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Bouvard on Trump's Singular Political Position

Dennis Bouvard · X / Twitter · Aug 04, 2026 · 1 min read

I think some Trump boosterism is in order.

I see Trump supporters make the point that he closed the border and acknowledge his deportations (while also in most cases minimizing the achievement). But I almost never see his supposed supporters advance this kind of argument on economic issues; maybe because it would

interfere with the complaint that the Iran war undermined his domestic agenda. But the larger point is that most of his supporters use him to launch their own projects and want to maintain a discreet distance so they can more easily turn on him. He will not have a successor. But,

of course, there's no reason to expect disinterested support of any elected official, and Trump will be winding down soon enough. It's not his fault, but he's a singularity and there's no "mold" for a successor. We'll see a reversion to factions. No one has created "Trumpism."

@elocinationn Yes, the shift from multilateral trade agreements to trade agreements negotiated one on one was a critical break with supposed "free trade" approaches. The results may not show up immediately, but the argument could be made by congressional candidates--if they wanted to.

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