Trumpism could shake up the world

The US president won’t go back to politics as usual. Through his Trumpist ideology, he could spearhead a sociopolitical revolution—both at home and abroad.

Many assume Donald Trump will return to more-or-less conventional politics now that he’s back in the White House—albeit with his signature charisma and spontaneity—as was partly the case in his first term. However, I am confident this will not be the case as he begins his second stint as president.

Trump is setting out for revolution. And the early days of his second term are an ideal time for a serious look at what is happening in Trump’s America. The importance of what is unfolding cannot be underestimated. This article provides a detailed look at the contours of Trumpism as an ideology. Let's dive in.

Post-liberalism

JD Vance, Trump’s vice president, explicitly calls himself a “post-liberal.” That implies a clean break with the kind of left-wing liberalism that has prevailed in the US in recent decades. Those now in charge seem poised to revise liberal ideology if not completely dismantle it. This clean-up could even penetrate America’s political establishment itself, which I refer to as the Deep State.

Already, Trumpism is emerging as a distinct and independent ideology. It is directly opposed to left-wing liberalism, which—up until very recently—was the dominant political force. But Trumpism is far from a homogenous ideology—it has several poles. However, its general structure is more or less clear.

Trumpism rejects globalism—which it views as a self-entitled movement that wants to rule over the world

First and foremost, Trumpism rejects globalism—which it views as a self-entitled movement that wants to rule over the world, with a singular market and cultural space where borders between nation-states are increasingly blurred, and states themselves are gradually stripped of their sovereignty as power centres drift to supra-national authorities, i.e. The European Union.

This movement aims to eventually pave the way for the creation of what has become known as the World Government, which its key proponents—Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates and George Soros—have explicitly stated. Under this imagined governance, the people of Earth become world citizens and are given equal rights in a uniform economic, technological, cultural and social environment. This process—known as the Great Reset—could be seen in the response to the pandemic and the international environmental agenda.

All of this is completely unacceptable in Trump's worldview. Trumpism insists on preserving nation-states and integrating them into 'greater' civilisations—especially in the context of Western civilisation, where the US sees itself as the leader of the West. The new ideologues in the White House want unity but of a different sort to that envisaged by the liberal globalists. They want to see a unified West under US stewardship.

This is similar to what US political scientist Samuel P. Huntington—whose theory 'The Clash of Civilisations' (also the title of his famous book) predicted the eventual confrontation of the West with other civilisations—believed in. In general, Trumpism is similar to the realist school in International Relations.

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Anti-woke agenda

Trumpists champion an anti-woke agenda that counters progressive values, such as gender politics. This includes recognising only two genders, male and female (something Trump explicitly made clear in his inauguration address) and rejecting the idea that homosexuality, bi-sexuality, and transgenderism should be normalised. Trumpists also reject feminism and want to tear down negative perceptions of masculinity and men taking the lead in society. In their view, no one should apologise for being a man anymore. This is why Trumpism is sometimes called the "bro revolution" or the "revolution of men".

In stark contrast to what critical racial theory espouses, Trumpism champions the rehabilitation of white civilisation. While there are some white racist proponents of Trumpism, they don't reflect the entire movement but rather are on the extreme fringes. Most white Trumpists are tolerant of other races as long as they don't demand repentance or apologies from whites.

Anti-immigration, mainly anti-Latino

Additionally, Trumpism advocates for major restrictions on regular immigration and a total ban on illegal immigrants, calling for the deportation of people who are in the country illegally. And any immigrants who do come to Western societies should accept the values of their new host country. Trumpists do not like multiculturalism as championed by left-wing liberals.

Trumpism is particularly opposed to illegal immigration and the flow of migrants from Latin America into the United States for fear that they will swing the ethnic balance in the country to become the majority.

The Latino factor is the most important element of Trumpism in terms of US domestic politics. Here again, Huntington is important. He pointed out decades ago that the main threat to the North American identity—and its traditional White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or Wasp base—is the flow of Latin American immigrants, which creates a completely different Catholic-Latino identity. Up to a point, Huntington argues, the Wasps were able to assimilate other cultures and peoples. But with the massive flow of Latinos, this is no longer possible.

AFP

Supporters of 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump hold a sign about the border wall with Mexico before Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Club 47 USA in West Palm Beach, Florida, on October 11, 2023.

And so what is being called "migrant phobia" takes on a more precise form in the US: a dislike of mass migration, specifically from Latin America. It was against this backdrop that Trump made the building of a "great wall" on the US southern border with Mexico a priority during his first term. Trumpists also, more generally, dislike Latin American countries, which they view as leftists and the source of illegal migration.

