The New York Times reports that President Donald Trump’s strategy of overwhelming Democrats with hundreds of executive orders and actions in the first days of his second presidency is working, and frustrating the opposition.
The “flood the zone” strategy was articulated by former White House adviser and former Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon. It was also reflected in this author’s 2024 book, The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, for which Bannon wrote the foreword.
This author wrote:
The agenda is ambitious—as well it should be. It is not a “wish list” of policies, but rather a program of action. I have designed it that way because Trump will have an unusually strong mandate for sweeping change. …
But that energy needs to be channeled, beyond personal revenge and into specific actions. The opposition can be expected to challenge all of them in court — forum-shopping in the friendliest liberal jurisdictions, seeking nationwide injunctions that stop the Trump train in its tracks. Trump must anticipate that by overwhelming the left with the sheer number and speed of his actions. They will still file lawsuits, but they will have to strain their budgets and personnel to do so.
The Trump administration appears to have adopted that strategy, with notable success. The Times observes:
The strategy has existed since at least 2018, when the former Trump administration strategist Stephen K. Bannon boasted of the ability to overwhelm Democrats and any media opposition through a determined effort to “flood the zone” with initiatives.
…
[T]he flood has had its intended disorienting effect: How can Democrats fight back when they can’t catch their breath?
“It’s been overwhelming sensory overload,” said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
The Times also credits Trump adviser and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller with the strategy.
Democrats are hoping that Trump will make mistakes, and hope to capitalize on them when he does. But for now, they are scrambling to find enough lawyers, and lawsuits, to slow down the fastest start in presidential history.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
