In 2016, prominent conservatives warned fellow Republicans not to back Donald Trump in the GOP primary. The billionaire real-estate mogul and reality TV star, they argued, was vain, vulgar, and erratic—ignorant of public policy and lacking any principled commitment to conservatism or coherent ideology. When he secured the nomination, these “Never Trump” conservatives urged Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton or a third-party candidate. To them, electing Trump would legitimize a rogue force within the conservative movement—better, they said, to endure short-term pain than suffer long-term ideological ruin.
Yet Trump won, and during his first term, he delivered on many conservative priorities. He cut taxes, slashed regulations, appointed originalist judges, cracked down on illegal immigration, and reoriented U.S. foreign policy to counter the growing threat posed by China. Despite facing relentless attacks, a sprawling special counsel investigation, and an impeachment trial, Trump’s administration presided over a booming economy—until COVID-19 struck.
In 2024, after navigating the fallout from January 6, surviving a second impeachment, facing four criminal indictments, and even escaping two assassination attempts, Trump completed a stunning political comeback.
The Second Term: Populism Unleashed
Trump’s second administration has proven even more disruptive than his first. No longer the political outsider, he returned to Washington with an army of loyalists—seasoned, ideologically aligned, and singularly devoted to his agenda.
In just four months, Trump has signed over 150 executive orders dismantling or altering long-standing government programs. He has taken aim at federal agencies, elite universities, and illegal immigration. He has imposed and suspended tariffs on friend and foe alike. He has downplayed America’s traditional role as a promoter of democracy abroad, preferring instead a foreign policy centered on commerce, stability, and deal-making. And he continues to use social media to bypass the press and provoke adversaries—including pop stars—with unfiltered flair.
The pace and tone of his presidency raise a pressing question: Does this still count as conservatism?
“Don’t Call This Conservatism”
Jonah Goldberg, a longtime conservative voice, recently addressed this question in a provocative essay titled “Don’t Call This Conservatism” published in The Dispatch. Goldberg asks:
“If being a principled defender of the constitutional order, limited government, free markets, traditional values, and an America-led world still makes you a conservative, are you still on ‘the right’ when the loudest voices on the right reject most or all of those positions?”
Goldberg is no fringe figure. As a founding editor of The Dispatch, an AEI fellow, bestselling author, and host of The Remnant podcast, he speaks with authority about conservatism’s intellectual heritage.
Drawing on thinkers like G.K. Chesterton and Michael Oakeshott, Goldberg defines conservatism as both a temperament and a philosophy. It favors the tested over the novel, stability over chaos, and tradition over utopian experimentation. American conservatism, specifically, upholds the Constitution, the rule of law, individual liberty, and a robust civil society. It defends markets not merely for economic reasons but as bulwarks of personal freedom. It prizes virtue, prudence, and ordered liberty.
By this definition, Goldberg argues, the Trump-led New Right is not conservative but radically populist.
What the New Right Wants
The Trump right, Goldberg contends, repackages public grievances as conservative policy. It embraces “apocalyptic politics”—the belief that American institutions are corrupt beyond repair and must be toppled. It uses the rule of law selectively, pursues industrial policy and protectionism, and defines manliness by bravado and domination rather than character or restraint.
Its attitude toward American power abroad is transactional, skeptical of long-standing alliances and dismissive of liberal democratic ideals. It seeks not to conserve, but to disrupt.
A Conservative Case for Trump?
Still, the debate is not so simple. While Goldberg is right to identify the growing divide between traditional conservatism and Trump-style populism, he largely sidesteps a crucial question: Can a traditional conservative prudently support Trump?
Prudence, after all, is a central conservative virtue.
By 2016, many conservatives had concluded that the old guard had failed. The George W. Bush years saw two costly wars with mixed results, ballooning federal spending, and little resistance to the cultural left’s march through institutions. As progressive forces became more aggressive—especially on college campuses and in the media—many felt the old conservative establishment had become ineffective, even complicit.
Faced with the choice between a populist outsider and a Democratic party increasingly captured by its radical wing, many conservatives backed Trump—not because he embodied their ideals, but because he stood between them and something worse.
In 2016, that meant Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Joe Biden. And in 2024, Kamala Harris—perceived by many as lacking clarity, substance, and independence.
Between Resistance and Realism
A traditional conservative may reject Trump’s style, rhetoric, and populist excesses—but still choose to engage rather than resist. Supporting Trump might be a tactical decision to moderate the New Right rather than isolate it. To forfeit that opportunity, some argue, would cede the entire movement to voices uninterested in constitutional governance or classical liberalism.
This is not to deny Trumpism’s dangers. But it is to recognize that in a world where culture, media, and elite institutions lean left, many Americans view Trump as the only viable counterbalance. Traditional conservatives can and should continue defending timeless principles—but they must also reckon with political realities.
Conclusion: What Comes Next?
The conservative movement is at a crossroads. One path clings to principle but risks irrelevance. The other rides popular momentum but risks losing its soul.
The challenge now is whether traditional conservatism can coexist with, moderate, or ultimately renew the movement from within. Jonah Goldberg believes the Trump right is a break from conservatism. Others see it as a necessary—if unruly—evolution in a changing America.
Whatever the case, the question will remain: Is this still conservatism?
And if not, what comes next?
