‘Trumpism’ as a Dominant Movement in the U.S. Republican Party in the 2020s

Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election offers a fresh perspective on the nature of ‘Trumpism’, which has now firmly established itself not as a temporary or accidental fluctuation in U.S. political life, but as a stable and powerful social phenomenon. This article attempts to identify the origins and key ideological components of this trend, examining it in the context of contemporary political processes within the Republican Party. The first section of the article traces the changes in Trump’s approach to building relationships with the Republican establishment. It highlights that there were favorable domestic political conditions and an updated campaign strategy that allowed Trump to solidify his electoral position at both regional and federal levels in 2024. This marks a sharp contrast with the 2016 campaign, where he was viewed as an ‘outsider’ and a disruptive actor. The second section delves into the ideology of ‘Trumpism’ in the context of the 2024 presidential election. It notes that while Trump distanced himself from the most radical initiatives of the far-right faction of the Republican establishment during the campaign, his rhetoric was distinctly conservative and combative, especially when contrasted with the conciliatory platform of the Democrats. In conclusion, the article argues that ‘Trumpism’ has evolved into a powerful, independent movement within the Republican Party, one that is likely to maintain its influence in the years to come. At the same time, it suggests that Trump’s and the Republican Party’s victory in the U.S. reflects a broader global trend towards strengthening rightwing ideologies. In this regard, the case of the European Union is particularly noteworthy. It raises the question of how Trump’s victory will impact the positions of conservative and right-populist parties and movements across Europe.

1. Gadzhiev K.S. 2021. O perspektivakh D. Trampa i trampizma pri prezidentstve Dzh. Baidena [On the prospects of D. Trump and Trumpism during the presidency of J. Biden]. World Eсonomy and International Relations, vol. 65, no. 12, pp. 141–151. DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2021-65-12-141-151. (In Russ.)

2. Golub Yu., Shenin S. 2021. Ot Trampa k Baidenu: chto zhdet NATO? [From Trump to Biden: What will happen to NATO?]. International Trends, no. 19 (3), pp. 68–84. DOI: 10.17994/IT.2021.19.3.66.4. (In Russ.)

3. Danilin I.V. 2020. Kontseptualizatsiya strategii SShA v tekhnologicheskoi voine protiv KNR: ekonomika, politika, tekhnonatsionalizm [Conceptualizing American strategy in the technology war against China: Economy, geopolitics, techno-nationalism]. Journal of International Analytics, no. 11 (4), pp. 21–38. DOI: 10.46272/2587-8476-2020-11-4-21-38. (In Russ.)

4. Efanova E.V. 2020. Sotsial’nye media v amerikanskoi publichnoi politike (na primere sotsial’noi seti Twitter) [Social media in American public policy (on the example of the social network Twitter)]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 172–179. DOI: 10.15688/jvolsu4.2020.3.15. (In Russ.)

5. Kanevskii P.S. 2024. Krizisnye tendentsii v razvitii sotsial’no-politicheskoi sistemy SShA: prichiny i posledstviya [Crisis trends in the development of the American socio-political system: Causes and consequences]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 18. Sotsiologiya i politologiya, no. 30 (1), pp. 130–146. DOI: 10.24290/1029-3736-2024-30-1-130-146. (In Russ.)

6. Pechatnov V.O. 2020. SShA v tiskakh krizisov [America gripped by crises]. World Eсonomy and International Relations, vol. 64, no. 10, pp. 5–16. DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2020-64-10-5-16. (In Russ.)

7. Pechatnov V.O. 2017. Fenomen Trampa i amerikanskaya demokratiya [The Trump phenomenon and American democracy]. International Trends, vol. 15, no. 1 (48), pp. 13–34. DOI: 10.17994/IT.2017.15.1.48.3. (In Russ.)

8. Pechatnov V.O. 2022. Shturm Kapitoliya 6 yanvarya 2021 g. kak apofeoz ‘trampizma’ [The storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 as the apotheosis of ‘Trumpism’]. In: Tsvetkova N.A., Boguslavskaya Yu.K., Grishanina T.A. (eds.). Amerikanskie issledovaniya v Sankt-Peterburgskom gosudarstvennom universitete [American studies at St. Petersburg State University]. Saint Petersburg, Skifiyaprint, pp. 98–109. (In Russ.)

9. Samuilov S.M. 2019. Trampizm — eto vser’ez i nadolgo? [Trumpism — is it serious and for a long time?]. USA & Canada: Economics, politics, culture, no. 10, pp. 118–126. DOI: 10.31857/S032120680006808-2. (In Russ.)

10. Sogrin V.V. 2021. Dvukhpartiinaya sistema v amerikanskoi istorii. Ot Dzh. Vashingtona do sovremennosti [Two-party system in history of the USA. From G. Washington to modernities]. Modern and Contemporary History, no. 1, pp. 69–87. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640013378-3. (In Russ.)

