Trump's original attempt was to run as a protest candidate like Pat Buchanan.
But unlike Buchanan, Trump doesn't know policy. He spent his adult life supporting mostly Democrats.
Trump merely reiterated the populist message that talk radio delivers to republicans without college education: your nation has been destroyed by Mexicans, Liberals, terrorists, etc. The media and government are complicit.
This is the same message wealthy republicans have always told the poor, to get them off the scent of their own tracks.
The less educated the voter, the easier this stuff works.
Trump is the best I've seen at getting the angry, uneducated voter to feel like maybe their is finally a straight-talking savior who will kick some ass & save the world.