POLITICS

Donald Trump Is Not A Disruptor

He’s the logical conclusion of the GOP’s decades-long devolution

Image credit: Jamelle Bouie (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1964, Barry Goldwater’s campaign for president crashed and burned in no small part because many Americans believed his aggressive anti-Communist rhetoric would lead the nation into World War III. Most Americans, even most Republicans, just weren’t comfortable with Goldwater’s strident interventionism.

It’s not that Americans in 1964 were isolationists (some were), but neither were they hawks. A healthy dose of skepticism about the military-industrial complex (a term coined by Republican president Dwight Eisenhower) has always characterized mainstream American voters and politicians of both parties.

That’s why it’s so strange to hear people say that Donald Trump’s isolationism represents a stark departure from both Republican and Democratic party orthodoxy. This claim is just part of a larger narrative that presents Trump as a “disruptor,” someone who’ll “shake things up” or deliver a much-needed “shock to the system.”

Usually this claim is asserted alongside assurances that the one making it is a moderate who doesn’t like Trump personally. The idea seems to be that, as flawed as he is, his presidency would have accomplished something useful if it succeeded in breaking our addiction to certain forms of politics that have enriched corporations and lobbyists even as ordinary Americans struggle.

But is the narrative rooted in fact? Or is it little more than an effective marketing campaign for a man who knows a thing or two about overselling himself and his products?

Take for starters the claim that Trump is an isolationist. It’s not like he refrained from using military force on foreign targets during his first term. In fact, in every year he was in office he launched at least one overseas military operation, including numerous missile strikes in Syria and Iraq.

Furthermore, when it comes to defense spending, Trump governed like other recent, hawkish Republicans. If you actually look at U.S. military spending as a percentage of GDP over time, you’ll see that since 1969 — Richard Nixon’s first full year in office — it’s actually declined under every president except for…