They are also alarmed by the growth of Muslim communities, which they view as unaccepting of Western culture and attitudes. They largely blame liberals for this, who, in their view, indulge minorities by accepting and celebrating their differences rather than demanding that they integrate.

As for China, Trumpists are very unhappy about Chinese economic activity in the US and want to push them out of American space.

Anti-left-liberal censorship

Trumpists oppose political correctness, which they see as a form of left-liberal censorship and detrimental to combatting extremism. In their view, liberals have built an elaborate system to manipulate public opinion—effectively shutting down free speech, both in the mainstream media and on the social media networks they control.

Anyone who even slightly questions the liberal-left agenda is immediately labelled as "extreme right," "racist", "fascist", or "Nazi" and subjected to exclusion, de-platforming, and legal prosecution up to and including imprisonment. Trumpists—along with other anti-globalist movements (primarily in Russia), as well as European populists—believe they are the main target of this censorship.

Trumpism opposes the flow of Latin America migrants into the US for fear that they will become the ethnic majority

They see liberal elites as a pretentious minority that looks down on them and views them as simple-minded—turning what is supposed to be majority rule into minority rule. In the liberal world, anything that clashes with their agenda is dismissed as "fake news", "Putin propaganda", "conspiracy theories", or dangerous, extremist views that should be ostracised.

The window of ideas that liberals deem as "socially acceptable" continues to shrink, and anyone who doesn't conform to the ultra-left liberal agenda risks being shamed or cancelled altogether. This has exposed the farce of liberal "inclusiveness", which really is only meant to include like-minded individuals.

Trumpism rejects all this and demands that free speech—which liberals have gradually eroded over the past few decades—be fully upheld. Trumpists don't necessarily want their ideology to reign over others but demand that the full spectrum of ideologies—from the extreme right to the extreme left—be treated equally.

Anti-postmodernism

Trumpists also reject postmodernism, which is usually associated with progressive left-liberal trends in culture and art. However, they have not yet developed their own style. Instead, they call for the diversification of cultural pursuits and want to see postmodernist culture knocked off its pedestal.

For the most part, Trumpists are not sophisticated intellectuals. They dislike what they view as a postmodernist dictatorship, which seeks to redefine norms without seeking wider consensus. But some Trumpist ideologues have more ambitious goals. They want more than a simple return to traditional norms; they want to construct an alternative norm known as "right-wing postmodernism". This would mean using the same tactics that liberals use against traditionalists and conservatives—in essence, turning the tables of scrutiny and persecution on them.

One prominent right-wing postmodernist is actually serving at a senior level in Trump's administration: Elon Musk. In many ways, he is actually his right-hand man, seen by many as a key contributor to his election victory. Musk combines traditional values and right-wing politics with a futuristic emphasis on technology. Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley's biggest businessmen, thinks along the same lines.

Kevin Dietsch / AFP

US President-elect Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance attend the 125th Army-Navy football game at Northwest Stadium on December 14, 2024, in Landover, Maryland.

The geopolitics of Trumpism

When it comes to foreign policy, Trumpism champions a two-stage shift: from a globalist perspective to American centrism and then to American expansionism. The clearest examples of this are Trump's statements about annexing Canada as the 51st State, buying Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America.

These are all clear signs of what is known in international relations as offensive realism. It can also be seen as a return to the tenets of a previous form of policy, known as the Monroe Doctrine, after a century of dominance by the Wilson Doctrine.

The Monroe Doctrine (named after US President James Monroe) originated in the 19th century. It says the US should exercise total control over the North American continent and partial control of the South American continent in order to curtail or end the influence of the European powers of the Old World on the New World. With Trump's pivot back to the Monroe Doctrine comes a desire to control Latin American countries more tightly.

For its part, the Wilson Doctrine (from US President Woodrow Wilson) came out of World War I and is the roadmap of American globalists. It shifted the focus from the US as a nation-state to the ruler of the world, where its role is to impose liberal democracy and its structures on all of humanity. Here, the US as a nation-state takes a back seat to the US global mission.

During the Great Depression and the domestic troubles it brought, the US was distracted and didn't fully follow the Wilson Doctrine. However, after World War II, it made a comeback and has been the dominant policy for the last few decades. Under the Wilson Doctrine, it doesn't matter who owns Greenland, runs Canada or controls the Panama Canal because liberal-democratic regimes controlled by globalist elites rule everywhere.

Emil Stach / REUTERS

Donald Trump Jr. visits Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Donald Trump Jr. is on a private visit to Greenland.

Today, Trump has dramatically changed the focus of the US. Now, once again, its own nation-state status matters. This helps us better understand his claims on Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. The idea of a Wilson Doctrine-style "World Government" is no longer relevant, and Trump is, in effect, dissolving it. Instead, he pledges allegiance only to himself and to America.

