A Revolution of Common Sense

Scott Jennings, a CNN senior political commentator and longtime Republican strategist, presents a firsthand account of the opening months of Donald Trump's second presidential term, arguing that Trump's return to office in January 2025 represents a "revolution of common sense" that has reshaped American politics, government, and foreign policy. Drawing on interviews with Trump, cabinet members, and senior advisors, as well as time aboard Air Force One and inside the Oval Office, Jennings frames the administration's actions as the fulfillment of campaign promises and a direct rebuke of the Biden presidency.

The book opens with Jennings recounting his first meeting with Trump on February 10, 2025, three weeks after the inauguration. Trump greeted Jennings warmly but with a characteristic jab, calling him "a little bit average" in the past but now "terrific." Jennings describes being pulled into live policy discussions alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other senior officials as Trump solicited opinions on the Panama Canal, Greenland, and tariffs. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, preparing to depart for Russia to secure the release of American hostage Marc Fogel, also consulted with Trump on how to respond to Hamas, the militant group controlling Gaza, pausing its hostage releases. Within thirty hours, Witkoff returned Fogel to the White House. Jennings uses the scene to establish a central contrast: Trump as an engaged, decisive leader compared to what Jennings characterizes as a rudderless Biden administration.

Jennings traces the political forces behind Trump's return. He describes the 2024 election from CNN's studio, where he served as the lone conservative voice among liberal panelists, arguing that voters cared about inflation, crime, and border security rather than the cultural narratives promoted by media elites. The July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed Trump's ear and produced the iconic photograph of Trump standing bloodied with his fist raised, effectively sealed his comeback in Jennings's view. On November 5, Trump won by 8.2 million votes. Jennings told the CNN audience that the result constituted "a mandate" and "an indictment of the political information complex."

Trump's January 20 inauguration, moved indoors due to cold weather, set the tone for his second term. With Biden seated nearby, Trump excoriated his predecessor for a "horrible betrayal." By the end of the first day, Trump signed 196 executive orders and presidential actions, including rescinding seventy-eight Biden-era orders, freezing federal hiring, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty, and directing an end to what the administration called political lawfare, meaning politically motivated investigations and prosecutions of opponents. Jennings introduces the concept of the "80-20 presidency," arguing that Trump identifies overwhelmingly popular positions and forces Democrats to defend the unpopular minority view on issues ranging from immigration to transgender athletes in women's sports.

A major early initiative is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Jennings recounts a late April meeting where Musk spoke candidly about his fear that the United States was spending itself into "oblivion." Musk's team of engineers uncovered examples of waste that Trump showcased during his March 4 address to Congress, drawing laughter and applause. By the hundredth day, DOGE claimed over $160 billion in savings. However, by summer the partnership collapsed: Musk publicly attacked Trump's signature tax-and-spending legislation as a "disgusting abomination" and launched a new political party called "The America Party."

On foreign policy, Jennings argues that Trump and Rubio reoriented American diplomacy around national interest. Rubio dismantled the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as it had existed, pulling its core functions under the State Department. The most dramatic episode is Trump's June 21 decision to order B-2 bombers to strike Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. Following the strikes, Iran agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Jennings also covers the explosive February 28 meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, intended as a routine minerals deal signing, which deteriorated into a public confrontation after Zelenskyy challenged Vice President JD Vance's critique of Biden-era diplomacy. Trump cut in sharply, and the administration subsequently paused Ukraine funding and intelligence-sharing to pressure both sides toward negotiations. By late April, the two leaders met again calmly at Pope Francis's funeral and signed a minerals agreement granting the United States preferential access to rare earth resources.

The book devotes significant attention to the administration's battles with legacy media. Jennings catalogs what he considers major anti-Trump falsehoods, from the debunked Russia collusion narrative to the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, and cites polling showing trust in media fell to 31 percent. He also profiles what he calls "bad faith actors" opposing Trump, targeting both Democrats and Never Trump Republicans such as Bill Kristol and the Lincoln Project, whom he accuses of building lucrative careers from opposition while failing to deliver meaningful political results.

Immigration enforcement produced the administration's most immediate results. Illegal border crossings dropped to 8,300 in February 2025, a 95 percent decline from the prior year. Trump's Day One actions included declaring a national emergency at the southern border and designating MS-13, a violent transnational gang, and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization, as foreign terrorist organizations. In March, the administration deported 261 people with gang ties to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime statute originally passed under President John Adams, deliberately allowing flights to depart before a federal judge could intervene. The chapter's longest section covers Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national deported despite a prior court order prohibiting his removal, whose case became a flashpoint when Democrats championed his cause but Trump displayed a photograph of Garcia's fingers tattooed with MS-13 gang symbols. On June 27, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that district courts may no longer issue nationwide injunctions blocking presidential policies unless part of a certified class action.

Jennings devotes chapters to transgender policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and trade. Trump signed executive orders banning biological males from women's sports and ending DEI mandates for federal contractors. Jennings connects the DEI order to safety concerns, including the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 2014 replacement of aptitude tests with biographical questionnaires designed to boost demographic targets. On trade, Treasury Secretary Bessent framed tariffs as strategic levers in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton. Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement imposed a flat 10 percent baseline tariff on virtually all imports, with China's total exposure reaching 145 percent. After initial market volatility, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached all-time highs by July 4, buoyed by major investment pledges from corporations and foreign governments. On energy, Trump signed legislation ending federal support for solar and wind power and opening federal lands to oil and gas drilling.

The book closes with Jennings aboard Air Force One on April 29, Trump's hundredth day, flying to a rally in Michigan. Trump unexpectedly called Jennings to the stage, and on the return flight gave him a signed hat inscribed for Jennings's father, a blue-collar former Democrat who first predicted Trump's presidency. Jennings concludes that the opening months of Trump's second term represent the most consequential start to a presidency since Franklin D. Roosevelt.