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We call it “Trumpism” in short, the set of positions, policies and preferences adopted by the president of the United States.
But does this all sound like a coherent philosophy for future Republicans once Donald Trump is out of office?
And where does that leave conservatism? Trump has never pretended to be a conservative, who was deeply divisive in the movement.
There are those who have quietly abandoned their previous views and support almost everything Trump does, from spending to deportations to the war on Iran.
KEEPING COLUMNIST SAYS DONALD TRUMP HAS LOST THE COUNTRY. IT IS COMPLICATED.
Whether so-called “Trumpism” has a future in the Republican Party is hotly debated. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
And there are those who rejected Trump in the first place, who believe that he betrayed conservatives – and who often have important positions on cable commentary, so the shows can boast that they have Republican pundits (who probably hate Trump).
Others on the right bring a fury that overshadows attacks on liberal critics. Former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker, who is a Fox News contributor, said yesterday that after the Iranians denied having talks with the White House that the “unfortunate truth” is that the American people should “suspect that the enemy’s version of events may be more true than ours. We have become Baghdad Bob.”
Speaking to reporters before leaving Palm Beach yesterday, Trump said: “My life is a deal. That’s what I do with deals.”
WHY TRUMP CRIMES IRAN WAR BROADCAST AS WORST – FURNISHED BY RHETORICAL FCC BACKING
The context is what he insists is the talks with Iran, but this announcement applies to his business and his political career.
I’ve known Trump since 1987, and I can tell you that he’s basically doing anything that works right now. If that conflicts with his position the previous day or week or month, so be it. Let the punters argue about that.
Trump doesn’t have any damaging criticism about flip-flops because he sees every day as a clean slate, where his allies can be those he once vehemently criticized and his enemies can be his former loyalists.
The hot media debate right now is what comes after President Donald Trump’s term is over, and whether whoever succeeds him — be it JD Vance, Marco Rubio, or anyone else — is wedded to his particular brand of conservatism. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
For example, the first-term president’s position, supported by Congress, is that TikTok is a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership, and should be banned unless it is sold to an American company.
When I asked him about this before the election, Trump, whose campaign benefited greatly from the use of TikTok, said he no longer supported the ban. He said this was because removing TikTok would help Facebook, and he considered Mark Zuckerberg’s regime a threat.
It’s not a satisfactory explanation, but with the president, that was then, this is now.
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Accordingly, an agreement was finally reached this year to sell the most popular app to a joint venture where American investors have more control.
The hottest media debate right now is what comes after Trump, and whether future Republicans — JD Vance, Marco Rubio, whoever — should follow his plan. This is very interesting because the US First candidate who fought foreign wars changed his course dramatically by attacking Iran.
Atlantic contributor Pete Wehner, who specializes in Christian ethics, says in 2016 he was a lifelong Republican who had served under Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W. Bush.
He said in a New York Times op-ed that Trump would “threaten the future of the Republican Party,” and said he “wants to cultivate and encourage the worst passions within the GOP, fueling hatred for kerosene.”
Among Republicans, including evangelical Christians and fundamentalists, the president “regrouped their moral constituencies… And in the process, he killed American conservatism. MAGA isn’t just against conservatism; it’s fighting it.”
But look at Trump’s record. He closed the vacant southern border under Joe Biden. He launched a mass deportation program targeting illegal immigrants, which is heavily concentrated on the right. He cut taxes, and if most of the benefits go to the rich, that’s what Republicans have always done. You break the rules at places like the EPA. He reduced the size of the federal government by at least 300,000 jobs, or 10 percent, despite DOGE’s mixed record. And he was responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade.
Aren’t all of these things, from lowering tax burdens to limiting abortions to shrinking government, consistent with the principles of consistency?
That’s not to say that all of these programs were handled well — look at ICE’s overreach and the murders of two Americans — or that they were smart decisions. But they’re not exactly fighting the classic conservative agenda.
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And then there are all the other things, some of which are violated by financial orthodoxy, including the pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare.
Wehner acknowledges that many Republicans voted for Trump because they were struggling economically (and, I might add, felt marginalized by mainstream culture). He twists the knife by saying that “at the core of the MAGA project and Trumpism is disruption and destruction, institutionalization and destruction, and abuse of his opponents… The MAGA movement represents a betrayal of the hot culture of conservatism” and “the corruption of the Republican Party.”
“The MAGA movement represents a betrayal of conservatism’s anger culture,” said Atlantic contributor Pete Wehner. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Jonah Goldberg, founder of the Dispatch, which has thrived as a strong, anti-Trump outlet, scoffs at that headline analysis.
“Trump has no ‘ideas,'” Goldberg wrote. “You have a few ideas. The top of my head: take fat, prices are economic Viagra, good energy, never apologize, women will not resist celebrities when they catch them in private, ‘good genes’ are very important, partners of whiny b—-es, a lot of romantic beliefs about the greatness of his natural environment…”
He says these “gut impulses” and “feelings” can be turned into ideas. “But building a real vision requires thinking about how your various commitments might conflict, where the trade-offs are, what the possible scenarios are, etc.”
For Jonah, it’s a matter of psychology. “But Trumpism doesn’t just exist Trump’s psychology, the psychology of many of his supporters. If Trump is there, it should be good. “
JOHN FETTERMAN SAYS TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME IS THE ‘LEADER’ OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
I just realize that our politics is so divided that many liberals behave the same way, demonizing the opposition, talking about the party and never giving credit to the other side.
Iran has been the world’s number one terrorist state since 1979, but while raising questions about congressional approval, almost every Democrat has nothing good to say about an attack on Iran.
Chuck Schumer, on “Morning Joe” yesterday, repeatedly refused to admit to Joe Scarborough that the US to eliminate the Iranian military is a good thing. He just kept going astray.
Another notable dissident, John Fetterman, told CBS that what the president has accomplished in Iran is “amazing.” And the senator said on the podcast that “our party is being controlled by TDS,” Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., suggested that “his party is dominated by TDS.” (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Of course, the Democrats don’t seem to be united in one opinion because of the undeniable divisions on Israel, on pronouns, on gender issues, on the old talk of spending money on the police, driving the game from moderate lawmakers to the Party. In addition, they do not have a leader who is ready to abandon them and allow the main opponents, so there is a small penalty for leaving the reservation.
Gavin Newsom, a man of the left, has problems with progress in his party because he has fought the labor agenda, supported housing reform, blocked a bill allowing colleges to favor the descendants of slaves, and opposes trans women playing in men’s sports.
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There is no single answer to the future legacy of Trumpism. That depends on the popularity of the president, and the economic picture, and how Iran is viewed, in 2028. Trump the merchant is one person, impossible to imitate.
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But one thing is certain: The Republican Party will never return to the blue-eyed rigidity of Paul Ryan, the sympathetic conservatism of Bush 43, the NATO embrace of Bush 41, or the bipartisan look of Ronald Reagan with Tip O’Neill.
The next era may be unclear, but Donald Trump has changed the GOP forever.
