Trump’s legacy is shaped by his narrow interests

President Trump’s policy legacy is as much defined by what he’s ignored as by what he’s involved himself in.

The big picture: Over the past four years, Trump has interested himself in only a slim slice of the government he leads. Outside of trade, immigration, a personal war against the “Deep State” and the hot foreign policy issue of the moment, Trump has left many of his Cabinet secretaries to work without interruption, let alone direction.

• Over lunch in 2017, one of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries told me they felt blessed to run an agency that Trump didn’t care about. This was the best place to exist, they said.
• While the media was distracted by the daily drama and treachery of the West Wing, this cabinet secretary gleefully said that they were racing a ton of controversial conservative policy through the system, largely untroubled by pesky journalists.
• One former Cabinet secretary told me Trump’s sole instruction to him, upon taking the job, was “I want you to win.” Win what? He had no earthly idea. But he took it to mean he could follow his instincts and assumed he would hear from Trump at some point.

As a result of Trump’s lack of interest in much of domestic policy, whole swaths of his administration — Education, Housing and Urban Development and Transportation, to name a few — have escaped even the barest presidential attention.

• Much has been accomplished across many of these agencies, but it’s debatable how much of the accomplishments should be described as “Trumpian.”
• That said, here’s how Axios’ subject matter experts summarize his accomplishments.

The economy: Trump made good on his pledges to cut taxes and regulation, which helped create jobs but didn’t achieve the levels of economic growth that he had promised, Axios’ Dan Primack writes.

• His trade policies were a mixed bag, improving on NAFTA while flailing on China.
• In the end, though, Trump’s economic legacy was determined by his inability, or unwillingness, to control the pandemic or provide the sort of stimulus that the moment required.

Health care: Trump’s failure to contain the coronavirus will also be his most lasting health care legacy. His administration has not accomplished much of its proactive agenda over the past four years, Axios’ Sam Baker writes.

• It started off with a high-profile failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and though the administration has chipped away at some parts of the law, most of that could be easily undone — unless the Supreme Court throws the law out altogether.
• The administration simply did not execute most of its proposals to lower drug prices, and drug pricing has not materially changed.
• And its efforts to shrink the Medicaid program were blocked in court.

Climate: Trump’s legacy on energy and climate change — two inevitably connected issues — are surprisingly opposite of each other, Axios’ Amy Harder reports.

• The oil, natural gas and coal industries are all struggling due to prevailing market conditions despite Trump’s efforts to support them. This is a reminder that despite presidential powers, markets still control commodities.
• On climate change, Trump’s impact will likely be vast and long-lasting. He has repealed dozens of…