Trump did not covert the GOP. The cheap labor express promulgated by the elites to benefit their rich donor class squeezed the vast middle class beyond their tolerance limits. That is what finally changed the elections. Trump simply recognized the frustration of the middle class and talked about it, while all other 16 candidates did not.
“The cheap labor express promulgated by the elites to benefit their rich donor class squeezed the vast middle class beyond their tolerance limits.”
That is indeed what happened. Fake news and hollyweird depravity also deepened the winter of our discontent.