In his second year in office, the list of extraordinary things President Trump has done — for good and ill — continued to grow.

First, the 10 best things Trump has done in office.

10. He has secured the release of 19 people, including 16 Americans, from foreign captivity. When Pastor Andrew Brunson was freed by Turkey, he became the 19th captive released thanks to Trump. Others include: four held by North Korea; an aid worker and her husband held by Egypt; three UCLA basketball players and a Texas businesswoman held by China; a couple and their three children held by the Taliban; a former CIA officer held by Portugal; and two citizens held by Venezuela. That's more Americans freed in two years than President Barack Obama got released in eight. And unlike Obama, Trump did it without releasing terrorist leaders or sending planeloads of cash to rogue regimes, creating incentive for more hostage taking.

9. He delivered for the "forgotten Americans." The Trump boom is benefiting those left behind by the Obama economy. Manufacturing jobs grew at the fastest rate in 23 years and the unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma reached the lowest point ever recorded. The Wall Street Journal reports that wages rose 3.1 percent − the biggest jump since 2009 − and that "low-skilled workers are among the biggest beneficiaries."

8. He worked with Democrats and Republicans to pass important legislation. It didn't get much attention, but Trump got a lot done on a bipartisan basis, including criminal justice reform, opioid and sex trafficking legislation, and a new "Right to Try" law giving dying Americans access to experimental medications.

7. He has ushered in a golden age for women in the CIA. Trump not only appointed Gina Haspel as the agency's first female director but also made Elizabeth Kimber the first women to lead the agency's clandestine service − rewarding the CIA's "band of sisters" who have toiled to keep the country safe since 9/11.

6. His push to expand domestic energy production bore fruit. This year the United States passed both Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top oil producer.

5. In the six months after the Singapore summit with North Korea, he has made no concessions to Pyongyang. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un expected to blow up some useless nuclear facilities in exchange for billions in hard currency. Trump has refused to play Kim's game. Not only has Trump not lifted sanctions, unfrozen North Korean assets, ended the Korean War or offered Pyongyang diplomatic recognition, but also he imposed new sanctions on members of Kim's inner circle.

4. He struck Syria again and eliminated the last vestiges of the Islamic State's physical caliphate. For a second time, he enforced Obama's red line against the use of chemical weapons. In December, U.S.-backed fighters captured Hajin, the last pocket of territory held by the Islamic State. The militant group is far from defeated, but Trump is right that we have knocked "the hell out of ISIS."

3. He's continued his tough line with Moscow. Trump announced America's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, shipped Javelin antitank missiles to Ukraine, canceled a meeting with Putin at the Group of 20 summit over Russia's seizure of Ukrainian navy ships, expelled dozens of Russian diplomats and imposed more sanctions against Moscow.

2. He pulled out of Obama's disastrous Iran deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. The new sanctions have taken millions of barrels of Iranian oil off the market and led to the cancellation of major deals with European investors. And when Iranian protesters rose up to challenge the regime, Trump (unlike his predecessor) stood with them.

1. He stood by Brett Kavanaugh and even in the worst moments never wavered. Trump has confirmed a record 85 judges in his first two years as president. That total includes two Supreme Court justices, 30 appellate court judges and 53 district judges who will preside for decades. Trump's successful fight for Kavanaugh also helped him expand his Senate majority, as energized Republican voters threw out four Democratic incumbents who opposed Kavanaugh.

There were many more accomplishments not included in this list. Trump got Mexico, Canada and South Korea to sign new trade deals. He continued his regulatory rollback, replacing Obama's "Clean Power Plan" and his "Waters of the United States" rule and returning power to the states. He took on the International Criminal Court, which purports to have jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers and citizens. And his graceful handling of George H.W. Bush's funeral brought dignity to the office.

That is a strong record of success.

But, Trump being Trump, he also did a lot of bad things that ranged from cringe worthy to catastrophic. Here are the 10 worst:

10. His comment about "sh--hole" countries blew up negotiations for a deal that would have given Trump his border wall. Nearly a year ago, the president made a bold offer to Democrats − putting not just legal status but also a path to citizenship for nearly 1.8 million young illegal immigrants on the table. Then his abhorrent comment undermined Democrats who were serious about cutting a deal and gave those who were not a pretext to walk away.

9. His offensive tweets continued to undermine his presidency. Calling former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman "a dog" and Stormy Daniels "Horseface"− among countless offensive tweets − is not just unpresidential, it drives away potential supporters who like his policies but then are reminded how much they don't like Trump.

8. His misuse of power turned critics into martyrs. Revoking former CIA director John Brennan's security clearance and CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta's White House press pass turned partisan critics who were embarrassing themselves into victims − and gave them an even greater platform from which to attack him.

7. He drove away suburban voters and caused the GOP to lose control of the House. That's because the president has sought to energize his base in ways that drive those voters away. If he wants to win re-election, Trump needs to bring suburban Republican voters back into the GOP fold.

6. His graceless handling of Sen. John McCain's funeral was a new low. Trump didn't like McCain, but when you're the president, sometimes you must honor people you didn't like. McCain was an American hero. Trump's inability to muster a kind or generous word reflected poorly on the president.

5. His handling of Jamal Khashoggi's murder harmed America's moral standing. Trump is right that a permanent breach with Saudi Arabia is not acceptable, because there is no other country in the Middle East that can serve as a counterweight to Iran. But it was unseemly to declare that "It's all about 'America First'" and "We're not going to give up hundreds of billions of dollars in orders."

4. His news conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki was an embarrassment. His meeting with the Russian president came on the heels of Russia's attempted assassination of a dissident on British soil using banned chemical weapons and the indictment of 12 Russians for 2016 election meddling. Instead of condemning these actions, Trump publicly sided with Putin over his own intelligence community.

3. His policy to separate migrant children from their families at the southern border was an avoidable tragedy. There is nothing wrong with a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings. But his administration's failure to anticipate and prepare for how to deal with migrant families was gross negligence -- a symptom of the chaos that is undermining his presidency.

2. His planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a gift to the Taliban and al-Qaida. In December, Trump ordered the military to start planning the withdrawal of roughly 7,000 troops − about half the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The news came just as U.S. officials were holding talks with the Taliban, whose No. 1 demand is … the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Hardly the "art of the deal."

1. His pullout of all U.S. troops in Syria will take America's boot off the terrorists' necks. Trump's claim that "we have defeated ISIS in Syria" is as bad as Obama's dismissing them as the "J.V." squad. The Islamic State still has up to 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria and about $400 million in their coffers. The Islamic State is not defeated, and not one member of Trump's national security team agrees with his decision to withdraw. If he lets the Islamic State off the mat like Obama did in Iraq in 2011, our nation will pay a terrible price.

It is notable that, with the exception of troop withdrawals and family separations, most of the items on this list were transgressions of style rather than substance. With the mute button on, the Trump presidency is pretty good from a conservative policy perspective. And yet Trump's approval rating at year's end was just 39 percent − because most Americans don't follow politics with the sound off.

Marc A. Thiessen is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush.