April 2025.)