PROBING THE TRUMPIAN DARKNESS

Loughlin, a history professor at Ohio Northern University, explores the ideology of President Donald Trump in this nonfiction work.

The author says that he wrote this book “as an attempt to place Trumpism in the context of modern political categories and terminology,” and he emphasizes the “linguistic inadequacy” that one runs into when describing Donald Trump’s politics. Although conservatives claim Trump as an icon, his eclectic policies on issues such as tariffs don’t fit into the free trade mantras of prior Republican presidents, such as Ronald Reagan. Similarly, although Steve Bannon, a former White House Chief Strategist during Trump’s first term, described his former boss as a “populist” during the 2016 presidential campaign, Loughlin argues that the president “fails to fit many of the characteristics described in various formal conceptions of populism,” given the economically self-serving nature of his actual policies. Although the author states that Trump falls within a “right-wing authoritarian/fascistic spectrum,” he asserts that the president’s lack of a fixed ideology defies one of fascism’s defining characteristics, as “almost all of his positions could shift in an instant depending on his perceived needs.” The book explores various political adjectives on a term-by-term basis, with entire chapters devoted to concepts such as “authoritarian” and “woke,” and he offers valuable commentary on how traditional political vocabulary has become less useful for describing a “rapidly evolving political reality.” The author ultimately describes Trump as a “political vampire nourished by the resentments of the public” as he voices, exploits, and intensifies the grievances of his followers.

The author draws on his expertise in world history to contextualize Trump within the post-World War II history of the Republican Party, and he effectively compares him to other ideologically amorphous figures from previous eras. The book, for instance, notes similarities and differences between Trump and French politician Gustave Hervé (1871-1944)—a leading socialist and pacifist who later became an ultranationalist and fascist sympathizer; the latter was the subject of Loughlin’s 2015 biography, From Revolutionary Theater to Reactionary Litanies. The author is keenly aware of the paradoxes inherent in extremist movements, and although he acknowledges similarities between Trump and other authoritarian leaders, he’s careful to highlight the president’s unique “lack of ideology and almost incapacitating indiscipline.” At times, the prose feels repetitive, belaboring an argument with similar examples across multiple chapters. Nevertheless, this work offers an astute, nuanced analysis of both the current president and the limitations of modern political vocabulary. The book’s learned but accessible narrative is bolstered by visual diagrams, a methodological appendix, and more than 1,000 research endnotes that demonstrate the author’s firm grasp on world history, public policy, and political theory. This analysis of Trump’s policies is likely to alienate the president’s supporters, but it offers a sophisticated examination of the ways in which both the right and left have misinterpreted a polarizing figure. Overall, it’s an important reminder that “the words we use do matter even if we cannot settle on one set of terms and usages.”

A sometimes-repetitious but well-researched and effectively argued exploration of political vocabulary in the modern age.