However, other than FOX News, no major media outlet has reported the latest intelligence reports from the field, or reflected on the results of the Trump-supported air campaign, or his global anti-terrorism strategy generally.

ISIS is far from defeated, of course.  But how much of the successful US-supported campaign has been reported in the mainstream media?   Very little.  Instead, the media has seized upon Trump’s brinkmanship with North Korea as evidence of his ”reckless” and “dangerous” saber-rattling, even hinting – for the umpteenth time, it seems —  that Trump may be mentally unhinged.

And the campaign against ISIS is just one area in which Trump’s team has shown deft governance.  In Syria, after a documented nerve gas attack against the opposition, Trump authorized surgical cruise missile strikes that forced the Assad government to abandon its air campaign.  In the area of diplomacy, Trump has reached out to Saudi Arabia to isolate Iran and has forged an important new alliance with India to help check Chinese influence in the Pacific.

In both countries, Trump’s reputation as a powerful global leader has skyrocketed.  Some European leaders that once snickered at Trump are beginning to revise their opinion, too.

None of Trump’s strategic moves are yielding enormous results just yet.  But what is shocking is the disjunction between the real evidence of success – and genuine statecraft – and the continuing negative drumbeat emanating from the mainstream media.  Even some top GOP policy experts continue to attack the president as “bumbling” and “ineffective” despite the growing evidence that the president is maneuvering deftly on the global stage.

All of this bodes well for Trump and the GOP as they head into next year’s mid-term elections and beyond.   Despite the Democrats’ prediction of a “Blue wave,” a string of Trump policy successes in the domestic and international arena could well lead to fresh gains for Republican candidates.  Bashing Trump for his alleged sexual peccadilloes or his outbursts on Twitter will eventually wear thin with most voters — just as it did during the 2016 campaign.  Too many voters are seeking real results — and an end to empty rhetoric from political elites in Washington.

In 2012, Vice-president Joe Biden said the case for the Obama’s re-election came down to a simple slogan:  “We saved General Motors and killed Osama Bin-Laden.”  Right now, Trump’s re-election mantra might be: “We rebuilt the US economy and put ISIS on the run.”

Much can still happen between now and 2020.  A recession would almost certainly dampen enthusiasm for the president.  But if current trends hold — even the president’s favorability rating has jumped of late — Trump’s on the path not just to victory — but to a potential landslide.