After four years of President Joe Biden’s anemic leadership, Donald Trump is carrying the hopes and trust of a broad, diverse swath of country that he can make good on his promise to get America on the right track again. 

There are good reasons to feel hopeful, especially since Trump’s top priority is to undo the damage his predecessor has done. 

During the pandemic, for example, Biden chose to combine COVID relief measures with a massive package of infrastructure expenditures, paying little heed to warnings this “Bidenomics” approach would trigger a fierce blast of inflation.  

Similarly, the outgoing president ignored widespread warnings that his abandonment of Trump’s border security policies would guarantee an uncontrollable new surge of illegal immigration.  

Both outcomes predictably ensued, seriously damaging American families and communities, and contributing decisively to the 2024 Republican sweep of both houses of Congress as well as the White House. 

Lamentably, Biden’s record was even worse when it comes to issues of special concern to Catholics. Throughout his tenure and even in the last days of his presidency he prioritized abortion rights at every conceivable opportunity, to an extent that can only be described as astonishing for a man who continually proclaims his abiding attachment to his Catholic faith. Moreover, when the U.S. Supreme Court fulfilled the hopes of Catholics and other Americans of faith during his presidency, by striking down the constitutionally indefensible Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, he assigned “blame” for this landmark pro-life victory to Trump’s appointment of three new Supreme Court justices.  

Biden also sought to institute gender ideology, including into women’s sports and female school bathrooms. And in the cases of both abortion and “gender transition” procedures for minors, his administration repeatedly tried to trample the conscience rights of medical providers who decline to participate in such procedures — in flagrant violation of their religious liberty.

In fact, abortion rights and gender ideology are two areas where sharp improvements are virtually certain to take place under Trump 2.0. While Trump has said he won’t seek to restrict abortion access nationally, he is a strong supporter of allowing pro-life states to be as restrictive as they choose.  

Trump is also expected to roll back many of the pro-abortion rights executive actions that were a Biden hallmark, including the Justice Department’s unjust weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-life advocates.  

With respect to gender ideology, Trump has strongly denounced “gender transition” procedures for minor children and allowing biological males to compete against female athletes. And with respect to the conscience rights of medical personnel, Trump had a stellar record of protecting their interests in his first term, so there is every reason to expect the same this time around. 

The prospects for positive outcomes from Trump’s economic and immigration policies are cloudier. But given that Trump has committed to reinstituting the successful elements of his first-term approach, as well as to aggressively cutting government waste, it is justified to hope for better outcomes in terms of key indices like income growth, job creation and inflation. 

On immigration, the U.S. bishops have expressed legitimate concerns about Trump’s commitment to undertake a mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. But considering how badly Biden’s policies have overtaxed the capacity of the nation to absorb new undocumented immigrants — including the capacities of the frontline Catholic charitable agencies that provide support for so many of the newcomers in need — there is a growing degree of bipartisan agreement that some major changes are warranted.  

In fact, a less divided national government — and a less divided nation — is something that Americans of all political persuasions should hope for fervently. In his own inauguration speech four years ago, Biden promised to promote unity. His insistence afterward on imposing so many divisive progressive policies belied that pledge. While Trump has hardly earned a reputation as a unifier himself, he has an opportunity at hand to act as one merely by moving quickly to repeal the most egregious of the numerous “woke” measures that have been introduced nationally during the Biden years.  

The groundswell of support for Trump, which now includes some of his fiercest former critics, coincides with some positive developments in foreign affairs. After more than a year of bloodshed in the Holy Land, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be moving forward. At the same time, there is a growing consensus that the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate on the battlefield and ought to be settled diplomatically as soon as possible. 

As Catholics, we are cognizant that all these events are unfolding at the start of a historic moment in the life of the Church: the 2025 Jubilee of Hope. It is Pope Francis’ earnest desire that people of good will around the world will take advantage of a special outpouring of grace this year to draw closer to God, to forgive those who have trespassed against us and to resolve to set things right again — in our hearts, our families, our relationships and our communities.  

After years of turmoil in our country, God has granted President Trump a golden opportunity to lead our nation in the same spirit. Let us pray that he succeeds, even as the Jubilee reminds us that true hope is rooted in our trust in the Lord’s mercy and love.  

We can be sure of this: He will never disappoint us.