ABOUT TRUMPISM

Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base. Trumpists and Trumpian are terms used to refer to those exhibiting characteristics of Trumpism, whereas political supporters of Trump are known as Trumpers.

The precise composition of Trumpism is contentious and is sufficiently complex to overwhelm any single framework of analysis; it has been called an American political variant of the far-right, and the national-populist and neo-nationalist sentiment seen in multiple nations worldwide from the late 2010s to the early 2020s.

Some commentators have rejected the populist designation for Trumpism and view it instead as part of a trend towards a new form of fascism or neo-fascism, with some referring to it as explicitly fascist and others as authoritarian and illiberal.  

Trumpism started its development predominantly during the Donald Trump 2016 campaign. For many scholars, it denotes a populist political method that suggests nationalistic answers to political, economic, and social problems. These inclinations are refracted into such policy preferences as immigration, restrictionism, trade protectionism, isolationism, and opposition to entitlement reform. As a political method, populism is not driven by any particular ideology. Ideologically, Trumpism has a right-wing populist accent.

According to Yale sociologist Philip S. Gorski, there is a real and growing danger that representative government will be slowly but effectively supplanted by a populist form of authoritarian rule in the years to come. Media intimidation, mass propaganda, voter suppression, court packing, and even armed paramilitaries – many of the necessary and sufficient conditions for an authoritarian devolution are gradually falling into place.

Michelle Goldberg, an opinion columnist for The New York Times, compares "the spirit of Trumpism" to classical fascist themes. The "mobilizing vision" of fascism is of "the national community rising phoenix-like after a period of encroaching decadence which all but destroyed it. Similarly, like the Trump movement, fascism sees a "need for authority by natural chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group's historical destiny." They believe in "the superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason"

Final Note

Though Trumpism is linked to the person Donald Trump himself, its roots run much deeper and share similarities with political ideologies ranging from Neo-conservatism to populism, to Christofascism. Here are the main characteristic of  Donald Trump’s political ideology:

1. Populism: Right-wing populism is one of the major components of Donald Trump’s political ideology. Trumpism appeals to a large group of anti-intellectual, conspiracy-minded and alienated malcontents. Trumpism embodies a particular kind of populism composed of overt patriotism, economic nationalism, along with a vague commitment to the middle class and an aggressive foreign policy. Like all forms of populism, Trumpism relies on the rhetoric of resentment. Attacks by the mainstream media, his political opponents, and traditional conservatives only serve the narrative that Trumpism threatens the established power structure, further framing Trump as the savior of the disenfranchised.

2. Xenophobia: Another aspect of Trumpism is Xenophobia, which is exemplified by hard-line anti-immigrant positions and targeting  certain ethnic groups with discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

3. Militarism: Another hallmark of Trumpism is an emphasis on the military and unrestrained, unilateral interventionism. According to Trumpism , the entire world is against the US and the only way to address that perceived imbalance of power is to implement an aggressive interventionist foreign policy.

4. Hyperpartisanism: Trumpism also promotes a hyperpartisan, pro-conservative political ideology.

5. Direct & Personal Discourse With The American People: Trumpism is unique in that it focuses on direct communication between the President and the American people. Donald Trump has made effective use of social media and has used it to directly appeal to the American people to support his proposed legislation and controversial opinions on a whole host of political issues.The new relationship between the President and the American people promoted by Trumpism has resulted in Donald Trump relying less on Congress and more on his own public approval to put forward his agenda. This has resulted in a weaker relationship between the executive and legislative branches and causes less legislation to be passed efficiently.