Trump Is Repeating Obama's Rookie Mistakes

The disastrous roll out of President Donald Trump’s clampdown on refugees and visitors from majority-Muslim countries wasn’t how his supporters were expecting his administration to begin. While it was a cornerstone of his election campaign, it was poorly thought out, with little consideration given to the inevitable legal challenges, protests and political backlash.

If this seems somewhat familiar, you need only recall President Barack Obama’s disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act, a piece of legislation the administration strained to get through Congress. The website was unusable and crashed constantly, and was widely recognized as a costly and avoidable error. It was obvious that the people in charge hadn’t thought this through and failed to stress test the site. It tarnished perceptions of both the program and the administration’s cherished reputation for competence.