Trumpism

Trumpism is a political ideology and style of government which was specifically developed by United States President Donald Trump. It resembles the philosophy of other recent right-wing conservative-neonationalist or national-populist movements in western democracies.

Ideology

Trumpism started its development predominantly in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. It denotes a populist political method that suggests nationalistic answers to complex political, economic and social problems. It attempts to mobilize the disenfranchised of the growing social inequality, with stated opposition to the established political establishment. Ideologically, it has a right-wing populist accent. Trumpism differs from classical Abraham Lincoln republicanism in many ways; for instance, regarding free trade, immigration, equality, checks and balances in federal government, and the separation of church and state. Peter J. Katzenstein of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center believes that Trumpism rests on three pillars: nationalism, religion and race.

Contents

In terms of foreign policy in the sense of Trump's "America First", a unilateral is preferred to multilateral policy and national interests are particularly emphasized, especially in the context of economic treaties and alliance obligations. Trump has shown a disdain for Canada as well as the transatlantic partners (NATO and European Union), who have been considered the most important allies of the United States so far. Another characteristic of foreign policy is a sympathy for autocratic rulers, especially for the Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom Trump often praised even before taking office and during the 2018 Russia–United States summit.

In terms of economic policy, Trumpism promises new jobs and more domestic investment. Trump's hard line against export surpluses of American trading partners has led to a tense situation in 2018 with mutually imposed punitive tariffs between the United States on the one hand and the European Union and China on the other. Trump secures the support of his political base with a policy that strongly emphasizes nationalism, anti-elitism and criticism of globalization.

Rhetoric

Rhetorically, Trumpism is characterized by a rejection of the political establishment. Trump is also rhetorically proven to act with a large number of false or at least misleading statements which he presents as facts. For example, in his speech accepting his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate on August 27th 2020, Trump claimed he passed Veterans Choice, when in fact Obama signed the law in 2014; or he claimed that Democrats wanted to open borders, which has also been disputed.

Reception

American historian Robert Paxton poses the question whether Trumpism is fascism. Paxton evaluates it is instead closer to a plutocracy, government by a wealthy elite. Professor of sociology Dylan John Riley calls Trumpism "neo-Bonapartist patrimonialism". British historian Roger Griffin considers the definition of fascism not fulfilled since Trump does not question the politics of the United States or want to abolish its democratic institutions.

Argentinean historian Federico Finchelstein discusses significant intersections between Peronism and Trumpism since a disregard for the contemporary political system (both in the area of domestic and foreign policy) is discernible. American historian Christopher Browning considers the long-term consequences of Trump's policies and the support he receives for them from the Republican Party to be potentially dangerous for democracy. In the German-speaking debate, the term has so far only appeared sporadically, mostly in connection with the crisis of confidence in politics and the media. It then describes the strategy of mostly right-wing political actors to stir up this crisis in order to profit from it. The British Collins English Dictionary named Trumpism after Brexit as one of its "Words of the Year 2016"; the term denotes both Trump's ideology and his characteristic way of speaking.

In How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship, Turkish author Ece Temelkuran refers to Trumpism as echoing a number of views and tactics used by Turkish politician Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his rise to power. Some of these include right-wing populism, demonization of the press; subversion of well-established and proven facts (both historical and scientific); dismantling judicial and political mechanisms; making systematic issues such as sexism or racism appear like isolated incidents; and crafting an "ideal" citizen.

See also

• Political positions of Donald Trump
• America First (policy)
• Make America Great Again
• Populism
• Presidency of Donald Trump
• Republican Voters Against Trump
• The Lincoln Project
• American nationalism#Trump presidency

Further reading

• David Frum: Trumpocracy. Harper, New York City 2018, ISBN 978-0-06-279673-8.
• E. J. Dionne, Thomas E. Mann, Norman Ornstein: One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported. St. Martin’s Press, New York City 2017, ISBN 978-1-250-16405-6.
• George H. Nash: American Conservatism and the Problem of Populism. In: Roger Kimball (Hrsg.): Vox Populi: The Perils and Promises of Populism. Encounter Books, New York 2017, ISBN 978-1-59403-958-4, S. 7–18.
• Jared Yates Sexton: The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage. Counterpoint, Berkeley 2017, ISBN 978-1-61902-956-9.
• Jack Thompson: Den Trumpismus verstehen: Die Außenpolitik des neuen amerikanischen Präsidenten. In: Sirius – Zeitschrift für Strategische Analysen, Heft 1(2), 2017, S. 109–115 (online).
• Bob Woodward: Fear. Trump in the White House. Simon & Schuster, New York 2018, ISBN 978-1-4711-8130-6.