Dismantling globalist regimes in Europe

Europe seems to have been caught off guard by the speed with which Trumpists have begun to implement their agenda. Well before Trump's inauguration, Musk used his X social media network to actively seek the removal of leaders who Trump doesn't like. This indicates that Trumpists are prepared to use the same cancel culture tactics and tools used by globalist elites and turn the tables on them.

Musk has publicly backed anti-globalists and European populists, such as Alice Weidel, the leader of the Alternative for Germany party and Marine Le Pen in France. He also went after the government of Denmark—which expressed it had no plans to voluntarily give up Greenland—and Justin Trudeau in Canada, who, when still prime minister, scoffed at the suggestion his country should be integrated into the United States.

European globalists were quick to label the abovementioned events as bullying and censorship. Here, Musk and Trumpists were quick to point out their hypocrisy when they stood by silently when globalists used similar tactics on them.

Although Europe was already pro-American, Trump has shifted the dynamics of the relationship by 90 degrees, if not 180 degrees. This change is painful to European rulers who are now being asked to abruptly denounce an ideology they have faithfully championed—even if cynically—and swear allegiance to the new Trumpist ideology. Some will fall in line, others will resist.

Whatever else, the process has already been set in motion. The Trumpists are trying to tear down the liberal and globalist order in Europe, where they need a consolidated West as a geopolitically and ideologically integrated civilisation. In essence, it is all about creating a full-fledged US Empire.

Sara Padovan

China as enemy number one

Opposition to Beijing is another fundamental part of Trumpist geopolitics. China embodies everything that Trumpists hate about liberalism and globalism: leftist ideology and internationalism. Contemporary China is, of course, much more complex, but the anti-China Trumpist consensus is that the country—as a bastion of non-white and non-Western civilisation—has leveraged US-championed globalisation to its own advantage and greatly benefited from it.

China has not only elevated itself to the status of an independent geopolitical pole but has also bought up much of US industry, business and land in the process. The relocation of American industries and companies to Southeast Asia in search of cheaper labour has eroded America's industrial base and sovereignty, making it dependent on external sources.

Trumpists blame the Chinese miracle of such rapid economic ascent on their American globalists. In this worldview, Beijing is enemy number 1.

Pro-Israel and its extreme right

Trumpism's second major theme in foreign policy is its support for Israel and the so-called "extreme right" there. Although there is an anti-Israel segment among Trumpists, in general, the movement backs Tel Aviv. This support is rooted in what is called the Protestant Theory of Judeo-Christianity—which espouses the belief that the Messiah will return and convert Jews to Christianity—and a more general rejection of Islam.

And while Trumpists are generally Islamophobic, they view the Shiite sect of Islam with more disdain because Iran is a Shiite-majority country along with its Arab Shiite allies in the 'axis of resistance' including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, the Alawites of Syria and the Houthis of Yemen—all of which have acted against Israel.

Sergei Guneev/REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, October 18, 2023.

Forget Russia, let alone Ukraine

Trumpists are not ideologically opposed to Russia like the globalists are, but they are not sympathetic either. Some Trumpists see Russia as part of the world's white Christian civilisation and view moves that push Moscow into Beijing's arms as "criminal and reckless". But this is a minority view.

The majority of Trumpists are largely indifferent toward Russia, as it is not a serious economic competitor like China and has no diaspora in the US. They blame the Ukraine war on the globalists but also view it as a regional problem of little concern to them.

To them, Ukraine and what is happening there is only significant in the sense that it reveals a corrupt adventurism that Trumpists associate with the administrations of President Obama and President Biden. And while the Trumpists do not take a pro-Russian stance, for the most part, their support for Ukraine will be less enthusiastic and generous than Biden's.

Trumpists are not going to build a multipolar world, but they have nothing against it

Passive multipolarity

Trumpists want America to remain the major hegemon—albeit in a different form from the globalist view. It would be a US-led white Christian West patriarchy with traditional American values that also recognises individual freedom and a free market.

The West will be an exclusive club that will be very hard to join. Those who want to work with the West are welcome, and those who don't will simply miss out on the prosperity that comes with being a club member—no one will be forced into the club. Trumpists don't care about other civilisations—to each their own—but if they want to join the West, they will have to work hard to be included, and even then, they will remain second-tier societies.

This is not a blatant acceptance of multipolarity but a passive and permissive one: if you can't be the West, be yourselves. Trumpists are not going to build a multipolar world, but they have nothing against it. It will emerge by default because not everyone can be the West.

In conclusion, Trumpism is an ideology with both political-philosophical and geopolitical dimensions. Gradually, it will manifest more clearly. But its main features have already begun to take shape.

**This article was coordinated by Ramia Yahia**

Source: Trumpism could shake up the world | Al Majalla