Trumpism isn't coherent, but it does have a discernible shape

But that may mean it can't outlast its namesake

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It’s often been noted that grownups in the first Trump administration saved the country from the worst consequences that could have come from the Very Stable Genius’s most impulsive notions. Alas, before that term was over, he’d jettisoned all of them, replete with social-media insults, never mind the irony that he’d hired each of them for positions of responsibility and sober judgement. We know that there are no such guardrails this time around.

Of course, Trump still has his defenders - voter base, some unmistakably Trumpist opinion journals and think tanks, and various carnival barkers.

But is there a reasonably well-defined Trumpist vision that applies to all humankind, as is the case with fusionist conservatism, libertarianism, and, however flawed that vision, progressivism? I get the clear sense that universal applicability isn’t of interest to Trumpists. Take national conservatism, the MAGA-oriented world’s most serious attempt to formulate a list of basic principles. It mimics some of the principles of actual conservatism - tradition, Christianity’s indispensability to the American project - but does so for the purpose of defending their benefits to American citizens.

What does Trumpism have to say about the basic questions - what makes for a good life? how to organize societies anywhere in such a way as to prioritize human flourishing? what is virtue? how do we cultivate it?

The irony is the Trumpist preoccupation with stomping everyone not signed on to it into the dust. At least its opponents, as noted above, strive for coherence and universal applicability. One might expect MAGA to extend us the courtesy of an explanation of why it’s a superior worldview.

Trumpism is either at its peak, and will dissipate as its most fevered spokespersons vie to be the next Trump and sputter in their attempts, or it will solidify what it’s currently doing into such a transformed nation and culture that whoever makes it to the top of the next-Trump heap will have institutional free reign to proceed with that style of governing.

The latter looks more likely at present. A number of developments over the last week or so bear this out.

The Pentagon blocking use of US-made long-range missile systems to strike deep into Russia by Ukraine is a sign, after the inconclusive Alaska and Washington meetings, that Trumpist post-America isn’t interested in the ongoing viability of the West. To be sure, the Biden administration took too long to authorize such use, but at this juncture, it comes across as a middle finger to the formal alliances and cultural ties that connect us to Europe.

The Pentagon’s possible deployment of federal troops in Chicago is being handled in classic VSG manner. After sending strong signals that such a move was imminent, he’s now waffling a little:

"We can go anywhere on less than 24 hours' notice," Trump said when asked on Monday whether the Pentagon was preparing for deployment to Chicago.

"They need help. We may wait. We may or may not, we may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do," Trump told reporters who were in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders aimed at stopping criminal suspects from being released on cashless bail.

“May or may not.” “Probably what we should do.”

Of a piece with “we’ll see what happens” and the myriad two-week time frames he’s proclaimed. He’s not exactly resolute for a wanna-be strongman. I mean, if you really think it’s probably what you should do, then what’s with the casual attitude toward it?

It’s his way of keeping power - of questionable constitutionality - close to his vest. He alone will decide.

The FBI raid on John Bolton’s home and office follows on the heels of Trump 86ing Bolton’s security detail even as the Iranian assassination threat against Bolton continues. The whole vendetta has its roots in the book Bolton wrote after leaving the first Trump White House. Trump wants in the worst way to find something nefarious in it:

It’s hard to see the raid as anything other than vindictive. Mr. Bolton fell out of Mr. Trump’s favor in the first term and then wrote a book about his experience in the White House while Mr. Trump was still President. Mr. Trump tried and failed to block publication. The President then claimed Mr. Bolton had exposed classified information, though the book had gone through an extensive pre-publication scrub at the White House for classified material.

The book investigation faded away under President Biden, but now it looks as if Mr. Patel is reviving it. Whether Mr. Trump ordered the FBI probe or not doesn’t matter. Mr. Patel knows what the President thinks about Mr. Bolton, and the President’s minions in Trump II don’t serve as the check on his worst impulses the way grown-ups did in his first term. The presidential id is now unchained.

