Matthew Continetti attempts to project the likely policies in a second presidential term for Donald Trump.
Trump has outlined many of his plans, including deportations of illegal immigrants and tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in interviews and on the campaign trail. But his proposals are muffled by the din of media outrage. …
… There are a couple of reasons to be skeptical of what’s coming out of these Trump-aligned groups. The first is that, as we learned during the first go-around, nothing is ever decided until Trump decides it. And his decisions are based on what’s happening in each moment. And he often changes his mind.
While Trump does have a worldview—nothing counts but the perception of strength and the world has ripped off America since World War II, making us weak—he does not have an ideology. He does not belong to a movement. He is the movement.
Another reason to be wary of what you hear about a possible second Trump administration is that many of the policies in circulation do not reflect voter needs or desires. They are projections of what certain people assume Trump voters want or should want.
For example, Trump is not going to abandon tax cuts or endorse mass unionization or retain Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Trade Commission. He will seek to undo much of Biden’s spending and regulation. He is not going to take his cues from “Crazy Bernie” or “Pocahontas.” After all: The easiest way to convince a president to oppose something is to tell him that his predecessor of the opposite party was for it. …
… Twenty-three state governments are controlled entirely by Republicans. The Left still dominates the legacy media, but the number of alternatives increases every day. Home schools, religious schools, charter schools, private schools, and school choice programs allow more K-12 options for the new New Majority. A GOP administration that wants to reward its new working-class voters would increase apprenticeships and non-college career pathways, as well. There are a lot of potential upsides, in other words, if the next administration focuses on economic revival and securing the border and personal safety.