Principled Realism and Patriotism: The Trump Doctrine and the New Political Realignment

Principled Realism and Patriotism: The Trump Doctrine and the New Political Realignment

Trump’s phenomenal comeback last November revealed an interesting realignment across different social strata, as he gained the support of young, blue-collar, and racially varied voters in much larger percentages than previous Republican candidates. Trump’s platform attracted not only conservatives, but also libertarians, classical liberals, former Democrats, and countless others who simply wanted a better life and a return to common sense.

What unites these various groups is not only their frustration with the disastrous policies of recent leftist administrations and the condescending arrogance and anti-Americanism of our coastal elites. They were united by a genuine desire to revive the American way of life, which, for centuries, has been synonymous with hope, freedom, and opportunity.

What divides these groups is their different philosophy regarding political, social, and economic issues. Thus, it is not surprising that the tariffs proposed by the Trump administration have drawn criticism from enemies and friends alike. While the objections raised by proponents of the classical laissez-faire economic theory are understandable as a matter of principle, they are applicable in cases of truly free trade between ethical partners with shared values.

This has not been the case over the past few decades, during which our trade partners have continually taken advantage of the United States. Is the ability to buy cheap Chinese goods, for example, worth the destruction of time-honored American industries or the traditional character of our small towns and their Main Street shops? Moreover, the announcement of high tariff percentages at the outset of a negotiation is often an “art-of-the-deal” tactic to command respect and achieve a better business arrangement to ensure that U.S. interests would no longer be grossly violated.

Many of the global businesses today are by no means paragons of healthy competition practices, ethical policies, or free enterprise, as they influence government agencies to approve and advance their products, as it happened with the government-subsidized and forcefully promoted vaccines and medications during the pandemic, for instance. Such global companies do not respect freedom and independent views—they censor their employees over political matters and demand compliance with harmful ideologies such as DEI, ESG, or net zero emissions.

These international corporate giants are far from exemplifying thriving free trade and merit-based competition. They are frequently doing the bidding of communist China and actively disseminating anti-Western propaganda. They are working to create a technocratic global oligarchy of leftist elites and undermine the national sovereignty of Western countries. They collude in trying to dictate government policies and impose the mandates of feckless U.N. agencies over the people’s will in democratic societies.

Economic theory is undoubtedly useful in describing basic market principles, but the current reality is far from a pure theoretical model of free enterprise and honest trade. Margaret Thatcher famously remarked: “My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day…”

I realize that many otherwise like-minded people may disagree with the above reflections on Trump’s tariffs, and that is perfectly fine. It is inevitable that members of the informal, broad, and variegated pro-Trump coalition would not agree on everything—nor do they need to. Complete consensus is unnecessary and rather unhealthy.

The totalitarian left is ruthless in attacking any opposition and voting en bloc, no matter what, while its opponents are naturally individualistic and principled. This is mostly a good thing, but we need to limit our infighting since our civilization is at stake.

For this reason, Trump-supporters ought to determine for themselves what are the core principles over which they can unite and what they could compromise on. For me, the key issues are reviving the American foundational ideals, perpetuating the best traditions of Western civilization, and defeating the leftist totalitarian forces, which are advancing aggressively, internationally and domestically, to eliminate our freedoms, confidence, and prosperity.

These forces wish to turn the global populace into sedated cyborgs, who have abandoned their self-reliance, pride of ownership, historical memory, and family- and community-derived sources of fulfilment. Instead of living life to the fullest, people would subsist with the help of ubiquitous subscription services that readily provide groupthink inculcation and comforting conveniences such as rented living quarters, transportation dependent on others, physically and mentally harmful food, and mind-numbing entertainment.

In order to preserve the soul of America, we need to unite over our core ideals and compromise over acceptable differences within these essential principles. We must remember that if the enemy succeeds in restructuring the world, then none of us would be able to even voice any disagreement, and the vast majority of people would live in misery and oppression.

Politics is often the art of the possible, and the differences between and among members of the MAGA movement are not nearly as deep and morally significant as when, for instance, Churchill and FDR allied with the U.S.S.R. to win World War II.

The Trump doctrine is a powerful unifying current with different philosophical tributaries. It is not exactly conservative, or libertarian, or classically liberal, though it has elements of all three and much more. It is often described as principled realism and patriotism in accordance with America’s foundational ideals.

I find the presence of both conservative and liberal elements in the Trump movement more beneficial than harmful. Western societies are best suited to safeguard their traditions with a strong conservative movement, aided by classical liberal and libertarian attitudes. We should marginalize, however, any socialist, globalist, totalitarian, progressive, or communist aspirations since their purpose is to destroy the existing order at any cost. In a way, such a process would be a reversal of what happened in Britian, for example, which originally had a conservative and liberal party, but the liberal party was later displaced by socialists.

It is worth recalling that Churchill, a staunch conservative and a vocal opponent of communism and socialism, was once member of the British Liberal Party. In a 1908 speech as a Liberal Party representative, he eloquently contrasted his position with that of the socialists:

Liberalism is not Socialism, and never will be…. Socialism seeks to pull down wealth; Liberalism seeks to raise up poverty. Socialism would destroy private interests; Liberalism would preserve private interests…. Socialism exalts the rule; Liberalism exalts the man. Socialism attacks capital; Liberalism attacks monopoly. [Socialists] put before us a creed of universal self-sacrifice. They preach it in the language of spite and envy, of hatred, and all uncharitableness…. They wish to reconstruct the world…. Consider how barren a philosophy is the creed of absolute Collectivism. Equality of reward, irrespective of service rendered!…

Conservatism is absolutely essential in imparting good values and a sense of history to new generations in order to preserve and perpetuate the most viable and humane political and social traditions. It is indispensable in fighting and reversing leftist globalist absurdities and their assault on our institutions.

But classical liberalism is also important—not as liberation from tradition, which is a persistent leftist subversion of its meaning—but as recognition of people’s free will and innate rights and freedoms that a limited government should protect. Hopefully, the Trump movement would restore a normal political balance between these compatible philosophies and deal a decisive blow to totalitarian socialism in all of its permutations.

Nora D. Clinton is a Research Scholar at the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. She holds a PhD in Classics and has published extensively on ancient documents on stone. In 2020, she authored the popular memoir Quarantine Reflections Across Two Worlds. Nora is a co-founder of two partner charities dedicated to academic cooperation and American values. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and son.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.