Trump’s interest in reopening Chris Christie’s 2013 Bridgegate scandal is another clear signal that retribution is a core preoccupation:

Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Sunday that Mr. Christie had lied about 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge “in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him.” The president was referring to a decision by Mr. Christie’s associates to close access lanes to the bridge, which links New Jersey and Manhattan, in order to punish the Democratic mayor of a New Jersey town.

“Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts,” Mr. Trump wrote. “For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”

The 2013 “Bridgegate” closures created days of traffic jams, and the scandal tarnished Mr. Christie’s reputation and helped to destroy his 2016 presidential candidacy. Mr. Christie has long denied any knowledge of the plan. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

About that. The Christie associates who actually orchestrated the lane closures were had their convictions reversed by the Supreme Court in 2016, and at the time, Trump was pleased about the way the chips fell for Christie:

In 2016, two of Mr. Christie’s associates were convicted of wire fraud and other federal charges for their roles in the bridge closure, but the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions four years later. Mr. Trump said at the time that the court’s decision was a “complete and total exoneration” of Mr. Christie, who was not charged in the case, “and all others involved.”

They’d been buds once. What happened? Christie could not sign on to the lie that the 2020 election had been rigged.

Trump’s harassment of Fed governor Lisa Cook, which stems from her vote to hold current interest rates, is likewise based on jumping the gun in a situation in which the harassed person hasn't been charged with anything:

President Donald Trump is removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook effective immediately, according to a letter he posted to Truth Social on Monday night.

In the letter, Trump writes: "Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately."

Trump cites a "criminal referral" from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, in which Pulte accused Cook of mortgage fraud.

In a statement, Cook responded by saying: "President Trump purported to fire me 'for cause' when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022."

Her attorney Abbe Lowell said in an accompanying statement Monday night that Trump's "reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action.”

On Tuesday morning, Lowell said Cook would sue. “President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook," he said in a statement. "His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action.”

Under the Federal Reserve Act, the only reason Federal Reserve governors can be removed from their positions is “for cause,” or some kind of wrongdoing.

Cook has not been charged with any crime, and her removal is likely to lead to a court battle between the independent central bank and the executive branch.

Sacking Erika McEntarfer as Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner relies on an inaccurate accounting of the sequence of events regarding jobs numbers reporting:

• President Donald Trump says he fired former Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer because her agency had “faked” jobs numbers to help his political opponent.

• Trump claimed on CNBC that the BLS had issued “phony” jobs numbers during the Biden administration to help Democrats hold the White House, only to revise them sharply downward after Trump won the 2024 election.

• An accurate timeline of jobs report revisions in 2024 undercuts Trump’s argument for firing McEntarfer.

What is an accurate timeline?

The BLS’ regularly issued jobs reports routinely include revisions to the prior month’s numbers, as more data trickles in that paints a clearer picture of U.S. employment.

It’s true that the BLS issued a large revision to its jobs tally last year: The agency revealed that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than originally reported for the year ended March 2024.

But that revision did not come after the election, as Trump suggested Tuesday. Rather, it was issued in August 2024 — more than two months before the election, and after then-Vice President Kamala Harris had taken the reins as the Democratic nominee.

Trump pounced on the figure at the time. “New Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the Administration PADDED THE NUMBERS with an extra 818,000 Jobs that DO NOT EXIST, AND NEVER DID,” he claimed in an Aug. 21 post on Truth Social.

The figure came in the BLS’ preliminary annual benchmark revision, when its employment estimates derived from surveys are calibrated against state unemployment insurance tax records.

The final benchmark, released in February, months after the election, revised hiring down by 598,000 — lower than the preliminary figure from August.

Trump is also wrong to claim that the BLS issued “phenomenal numbers” just before the 2024 election.

In fact, the final jobs report before the election revealed a sharp slowdown in October hiring, after a surge the previous month.

That Nov. 1 report — less than a week before Election Day — showed just 12,000 workers had been added to U.S. nonfarm payrolls in October.

At the time, it was the smallest monthly job gain in nearly four years, and it fell well below experts’ already low expectations.

As soon as the Nov. 1 report was released, it was immediately weaponized for political purposes — by Trump, who used the data to bash Harris.