11. Sokol’shchik L.M. 2021. Amerikanskii konservatizm i vyzov populizma: teoreticheskii i ideologicheskii aspekty [American conservatism and the challenge of contemporary populism: Theoretical and ideological aspects]. Polis. Political Studies, no. 1, pp. 78–93. DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.01.06. (In Russ.)

12. Travkina N.M. 2017. ‘Trampizm’ vo vlasti: protivostoyanie prodolzhaetsya [Trumpism in power: Continued confrontation]. Perspectives and Prospects. E-journal, no. 2 (10), pp. 39–53. (In Russ.)

13. Kuznetsov A.V. (ed.). 2020. Fenomen Trampa [The Trump phenomenon]. Moscow, INION Publ. DOI: 10.31249/phtr/2020.00.00. (In Russ.)

14. Shakleina T.A. 2021. Donal’d Tramp i ‘novyi populizm’ v Amerike [Donald Trump and ‘new populism’ in America]. Polis. Political Studies, no. 5, pp. 176–183. DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.05.12. (In Russ.)

15. Shkel’ S.N. 2021. Trampizm: vozvyshenie avtoritarnogo populizma v tsifrovuyu epokhu [Trumpism: The rise of authoritarian populism in the digital era]. Political Science, no. 1, pp. 322–332. DOI: 10.31249/poln/2021.01.14. (In Russ.)

16. Shumilin A.I. 2021. Epokha Trampa: ‘tok-shou’, kotoroe potryaslo mir [The Trump era: The talk-show that shook the world]. Contemporary Europe, no. 4 (104), pp. 172–183. DOI: 10.15211/soveurope42021172183. (In Russ.)

17. Agwu F.A. 2021. Foreign policy in the age of globalization, populism and nationalism. Singapore, Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-3372-0_3.

18. Arnsdorf I. 2020. Finish what we started: The MAGA movement’s ground war to end democracy. New York, Little, Brown and Company.

19. Ben-Ghiat R. 2020. Strongmen: Mussolini to the present. New York, W.W. Norton & Company.

20. Biebricher T. 2024. The crisis of American conservatism in historicalcomparative perspective. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, vol. 65, pp. 233–259. DOI: 10.1007/s11615-023-00501-2.

21. Biegon R., Hamdaoui S. 2024. Anti-populism and the Trump trauma in US foreign policy. International Affairs, vol. 100, no. 5, pp. 1857–1875. DOI: 10.1093/ia/iiae174.

22. Destradi S., Vüllers J. 2024. Populism and the liberal international order: An analysis of UN voting patterns. The Review of International Organizations. DOI: 10.1007/s11558-024-09569-w.

23. Ehrlich B. 2020. Original, unconventional & inconvenient: Donald J. Trump and his MAGA movement. New York, Post Hill Press.

24. Komlos J. 2018. The economic roots of the rise of Trumpism. CESifo Working Paper Series. No. 6868. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3144271_code459177.pdf?abstractid=3144271&mirid=1 (accessed: 15.11.2024).

25. Löfflmann G., Skonieczny A., Biegon R. 2023. The Trump shock: Populism and changing narratives of US foreign policy. In: Giurlando P., Wajner D.F. (eds.). Populist foreign policy. Regional perspectives of populism in the international scene. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 117–145. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22773-8_5.

26. Mason L., Wronski J., Kane J.V. 2021. Activating animus: The uniquely social roots of Trump support. American Political Science Review, vol. 115 (4), pp. 1508–1516. DOI: 10.1017/S0003055421000563.

27. Simon J., Sonnicksen J. 2024. A conservative (r)evolution? Constitutionalpolitical crises, Trumpism, and long-standing trends of conservative transformations in the United States and beyond. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, vol. 65, pp. 213–232. DOI: 10.1007/s11615-023-00527-6.

28. Snyder T. 2018. The road to unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. New York, Tim Duggan Books.

29. Stanley J. 2018. How Fascism works: The politics of Us and Them. New York, Random House.

30. Upadhyay S. 2023. Populism and its impact on foreign policy. In: Chacko Chennattuserry J., Deshpande M., Hong P. (eds.). Encyclopedia of new populism and responses in the 21st century. Singapore, Springer, pp. 634–639. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_245-1.

31. Urbinati N. 2019. On Trumpism, or the end of American exceptionalism. Teoria politica, no. 9, pp. 209–226. Available at: https://journals.openedition.org/tp/820 (accessed: 15.11.2024).

32. Wajner D.F., Destradi S., Zürn M. 2024. The effects of global populism: Assessing the populist impact on international affairs. International Affairs, vol. 100, no. 5, pp. 1819–1833. DOI: 10.1093/ia/iiae217.