Ok I need to go to school here on your definitions of nationalist conservative. His GE speeches where libertarian in nature. I agree he was a Nationalist in that he had a “big goal” to bring down the commies, and lesser goals could suffer for that end. I am not sure that a Nationalist Conservative is inherently libertarian... But I could be wrong.
I’m not a big believer in hyphenated conservatism period.
Reagan was a nationalist. He believed in a sovereign United States that could defend herself against all comers and was not above using American power overseas, from Grenada to Libya, to protect American interests around the world. Libertarians oppose the use of American power except in defense of our own territory.
Reagan respected the contributions of immigrant people but expected them to adopt American customs and culture. He also believed in carefully regulated immigration, in contrast to the most doctrinaire Libertarians who support no restrictions at all. I personally believe one of his worst mistakes was the 1986 illegal alien amnesty - one of the times he followed his libertarian leanings as opposed to his nationalist leanings.
Reagan believed in free trade but he also believed in fair trade. He imposed high tariffs on Japanese motorcycles when it was determined that they were dumping their products here at below cost. He used this fact to encourage Japan to restrain their dumping steel as well. These were not libertarian things to do.
American conservatives respect American traditions. That includes the libertarian roots of our founding. When I speak of American conservatives as being inherently libertarian, that’s what I mean.