John Thune is posting fantasy these days. Says Trump keeps his promises
In a dutifully ingratiating piece that’s sure to meet with President Trump’s approval, our senior senator John Thune a few days ago posted a string of predictably flattering observations about Trump in his weekly column, titled “Promises made, promises kept.”
Thune’s missive is off, way off, and reflects the fact that Trump supporters are living in a political fantasyland.
Thune starts by noting that two years ago “our country was dealing with an inflation crisis.” That’s a gross exaggeration. In December 2024, U.S. inflation stood at 2.9%. That was just about the average inflation rate for the ten years prior, and nearly a full percent lower than the 3.77% average inflation rate for the 50 years prior. Thune’s claim that Trump inherited an inflation “crisis” is not only baloney, its implication that Trump, whose vow to do something about it on day one was a promise made and kept is spectacularly wrong. Inflation has worsened under Trump. Inflation over the last 12 months was 3.4%.
Thune also notes that the country was facing an “historic immigration crisis” when Trump took office in 2025. Trump promised to do something about it, but I don’t get where things have improved on the immigration front since Trump took over. Illegal crossings are down, but the larger humanitarian crisis that caused them in the first place still exists, shaming our country’s indifference to it. Meantime, Trump’s hard line policies toward removing undocumented aliens have backfired to the point where most Americans dislike them. Inhumane tactics and conditions are widely reported, and there have been economic consequences. Labor shortages around the country have been cropping up, a situation that the Trump administration has ignored. On a local note, the Economic Policy Institute says that if Trump achieves its deportation targets, 6,000 jobs will be lost in South Dakota. Thune thinks this is praiseworthy? Please.
Thune rejoices that Americans got a tax cut this year from Trump’s “Working Families Tax Cut.” The Treasury Dept. calculates that families saved $1300-$1700 a year on taxes in 2026, which only tells part of the story. According to the congressional Joint Economic Committee - Minority, Trump’s tariffs, actually a tax because Americans pay them, cost American families about $1700 each in 2025, effectively canceling out the tax cut’s savings.
Then after this litany of misinformation, Thune concludes: “Our work is not done.”
To which I repeat a friend’s mantra: SO MUCH WINNING!! Stop it, Donnie. I can’t take it anymore.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Republish with permission.
Photo: Thune’s website
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