"Not yet 100 days into Donald Trump’s presidency, the populist revolution he seemed to promise is already over — at least for now. Two weeks of head-spinning policy reversals have put Trump squarely inside the chalk lines of conventional Republican conservatism on both economics and foreign affairs.
His impulsive management style and his fact-challenged rhetoric are still intact. But most of his policy positions are now remarkably similar to those espoused by the GOP’s last establishment nominee, Mitt Romney, in 2012.
Consider:
In foreign policy, Trump once derided traditional alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said he’d seek an alliance with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and promised to avoid entanglement in Syria’s civil war. In the last 10 days, Trump praised NATO, confronted Russia and ordered a missile strike against Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack.
On trade, Trump promised to declare China a currency manipulator, threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement and suggested he’d abolish the Export-Import Bank; he’s walked away from all three positions.
On economics, Trump promised to cut middle-class taxes and protect Social Security and Medicare. But the first drafts of his tax plan awarded the biggest cuts to top-end earners — and last week, Trump’s budget director said he hopes to persuade the president to back changes to Social Security and Medicare too.
[...]
What happened? One answer is that Trump has been mugged by reality. He’s abruptly discovered that being a successful president is more complicated than winning an election.
Trump's populist revolution is already over — for now
What happened is Trump is ignorant and clueless as to the most basic principles of governance and foreign policy.
Indeed, Trump’s ridiculous version of ‘populism’ proved to be vacuous and untenable – so much so that it had to be abandoned for the same tedious, failed, and wrongheaded policies pursued by the right.
Trump is just another Republican president, and just as wrong on the issues as other Republican presidents.
His impulsive management style and his fact-challenged rhetoric are still intact. But most of his policy positions are now remarkably similar to those espoused by the GOP’s last establishment nominee, Mitt Romney, in 2012.
Consider:
In foreign policy, Trump once derided traditional alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said he’d seek an alliance with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and promised to avoid entanglement in Syria’s civil war. In the last 10 days, Trump praised NATO, confronted Russia and ordered a missile strike against Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack.
On trade, Trump promised to declare China a currency manipulator, threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement and suggested he’d abolish the Export-Import Bank; he’s walked away from all three positions.
On economics, Trump promised to cut middle-class taxes and protect Social Security and Medicare. But the first drafts of his tax plan awarded the biggest cuts to top-end earners — and last week, Trump’s budget director said he hopes to persuade the president to back changes to Social Security and Medicare too.
[...]
What happened? One answer is that Trump has been mugged by reality. He’s abruptly discovered that being a successful president is more complicated than winning an election.
Trump's populist revolution is already over — for now
What happened is Trump is ignorant and clueless as to the most basic principles of governance and foreign policy.
Indeed, Trump’s ridiculous version of ‘populism’ proved to be vacuous and untenable – so much so that it had to be abandoned for the same tedious, failed, and wrongheaded policies pursued by the right.
Trump is just another Republican president, and just as wrong on the issues as other Republican presidents.
