Why Iran will hasten MAGA’s demise
Spectator Editorial
Readers may disagree with the cover line of our latest issue. Pronouncing “the end of Trumpism” feels somewhat similar to declaring “the end of history” – a provocative, albeit less grandiose, statement that risks being mocked in the near future. We should start by saying we hope that we are wrong. Trumpism, as this magazine understands it, has been a boon to America. As Christopher Caldwell argues, the rise of Donald Trump was a healthy democratic response to a fetid political system.
On many fronts, the Trump administration, now in its second and more dynamic term, has made great progress. It has fought illegal immigration with vigor. It has tackled the politically correct shibboleths which have done so much to derange America’s elite institutions, from the horrors of DEI to the self-defeating dogma of global environmentalism.
It has confronted China’s increasingly malign influence on the world stage and exposed the Democratic party as a self-serving cadre of shallow opportunists and ideologues. “Trumponomics,” the President’s protectionist agenda, is a mixed bag, though Trump’s tariffs and other policies can at least be justified as a daring attempt to improve the lives of America’s lower and middle-classes.
But the President’s war in Iran could end up destroying all that success. He has, as Caldwell says, “pressed his luck” and the consequences for his political legacy already look disastrous.
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