“Today’s jobs report is a great embarrassment for our Nation. Kamala has lied for years about their pathetic job growth, which has never been real,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Nov. 1. “America is a Nation in Decline because Sleepy Joe, and Lyin’ Kamala, didn’t do their job.”

The BLS would later revise that weak jobs figure upward — but not until after Trump had won the election.

The firing of Jeffrey Kruse as DIA head also sends the clear message that agency heads are not to come up with reports that make the VSG look bad:

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the latest senior military or intelligence officer to lose his position in a wider purge of national security agencies’ top ranks, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, didn’t immediately cite a reason for the dismissal other than “loss of confidence,” a catchall term Hegseth has used to justify the sacking of other senior military officers this year.

The firing follows a preliminary assessment from the DIA — the Pentagon’s main intelligence wing — of the military strikes on Iran’s three main nuclear sites in June, which prompted vicious backlash from the Trump administration after it was first reported by CNN and the New York Times.

That preliminary report assessed that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been set back only a matter of months, in contrast to Hegseth’s and President Donald Trump’s statements that the capabilities had been “obliterated.”

The VSG also continues to express overt hostilities to privately owned news outlets:

President Donald Trump doubled down on his late Sunday attacks on ABC News in fresh demands that ABC and NBC should both lose their broadcast licenses because of what he called “biased and untruthful” coverage of his presidency.

Ripping the networks as a “threat to democracy” in a flurry of posts on Truth Social, the president wrote:

Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA

Moments later, he added in a further post:

Why is it that ABC and NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the World, aren’t paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES. They should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!! Crooked “journalism” should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!

This latest broadside follows Trump’s $16 million settlement with CBS earlier this summer over its 2024 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, a deal swiftly followed by FCC approval of parent company Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance.

But a characteristic that distinguishes Trumpism from actual conservatism is that the latter has free-market economics as one of its pillars. Trumpism increasingly declines to make a clear distinction between the state and the private sector:

President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. government had reached a deal to take a 10 percent equity stake in the chipmaker Intel, worth approximately $10 billion.

“I said, I think it would be good having the United States as your partner,” Trump said Friday at the White House. “[CEO Lip-Bu Tan] agreed, and they’ve agreed to do it.”

And now that the precedent has been set:

President Donald Trump on Monday boasted about the government’s new stake in Intel and said he’s determined to do similar deals.

“I will make deals like that for our Country all day long,” the president postedon Truth Social.

Trump added that “stupid people” are upset with a move that he said will bring more money and jobs to the U.S.

“I will also help those companies that make such lucrative deals with the United States. ... I love seeing their stock price go up, making the USA RICHER, AND RICHER,” he said. “More jobs for America!!! Who would not want to make deals like that?”

Earlier in the morning, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said the Intel move is part of a broader strategy to create a sovereign wealth fund that could include more companies.

In a deal that marked a further incursion of federal involvement with private companies, the White House on Friday announced that it was taking a 10% share of the chipmaking giant. The stake is worth around $8.9 billion, some of which will come from grant funding associated with the CHIPS Act while the rest will be under separate government allocations for programs associated with making secure chips.

While stressing that the government won’t involve itself in company operations, Hassett said the move is part of an ongoing plan.

“Well, I think this is a very, very special circumstance because of the massive amount of CHIPS Act spending that was coming in,” Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “But the president has made it clear all the way back to the campaign, he thinks that in the end, it would be great if the U.S. could start to build up a sovereign wealth fund. So I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry then other industries.”

This isn’t sort-of-socialism. It’s straight-up socialism.

So look back over the developments enumerated above. An ideological contour does emerge. It doesn’t offer hope to humankind, and it’s not even recognizably American. Its guiding principle is this: whatever the Very Stable Genius thinks, at any given moment, is going to enhance his glorification is of primary importance. And the drool-besotted minions are expected to get behind it, even if it means an abrupt reversal of course.

Trumpism can only continue after Trump if the institutions now being bent to his will are willing to get behind the successor to his mantle.

And the scramble to get to the top of that pile of aspirants will be savage indeed.