President Trump is the most conservative President since Reagan and has exposed the Bush father and son as the pretenders they are.
If President Trump continues to conserve the America we all love he may well eclipse Reagan.
Prior to 911 Conservative always meant pro-Free Trade, pro-open borders...almost. Pre-911 Hannity would have Pat Buchanan on and ridicule Pat for being the only anti-Free Trade, anti-illegal immigration Conservative in the USA.
And it was true. Capitalist conservatives, Corporatist Conservatives, Evangelical Conservatives, Libertarian Conservatives, Constitutional and Constitutionist Conservatives and every type of US Conservative visible (except Pat Buchanan) was pro-Free Trade, pro-immigration.
Post 911 the Minutemen emerged and from the bottom up, gradually moved the base anti-Free Trade, anti-(illegal) immigration. At first Hannity told his screeners to not let them on the air. But they became so many callers that finally Hannity let them on to save his audience. Then, in 24 hours Hannity flipped from pro to anti to keep his audience.
Most talk radio flipped on the issue without ever mentioning that they flipped. The TeaParty started with taxes, economics and Obamacare as the only issues. Many pro-2A people included 2A in the early TeaParty with no problem.
Then, gradually, about 6 months into the TeaParty, the anti(illegal) immigrant voices started being heard...and they quickly grabbed control of the TeaParty and moved it from an economic focus to an immigration focus.
Trump made immigration and Trade top issues in his campaign. He took the TeaParty position, which is not the historical Conservative position. Under what definition of US Conservative is the anti-Free Trade, anti(illegal) immigration agenda “Conservative”? It is Populist, Nationalist, Socialist protection and affirmative action.
EVerify. In what world does big Nanny State government tell private employers who the can and cannot hire. That is as anti-Conservative as can be imagined. The government controlling private employers that way has always been called liberalism and progressiveism and socialism.
But now Trump is “negotiating”. #1 thing he said in his campaign is that he is a great negotiator. That was the context in which Trump said everything else.
Trump is now listening to his private lawyer, a true Conservative, and is negotiating on immigration and trade and other issues.
By taking a position that seemed extreme to the C of C and other Corporatists in the establishment, Trump gave himself a strong hand in negotiations. So far, so good.
We can only pray that Trump will ALSO survive some idiot trying to impress a girl!
For some libertarian purists, the single most important litmus test for "conservatism" is a commitment to unrestricted trade (at the US end). These are the ones who complain about Trump not being conservative enough for them for ideological reasons. The rest of it is just sour grapes from GOP establishmentarians like the Bushes.