President Trump’s Return Signals Positive Policy Shift: Lee Schalk on One America News
President Trump's bold vision for policy reforms including economic revival, education freedom, and a return to “peace through strength.”
ALEC Senior Vice President of Policy Lee Schalk returned to One America News (OAN) Network’s Weekly Briefing to discuss the ever-evolving political and policy landscape in Washington, DC. Alongside political consultant Donna Jackson and radio talk show host John Fredericks, the trio touched on President Joe Biden’s farewell address, the Biden administration’s policy legacy, and President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
“If he had delivered a truthful speech about his legacy,” Schalk told OAN Chief White House Correspondent Daniel Baldwin. “It was that his administration pressured social media companies to remove factual information from their platforms during the pandemic. It was pushing EV mandates. It was using his first veto to defend ESG investing. It was the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Schalk went on to explain how the Biden Administration’s policies on taxes, regulations, and foreign policy, left many Americans desperate for change. The hostage situation in the Middle East, for example, appeared stagnant until Trump secured his second term in November.
“100% it played a role,” Schalk said. “This again, achieving that peace through strength, we have a new sheriff back in town on the world stage, and that is Donald J. Trump.”
Nonetheless, several pundits have been skeptical about the new administration’s ambitious agenda on issues like securing the border. But Schalk explained that Americans are eager for the President to solve the issues created by the previous administration.
“The way that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris just left our border wide open—millions and millions flowed into our country illegally, making every state in our country a border state,” he said. “This is the change of pace that we need for this country to fix the border.”
Schalk also highlighted Trump’s focus on education. Noting the ALEC goal of spreading education freedom across the states, he explained how the shift in policy centers on the students and families rather than maintaining the status quo.
“President Trump’s administration is the most friendly towards education freedom and empowering parents, that this country has ever seen,” he noted. “Linda McMahon [as Secretary of Education] is looking to follow the lead of a dozen states that have given universal education freedom to parents, to really give children across our country a better future.”
The same sort of focus cannot be attributed to the Biden administration. Some have even argued that the areas the administration was focusing on would do further damage to the country itself.
“While Americans were facing record inflation, he was advocating for the largest single tax hike in American history by letting the Trump tax cuts expire,” Schalk observed. “I’m grateful that President Trump, Speaker Johnson, and leaders in Congress are looking to renew those tax cuts, make them permanent in the new year.”
The result was a call for significant change, not only in the policies pushed from the Oval Office but also in those who are entrusted to guide that change. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, is a prime example. Especially after his confirmation hearing last Monday.
“He was prepared. He had the policy knowledge, he had the expertise and the experience.”
Highlights from Hegseth’s testimony included “accountability for debacles like the Afghanistan withdrawal,” maintaining high military standards, and the philosophy of “peace through strength” which he contrasted with Biden’s approach, which he described as “chaos through weakness on the world stage.”
For Schalk, the Biden administration’s departure marks a turning point for America. Now, with President Trump at the helm, there is promise, optimism, and belief in a better tomorrow as he addresses the issues that matter most.
“You can run down the list of policies that the Trump administration has teed up,” said Schalk. “There really is a better day ahead for all of us in this country.”